Darlene Love lives in Spring Valley, N.Y.
Rob Hoerburger is an editor and a writer for The New York Times Magazine.
Hers was the voice that helped launch a hundred hits: the No. 1 ”He’s a Rebel,” ”(Today I Met) the Boy I’m Gonna Marry,” ”He’s Sure the Boy I Love” and ”Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” all of which she sang for the legendary producer Phil Spector during the glory days of the girl-group era, as well as countless songs she sang backup on for artists like Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Cher and Aretha Franklin. She also toured the country as a member of Bob. B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans and had a regular spot on the TV show Shindig, where she crossed paths with such legends as Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles and the Supremes.
Now, in My Name Is Love, the woman whose voice The New York Times said is ”as embedded in the history of rock and roll as Eric Clapton’s guitar and Bob Dylan’s lyrics” tells her incredible story. Over the years Darlene Love has collected not just hits but some juicy bits of musical history: Elvis coming on to her after they worked together on his legendary ’68 comeback TV special, the wild parties she witnessed while touring with Tom Jones, and her love affair with Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers. She tells all of these scintillating backstage stories with the engaging forthrightness of the preacher’s daughter that she is.
Darlene also vividly recalls the period in her life when she disappeared from the music scene and fell on hard times. One day, while working as a maid in Beverly Hills, she heard herself on the radio and vowed to make a comeback, and so she has, with appearances in all four Lethal Weapon movies, starring roles on Broadway and headlining concert tours worldwide.
My Name Is Love is partly a dishy show-biz memoir, but it’s also an inspiring story of a woman who never lost her will to sing.