Darlene Love on Elvis Presley’s sensitive side and why talent contests give people false hope
You may recognise the 20 Feet from Stardom singer as the woman who had the star-studded Oscars ceremony on their feet earlier this year…
You may not know Darlene Love by name but there’s no doubt you’ll recognise her voice. One of the most prolific backing singers of the sixties and seventies, she appeared on numerous records including The Tracks of My Tears to That’s Life and sang on stage alongside the likes of Elvis Presley.
After a break from the industry she’s back, pursuing a career as a solo artist. She was one of the stand-out stars of this year’s Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, stealing the show at the star-studded ceremony with her on-stage rendition of His Eye Is On The Sparrow. Here she chats to RadioTimes.com about her career renaissance, the stories behind the superstars she sang for and why talent contests give singers false hope.
It’s been a few months since your Oscars win – has 20 Feet from Stardom finally given you the credit for all your career achievements?
It’s really been great since the movie came out – so many wonderful things are happening. Number one, people are recognizing who I am now and what I did. A lot of people already knew the truth and now they don’t have to debate it anymore.
And you’ve got none other than Oprah Winfrey making a TV biopic of your life starring Toni Braxton. That must be exciting…
Yes, I kept saying when we won the Academy Award that I didn’t know anything else I’d be more excited about but now we’re doing this movie. I thought Toni Braxton was a great choice because a lot of what’s happened to her, the same thing’s happened to me. My thing is to try to keep it as truthful as possible. You always have to embellish to make the story more exciting but so much went on in my life I don’t know how much embellishing they’re going to have to do!
