Darlene Love

Born in Los Angeles in 1938, Darlene Wright began her career as a soloist with the vocal trio The Blossoms. After becoming a regular on ABC TV's variety show Shindig! (1964), in the early 1960s, the trio continued to provide backup vocals on various Elvis Presley recordings, and even supported him on the 1968 NBC-TV special Elvis: The Comeback Special (1968). For a while, they also supported Tom Jones in some of his Las Vegas shows. Blossoms have the rare privilege of having recorded a number one hit without ever receiving proper recognition. Years before the emergence of Milli Vanilli, Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Gracie Nitzsche provided vocals on "He's a Rebel," written by Gene Pitney, which became The Crystals' first (and only) number one hit in the United States. Due to complicated logistics, record producer Phil Spector had to use The Blossoms because The Crystals were on the wrong side of the United States at the time. And while trying to air the production in Los Angeles before the Vikki Carr version, he had no other choice but to go against the clock. Love also provided vocals on the first twenty hits of Bob B. Soxx and Blue Jeans' "Zip-a-Dee Doo Dah."