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NEED TO KNOW
Melba Moore made her Broadway debut in 1968 in the musical Hair
The future Tony winner shared a dressing room with future Oscar winner Diane Keaton, who also made her Broadway debut in Hair
Moore reflects on her life journey in the memoir This Is It — Marvelous... & Getting Better
"Once I got the Tony Award,everythingchanged!" Melba Moore exclaims during a sit-down with PEOPLE, recalling her best featured actress in a musical triumph forPurliein 1970. Even during previews, Moore's performance as Lutiebelle stirred such a sensation that the show's writers, Peter Udell and Gary Geld, penned a new song, "I Got Love," specifically for her, just so she'd have another show-stopping number.
It's one of several peak experiences that Moore reflects on in her memoirThis Is It — Marvelous... & Getting Better,named after her 1976 dance and U.K. Top 10 hit composed and produced by "The Hustle" maestro Van McCoy. Written with author Kevin E. Taylor, the book is a testament to the kind of faith and perseverance that's made Moore a legend in several realms, from television and film to theatre and Grammy-nominated recordings.
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In tandem with the book's release last fall, her longtime friend Valerie Simpson held a launch party at Ashford & Simpson's Sugar Bar in New York City while Moore quietly celebrated her 80th birthday with family.
"I had a special time with my daughter and my ex-husband [Charles Huggins]," she says. "They took me out to dinner. That's interesting because we are still a family. We really have come together around this book. When you tell your story, you tell other people's stories, too, so sometimes you got to be careful because what you say may affect other people, especially my family. I'm not interested in opening old wounds.
"I learned a couple of things," Moore continues on the topic of writing her memoir. "I'm willing to take chances."
Indeed, Moore hadn't even considered a career in musical theater before she made her professional breakthrough in the original Broadway cast ofHair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musicalin 1968.
"I got intoHairbecause of a recording session," she says. "Valerie Simpson had ushered me into the background singing world. I was making a good living. The people who were doing the music and book forHairinvited Valerie and myself, and everybody on the recording session, to come sing for the producer and the director. They were looking for interesting personalities, and they would train us for the role."
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Moore started out inHairas Dionne, singing "White Boys" in a flamboyant, Supremes-styled trio while revealing her exquisite vocal tone during her solo on "Walking in Space."
Future Oscar winnerDiane Keaton, who died in 2025, was among Moore'sHaircast mates. "She was hilarious," Moore says of Keaton, who started off as a member of the ensemble and later graduated to the lead role of Sheila. "We shared a dressing room. I remember a lot of times Diane and I would go to Tad's Steakhouse to have these cheap steaks."
"Whenever anybody would say anything, her comment would be 'la-la la-la la... yeah.' She said that to Marlon Brando when he introduced himself! She made me realize, when I saw her doing the role of Sheila, that she was a skilled actress. We all looked like we just came off the street, but I could tell that she'd probably studied."
When Keaton leftHair, Moore assumed her role of Sheila, becoming the first Black actress to replace a White actress in a lead role on Broadway. "I got the front page ofThe New York Times.It said 'Melba Moore Changes the Color ofHair.' It didn't change mycareerso much," she says with a laugh.
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Two years later, her career would change dramatically withPurlie, the musical adaptation of the Ossie Davis playPurlie Victorious. It marked another major step for Moore. "They really didn't audition me for singing," she recalls. "I auditioned for the acting part of Lutiebelle, with several other male actors who were auditioning for the lead role."
"I was raised by a domestic from the backwoods of South Carolina," she continues. "My mother, who was a singer, was gone all the time, so basically, my personality was like hers. I was like a cotton chopper. When it came time to audition for Lutiebelle, I was perfect for it. Plus, I could sing."
Opening on Broadway in 1970,Purliefeatured a cast of musical theater dynamos, including futureThe Jeffersonsstar Sherman Hemsley, Linda Hopkins and George Faison. Cleavon Little, who starred as the title character, and Moore both won Tony Awards and Drama Desk Awards for their star-making performances.
"I got invited to do everybody's TV show," she says of thePurlieeffect. "That's what made me a household name. The Tony Award is kind of limited to the people in theater. Once you get on television, whether they know about [the Tony Award] or not,everybodysees you." At the same time, Moore received her first Grammy Award nomination, for best new artist, after the release of her full-length debut,Living to Give, in 1970.
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Moore was about to make history again, this time with Broadway actorClifton Davis. The two met through Novella Nelson, one of Moore's cast mates inPurlie.
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"Clifton was in the chorus ofHello, Dolly!"she recalls. "Between matinees and evening shows, sometimes he'd come by our show. He took me out for a date. We became lovers and moved in together. He went from the chorus ofHello, Dolly!to the lead in [1971's]Two Gentlemen of Verona, so then we were like the Black Sonny & Cher of Broadway!"
Their relationship even inspired Davis to write "Never Can Say Goodbye," which gave the Jackson 5 a chart-topping hit on the R&B chart in 1971.
Representatives fromThe Carol Burnett Showapproached Moore and Davis about starring in a six-week series for CBS whileBurnettwent on summer hiatus. WhenThe Melba Moore-Clifton Davis Showpremiered in June 1972, they became the first Black couple to host their own television show, leading a cast that featured Moms Mabley, plus guest stars like Nancy Wilson,Jean Stapletonand recentThe Last Picture ShowOscar winnerCloris Leachman.
"We had great input to the show," says Moore. "We brought in a young woman by the name of Mildred Lane that had been inPurlie. We had them hire her as a backup singer to be part of the music ensemble. She would give us suggestions, in terms of what the humor should be."
"There were only White writers there, and we were very concerned that the humor should not be insulting to Black people," she continues. "I think my look was important, too. I had an incredible wardrobe designer by the name of Bernard Johnson, who did a lot of wardrobe for Broadway people, and I had these interesting Afro-centric hairdos that were just out of this world."
Though the television series was short-lived, Moore thrived in her recording career, from her hit disco rendition of the Bee Gees' "You Stepped Into My Life" to a Grammy nomination for Van McCoy's "Lean on Me," one of her signature anthems. However, it was her tenure on Capitol Records during the 1980s when Moore finally achieved her first No. 1 hit, 16 years after her debut album. Her duet with Freddie Jackson on "A Little Bit More" toppedBillboard's soul singles chart in 1986, quickly followed by her own No. 1 solo smash, "Falling."
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"A number-one hit is wonderful but to share it with someone like Freddie, who was a good friend, just felt so good, like living your best life," Moore says. "Freddie did the male lead first and then I came in and followed what he had laid out for us. I knew he was great, but when I listen to some of the songs, even now, I'm still in awe of his talent."
Moore made it into the record books with her 1982 albumThe Other Side of the Rainbow. On the title track, she held a note for 36 seconds. "I don't know which take it was because it's not something that Itryto do," she says. "It's just there. I can do it anytime. Some things are not so easy for me, but the long high notes are easy."
To this day, theGuinness Book of Recordsdeems Moore's sustained note "the longest studio-recorded note by a female singer and the longest-held single note on an album track."
Moore still astounds audiences with her stratospheric range, and even reunited with Clifton Davis, 80, at one of her sold-out cabaret performances in New York City several years ago. She applauds how his career has continued to flourish, especially with his current role on the hit CBS soap operaBeyond the Gates.
"He's pretty good in it," she says. "He has a little beard and everything. My goodness!"
The key to Moore's own longevity is fueled by a consistent fitness regimen, a disciplined diet and devout spirituality. "As a singer, you have to tell the story with your body," she says. "I always took a lot of dance classes from Alvin Ailey's company. You can't just think about the voice. Your feet, your back, and your legs have to be strong. I think my next book is going to be on singing therapy. What I find is that if you sing every day — I'm not talking about trying to be a 'singer' — you breathe a lot and you get more oxygen. It also clears inflammation. Singing really is a healer."
After more than 50 years onstage, Moore is building on her legacy with new recordings and film projects. Fans and colleagues cheered when comedian Katt Williams sponsored her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023, while the unveiling of Melba Moore Plaza across the street from Arts High School, her alma mater in Newark, N.J., symbolized a profound, full-circle moment for the singer.
"This business of show business is not just all fun and excitement," she says. "It means something to the community, to your life adding up to something. It's agreathonor."
This Is It — Marvelous... & Getting Betteris available wherever books are sold.
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