Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love will perform on June 12, 2025 at the SOPAC Celebrates: Share the Love event at South Orange Performing Arts Center in South Orange, NJ. The legendary vocalist who started her career as a back-up singer on such monster hits as "You've Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'" is one of the most exciting entertainers around, captivating audiences around the world with her warm, gracious stage presence and thrilling live performances.
SOPAC’s Share the Love celebration is designed to provide critical support for SOPAC so the venue can continue to offer world-class events to theatergoers of all ages. In addition to a mainstage concert by Love, the June 12th event will also include a VIP option for attendees who would like to enhance their concert experience with a pre-show reception and an after-party celebration which will take place in the SOPAC loft before and after Darlene Love’s 7pm concert.
Spotlight Central recently caught up with Love and talked with her about her life in music in addition to her upcoming June 12th Share the Love performance at SOPAC.
We know you were born Darlene Wright in Los Angeles, but did you grow up in a musical family?
Yes, that music being gospel music — my father was a minister who served all the way up until the time he died in 1960.
Your sister was a singer, too, wasn’t she?
Yes, she was the lead singer of The Honeycombs.
So when did you start singing?
I started singing at church with my dad, but when it was nearly time for graduation, I started singing with The Blossoms. What I didn’t realize at the time, though, is that this is when my professional singing voice really came to life.
So you were still in high school when you joined The Blossoms and Phil Spector hired you to sing lead on “He’s a Rebel,” which went on become a #1 single. On the single, the song was credited to The Crystals, but you were paid $5000 to record it, right?
[Laughs] Yes, I did that because I felt if I had to sing lead, Phil Spector should pay me extra!
[Laughs] At the time, were you ok with the fact that the recording credit would go to somebody else?
I actually knew that it was going to be credited to The Crystals. The Crystals couldn’t come to Los Angeles because they were very young — 13 or 14, I think — and their parents wouldn’t let them fly. I’d already been a background singer for a couple of years, so they hired me to sing on “He’s a Rebel” knowing it was going to be for somebody else because, at the time, other singles were coming out that they put different artists’ names on.
In 1962, you signed a deal with Spector, who renamed you Darlene Love, and you recorded “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” which was also credited to The Crystals. But, in 1963, you recorded a song that’s become your signature song, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).” It’s been said that song was initially intended for someone else to sing. Is that true?
No, and I’ve always wondered where that story came from, but they were still coming up with all the lyrics and everything while we were doing the recording session. So, no, it was always supposed to be for me, but who would have imagined it was still gonna be around 60 years later as my signature song?
Good point! You and The Blossoms sang on such classic recordings as The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” and Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life” in addition to working with artists including Sam Cooke, Dionne Warwick, The Beach Boys, Elvis, Tom Jones, and many more.
[Laughs] If it was recorded in the ’60s, I was on that record!
[Laughs] Did you have a favorite song you worked on during that time period?
Probably one of the greatest songs I heard at the time — although I wasn’t a part of the recording — was from Dionne Warwick before I ever met her, and that was “Don’t Make Me Over.” It was one of Dionne’s favorite songs, and I still love it so much today that I’ll sometimes perform it in my shows.
After taking time off to raise a family, something happened in the 1980s while you were working in Beverly Hills that made you decide you needed to get back to singing. Can you tell us more about that?
At the time, I had three sons so I had to go out and make a living, but the background singing industry had left California so I couldn’t get a job doing that. I was working one Christmas as a maid in this house in Beverly Hills cleaning up the lady’s bathroom and on her radio came the record, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” and I said, “OK, I hear you, I hear you — it’s time to go back to making music!” and I never looked back!
That’s when Steven Van Zandt helped you to start performing in New York, you went on to appear in NY theatrical productions like Leader of the Pack, and, in 1986, you got to sing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on David Letterman. How great of a triumph was that for you?
[Laughs] And I did that for 28 years — I’m, probably, the longest running artist who ever did a television show like that every year.
And you’re still performing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on other TV shows like The View, right?
Yes, and I did it on Jimmy Fallon last year. The audience that sees Jimmy Fallon is a different audience from the one that sees The View, so I gain a different audience every time I appear on a new show.
In the late ’80s and ’90s you appeared in the Lethal Weapon movies; in 1988, you published your autobiography, My Name is Love; and, in 2008, you made Rolling Stone’s list of the “100 Greatest Singers” of all time.
[Laughs] Isn’t that amazing?
Yeah, and if that’s not enough, in 2011, you were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. How much of an honor is that for you as an artist who primarily worked as an uncredited lead singer and a backup singer?
That’s probably the greatest honor I could ever receive because it’s not just your fans who vote, it’s also your peers, and it’s not based on how many records you’ve sold, but on what you’ve done for the music industry. And, also, when I made the movie, 20 Feet from Stardom, I thought, “OK, God, where are we going to go from here?” and that went on to became a big success, too.
Because you won a Grammy for it?
Right, I’ve been honored with both a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame award and a Grammy!
And how interesting is it that, in 2015, you ultimately came out with your “debut” album, Introducing Darlene Love? What are your thoughts about finally getting to record your “introductory” album when you were in your 70s?
[Laughs] That’s something that could have only happened in New York and it is not a tale, it is the truth!
There are such great songs on that record like Walter Hawkins’ “Marvelous,” Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry’s “River Deep, Mountain High,” plus contributions from other songwriters like Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, and more. Do you have a favorite song from that album?
One of the greatest songs I fell in love with on that recording is called “Who Under Heaven,” and do you know who it was written by? It was written by the same composer who wrote [sings] “I don’t think that I can take it/’Cause it took so long to bake it.”
Jimmy Webb? “MacArthur Park”?
Yes, Jimmy Webb! He can write!
He sure can! Now, coming up on June 12, you’ll be performing at SOPAC’s Share the Love celebration in South Orange, NJ. Can you tell us what people can expect at this event?
Well, at my show they’ll get a little of everything — from golden oldies to gospel to songs from my album — and they will all be songs that mean so very much to me. And they may also notice that I often sing songs by male artists — I very rarely do a song that was recorded by a female artist because, that way, people don’t compare me to the original recording and, instead, can compare me to the song which, if it’s a great song, will always be a great song.
And what are your thoughts about the importance of people coming out and supporting cultural performance venues like SOPAC, especially given the climate we find ourselves in these days?
People need to be taken away from everything that’s going on in the world, because all people — rich, poor, Black, White — go through things that can make them feel unstable, and music is something that can transport them back to the most wonderful times of their lives. Soothing songs go all the way back to the days of King David of the Bible and they show us just what music can do for the soul, so for the hour and a half or so that the audience is with me at my show, they can forget about everything else that’s going on in the world and just enjoy the moment.
Is there anything else you’d like to add or would like to say to folks who are either new to your audience or those who have been following your career for many years now?
I want everyone to know that I now have four generations of families who come to my shows — great-grandmothers, grandmothers, mothers, and children who come to see me — and I can’t think of anything better than seeing them enjoying my show, singing along, participating, and just letting it rip!
Darlene Love’s SOPAC Celebrates: Share the Love event takes place on June 12, 2025 at SOPAC, located at 1 Sopac Way in South Orange, NJ. Tickets for the mainstage presentation at 7pm start at $125. VIP tickets, which also include a VIP pre-show reception in the SOPAC loft at 6pm and a VIP after-party celebration in the loft at 9pm start at $300. All tickets can all be purchased online by clicking on sopacnow.org.
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