American music has had its fair share of R&B and soul singers, and a name that will always be remembered in this genre is Melba Moore. Rising to fame with the song “Magic Touch” and other Broadway shows, Melba has remained an iconic name for lovers of this rhythmic genre.
Born in NYC to popular singers of that time, Moore has never been an outsider in this diverse industry. Melba knew what she wanted to become and soon got herself a music degree from Montclair State College. While the ambition was great, Melba needed a song that would propel her career from just a local singer to someone that the world would recognize.
Once Magic Touch came into the picture, Melba became an international hit overnight. Moore has since released tons of iconic songs that she continues to perform on tours even in 2024. The singer has also been awarded the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award for all of her work over the years.
Net Worth
After winning so many awards and releasing songs for almost 6 decades, Melba Moore has managed to gather a net worth of $30,000. The singer first started working on music back in 1966 but only was able to gain worldwide fame in 1986. Before this time, Moore worked as an actress and singer in various Broadway shows like Hair, Purlie, and many others.
Her total net worth might seem low compared to other R&B singers of this era, but that doesn’t mean Moore’s career hasn’t been successful. The singer signed with Buddah Records back in the 70s and released various hit songs like I Am His Lady, This Is It, and Lean on Me.
Melba has been nominated for the Grammy Awards quite a few times, which goes to show the extent of her popularity back in the day. Although the late 80s were the years Melba was at the highest, she’d ever been in her career, by the end of the decade, her fame sadly began to wane. After this time, Moore began to take part in shows like Les Misérables and Sweet Songs of The Soul.
Moore’s net worth also comes from her short but impactful time in the film industry, mainly through her roles in The Fighting Temptations and Ain’t Misbehavin’. Since the 2000s, Melba has been performing energetic tours all over America. The Lean On Me singer also got her own Hollywood Star back in August 2023.
About The Singer
Born to singers Gertrude Melba Smith and Teddy Hill, Melba always knew what she wanted to do in her life. Although Moore was born in NYC, she later relocated to Newark after her mother married Clement Moorman.
Moore started recording songs in the later parts of the ’60s, which also happens to be the time when she began gaining interest in emotion-filled stage performance. Melba’s first stage career started with Dionne from the musical Hair, which already had a solid crew consisting of Ronnie Dyson, Diane Keaton, and Paul Jabara.
For her role in Purlie, Melba Moore was awarded a Tony Award, and she continued to portray the same role in another television adaptation of the play on Showtime. After playing Purlie, Melba took a break and focused on music. Signing with Buddah Records led her to release several hits, most of which reached the top spots on the Billboard Hot 100 list.
After releasing This Is It, Moore had a significant decrease in record sales, but all of this changed when she came out with Pick Me Up, I’ll Dance. This single quickly became the most-used song on the UK’s disco nights. By the late 80s, Melba came out with 2 R&B hits and joined the list of very few black singers who received a Rock Grammy.
While her musical career has been full of exciting twists and turns, Melba has had a relatively simple personal life. Moore was in a relationship with Clifton Davis and later married Charles Huggins but divorced him in 1991. For now, Melba is busy performing entertaining tours all over the world and continuing her legacy as one of the best R&B singers of her time.
