Melba Moore

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Melba Moore (born Melba Hill, 29 October 1945, in New York City) is an American R&B singer and actress. She started her career in 1967 with a role in the musical Hair. In 1970, Moore won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Purlie (She portrayed Lutiebelle). In 1978 she appeared (as Marsinah) with Eartha Kitt in Timbuktu!.

By the 1970s Moore started focusing on music with many hits in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. Her 1975 debut album, Peach Melba, earned her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Some of her hits include: "You Stepped Into My Life", "Love's Comin' At Ya", "This Is It", "The Greatest Feeling" and "A Little Bit More". Moore often collaborated with R&B crooner Freddie Jackson. Her 1990 recording of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was instrumental in having that song entered into the Congressional Record as the Official African-American National Anthem. She was nominated for a Grammy for the song "Lean On Me", in which she held a 35-second note.^{[citation needed]}

More recently, Moore has been focusing on gospel recordings whilst still appearing in occasional Broadway shows. In 2003, she was featured in the film, The Fighting Temptations, which starred Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles.

After her impressive career of more then 40 years, with over a dozen released albums, she finally gets her first royalties in the beginning of 2007, after waiting for 4 decades...

Preceded by Marian Mercer for Promises, Promises	Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical 1970 for Purlie	Succeeded by Patsy Kelly for No, No Nanette