Talk:Darlene Love

Untitled
I really think Darlene Love is a reliable source on the question of whether Darlene Love ever worked with the Beach Boys. Monicasdude 16:34, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

The Blossoms provide the backing vocals on Sharon Marie's "Runaround Lover," a fabulous girl group number produced by Brian Wilson.

Sorry ... above post was by me: JimmyBoi2

If she was born in 1941 why is there a link to people born in 1938? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.217.166.84 (talk) 23:27, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Does Anyone have a problem with linking the Darlene Love External Links page to the famous SNL 2005 cartoon "Christmas for the Jews" (on Youtube)? Darlene Love's vocals are a direct reference and counterpoint to her "Christmas" from David Letterman 2005 that is also linked to YouTube. If there can be one there can be the other. BrianMcM (talk) 03:34, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

Darlene's birthdate has been twice edited to 1938 by talk:86.170.8.153. The first was reverted, but 1938 is back again. All other sources say 1941. In fact, the footnoted article at Rolling Stone quotes her as saying that This year [2011] I will turn 70 in July, making her birthdate 1941. See e.g., biography.com, rocklibrary.com, encyclopedia.com. Could someone do the edit? I've never actually done an edit before and don't want to mess it up. Netgeezer (talk) 15:09, 23 October 2011 (UTC) netgeezer

Please help improve this article
Ah, where to start (Wiki-weary sigh):


 * The most important point &mdash; Darlene Love often sang uncredited with Phil Spector's stable of singers &mdash; gets lost in this mishmash. That's the story here: in fact, Love had to sue Spector for royalties and at one point was so broke she was cleaning houses in Los Angeles until producer Kenny Laguna engineered her comeback. So hang the story on this hook, and the rest will flow from there.


 * The second paragraph about the Blossoms needs to be reworked/edited/deleted/moved (your call).


 * This article lacks sources. Yes, you know and I know Darlene Love, like many soul/R&B singers, started singing in her church choir. But ya gotta cite a source for this and every other claim. You could start by doing research on allmusic.com.

Y'know (another weary sigh), I just logged by 5,000th edit on Wikipedia, and it's discouraging how many entries are in less-than-stellar shape. So thanks to whomever started this article, but no thanks for not including sources. Kinkyturnip (talk) 03:53, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Birth Date
The article says Ms Love's birthday was 7/26/1941 and cites a Rolling Stone reference. I can't find her birth date in the referenced article. Joel Whitburn in The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition gives her birth date as 7/26/38. That would mean, though, that she was 20/21 years old when, while still in high school, she joined the Blossoms in 1959, according to the article. Not impossible, I know, but not likely either. Nibios (talk) 23:11, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * There have been a few recent attempts to change Love's birth year within the article, so I did a little bit of extra research. The Biography & Genealogy Master Index online database (subscription required), which indexes reference sources such as biographical dictionaries and who's who guides, subject encyclopedias, and volumes of literary criticism, shows 11 citations for Love with a birth year of 1938, 20 citations with a birth year of 1941, and 9 entries with no date. Some of the entries showing 1938 as the birth year include The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (1983), The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (3rd edition, 1998), with the most recent entry being Dictionary of Women Worldwide (2007). Most of the entries showing 1941 as the birth year are annual editions of Who's Who Among African Americans, but that source has been consistent in using this date from the 8th (1994) through the 26th edition (2013). Also showing 1941 are Contemporary Black Biography (2000), and Contemporary Musicians (2004).


 * Perhaps most important in this discussion though is Love's entry in the Library of Congress Name Authority File. Entries in this database are carefully researched by librarians at LOC, and the decisions made for this file are reflected in library catalogs around the country. Although the official form of entry for Love in the LOC authority file does not include a birth year, her full entry shows that the LOC librarians have determined that her birth year is 1941 ("Birth Date" = 19410726) and there is a cross reference from "Wright, Darlene, 1941- ". Notes in the entry show that LOC librarians also used Love's autobiography as a resource for this decision. The Love entry in the LC NAF was last updated in 2013. That said, national libraries in other countries have used both 1938 and 1941 as Love's birth year.


 * Given this well-documented discrepancy in birth year, I think the best solution at this time is to keep the WP article birth year as 1941, but acknowledge that other sources have listed it as 1938. I'll make that addition to the article momentarily. If there are disagreements with this action, let's discuss it here. NOLA1982 (talk) 16:53, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Removal of credit for 'The Shoop Shoop Song'
The film Twenty Feet from Stardom incorrectly presents the Blossoms as having sung back-up vocals for Betty Everett's 1964 hit 'The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss),' a song recorded in Chicago with the Opals on background vocals. The Blossoms were an LA-based session group and they recorded the background vocals to Merry Clayton's original 1963 version entitled 'It's In His Kiss.' It is also possible that the Blossoms may have contributed to Ramona King's competing version as well but they did not perform the background vocals to Betty Everett's hit version of the song. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.60.6.93 (talk) 05:10, 6 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Correct, because obviously the Blossoms recorded backing vocals in LA and not in Chicago. TheGreatestLuvofAll  ( chat with me ) 15:53, 17 January 2024 (UTC)

Can anyone add any appropriately documented information on her personal life?
For instance, is she married? Has she ever been married? Did she have a long-term romantic relationship with Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers? Someone out there must have some documented information to share. 66.162.249.170 (talk) 04:07, 19 December 2017 (UTC)


 * Darlene is currently married to Alton Allison. she was married to Leonard Peete from 1959-68 and to Wesley Mitchell from 1971-81. I am not sure about the Righteous Brothers but I did read something somewhere about that years ago, but she did after divorcing her husband Leonard. TheGreatestLuvofAll  ( chat with me ) 15:56, 17 January 2024 (UTC)

Citation for the credits on Basketball Jones "The song’s guitar intro was played by George Harrison, and among the many other well-known musicians credited were Carole King, Billy Preston, Tom Scott and Nicky Hopkins. The backup singers, billed as cheerleaders, were Darlene Love and, from The Mamas and The Papas, Michelle Phillips." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.174.179.121 (talk) 03:38, 5 December 2020 (UTC)

Edit war regarding "Queen of Christmas" title
I notice that 2600:1015:b10b:4ecd:0:15:2c32:5b01 is repeatedly adding the "Queen of Christmas" title to the lede of the article and it is repeatedly being removed. @2600:1015:b10b:4ecd:0:15:2c32:5b01, could you kindly seek consensus on this talk page here before re-adding it? Edderiofer (talk) 05:47, 4 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Here is one article but there are several. This has been well documented over the years. it is also in current news since M.C. has been trying to trademark it. Love has filed an injunction since she has held this title for many years. She is known for her sold out annual Christmas Shows and her classic hits include many Christmas classics. Original pressings of these records are highly sought after and sell for a high premium.
 * https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/music/how-darlene-love-became-the-christmas-queen/2017/12/08/38e24cc2-d6f2-11e7-95bf-df7c19270879_story.html RSmusiceditor (talk) 16:42, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
 * It seems like that article claims that her nickname is "Christmas Queen", not "Queen of Christmas"; the latter seems to quite square go to Mariah Carey even before this current trademarking incident: see here, here, and here.
 * Even besides that, I still question whether this nickname is important enough to be placed in the lead paragraph of the article. It's already stated twice elsewhere in the article (and all three mentions of the nickname were added after September 12, 2022; shortly before the edit war over this started).
 * Which brings me to another point; I feel like this specific issue may fall under WP:RECENTISM since the nickname doesn't seem like it was notable enough to have been added until after this trademark incident came up. I can't find any other sources that called Darlene Love the "Christmas Queen" prior to this trademark incident; let me know if you can find them, since you claim that this has been "well-documented over the years". Edderiofer (talk) 17:37, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Just a note, I only reverted the first IP because they didn't add a source. ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 17:43, 4 October 2022 (UTC)

I hope i am adding this to the correct spot. She was dubbed christmas queen in the mid 80s when her career exploded. Every music fan who knows Darlene knows this. This was at least 6 years before Mariah was even a name. The years are even mentioned in the Wikipedia text. Why the debate/fight over this? Titles are mentioned in the first paragraph- disription of Elvis, James Brown, Aretha etc... why is it not apropriate this time? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:6011:D100:652B:8CC4:EA48:748:8B1E (talk) 18:59, 4 October 2022 (UTC)