Melanie dead: Glastonbury & Woodstock legend who sang Brand New Key dies aged 76 as family say ‘our world is dimmer’

AMERICAN singer Melanie Safka has died aged 76, her family have announced.

The folk musician, known for her song Brand New Key and her rendition of Rolling Stones song Ruby Tuesday, passed away "peacefully" on Tuesday.

Her death was also confirmed by her label, Cleopatra Records, through Glass Onyon PR.

In a Facebook post, Melanie's children: Leilah, Jeordie and Beau Jarred said: "We are heartbroken, but want to thank each and every one of you for the affection you have for our mother, and to tell you that she loved all of you so much.

"She was one of the most talented, strong and passionate women of the era and every word she wrote, every note she sang reflected that.

"Our world is much dimmer, the colours of a dreary, rainy Tennessee pale with her absence today, but we know that she is still here, smiling down on all of us, on all of you, from the stars."

They asked her fans to light a candle to "Illuminate the darkness, and let us all be connected in remembrance of the extraordinary woman who was wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to so very many people".

Melanie was born in New York on February 3, 1947.

She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but the folk clubs of Greenwich Village inspired her singing career.

Raised in Queens, Melanie was a virtual unknown until her performance at the Woodstock festival in 1969.

That moment was also the basis of Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) - her breakthrough hit.

One of the singer's songs also inspired the classic tune Combine Harvester by The Wurzels.

Melanie will forever be known for her 1971 hit Brand New Key.

Yet she told the Guardian in 2021: "It was the bane of my existence for a few years."

Melanie also appeared at Glastonbury festival for the first time in June 1971, before a more recent set in 2011.

The year before she performed at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Her husband, producer and manager, Peter Schekeryk, died in 2010.

Details on her funeral will be announced in due course and the family have asked for privacy.