Melanie Thornton

Melanie Janene Thornton (May 13, 1967 – November 24, 2001) was an American singer-songwriter. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, she first gained recognition as a session singer after relocating to Germany to pursue a music career. Her work attracted the attention of production team Ulli Brenner and Gerd Amir Saraf, who enlisted her vocals on the songs “Sweet Dreams” and “Tonight Is the Night”. After being signed to MCI Records by German record producer Frank Farian, she formed a music duo called La Bouche with Lane McCray. The duo released their debut album Sweet Dreams in June 1995, which spawned the top-charting US Billboard Hot 100 singles “Sweet Dreams” and “Be My Lover”. She departed from La Bouche after the release of their less-successful second album A Moment of Love (1997) to pursue a solo career, respectively.

After signing with Germany-based label X-Cell Records in 2000, she released her debut solo album Ready to Fly in May 2001. The album peaked in the top-five in Germany and Switzerland and earned gold-certifications in both countries. Shortly after, she embarked on the Christmas Coca-Cola Tour to promote her album.

On November 24, 2001, at the age of 34, Melanie Thornton was killed in a plane crash along with twenty-three other people on board, when the aircraft she was traveling in crashed in range of hills where it caught fire near Bassersdorf, around 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) short of the runway. The pilot had attempted a controlled flight into terrain after navigation mistakes led the plane off-course. After her death, Melanie Thornton's music continued to achieve commercial success, aided by several posthumous releases, including the compilation albums Best of La Bouche feat. Melanie Thornton and Memories - Her Most Beautiful Ballads. Her final single “Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)” peaked in the top-five of several European countries and was certified double-platinum in Germany. She has sold over 13 million records worldwide.

Death

On November 24, 2001, Melanie Thornton and several musicians boarded Crossair Flight 3597 aircraft at the Berlin Tegel Airport in Berlin, Germany, to travel to Zurich Airport in Switzerland after she completed a concert performance in Leipzig as part of the Christmas Coca-Cola Tour. The plane crashed into a wooded range of hills where it caught fire near the small town of Bassersdorf, around 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) short of the runway. Thornton and twenty-three others on board—including Nathaly van het Ende and Maria Serrano Serrano of the eurodance group Passion Fruit—were killed. At the time of her death, she was survived by her mother Ida Mae, sister Lois, niece, and nephews.

As the subsequent investigation by the Swiss Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) determined, the accident was a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) caused by a series of pilot errors and navigation mistakes that led the plane off-course. This course deviation caused the plane to crash north of its assigned landing strip, runway 28.