
Darlene Love
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Year:
2011
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Inducted by:
Bette Midler
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Category:
Performers
Introduction
There's no doubt about it, you’ve been moved by Darlene Love's voice.
By her own count Love has backed up more than two hundred famous musicians. In her sixty-year career, Love has graced songs as a member of the Blossoms, a backup singer and, of course, her own inimitable self.

Bette Midler Inducts Darlene Love
Bette Midler Inducts Darlene Love at the 2011 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony-
Bette Midler Inducts Darlene Love00:00:33
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Darlene Love Acceptance Speech00:07:02
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"(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry"00:03:19
Hall of Fame Essay
2011
“He’s a rebel,” “He’s Sure the Boy I Love,” “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry,” \ “Wait Til’ My Bobby Gets Home,” “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”—if Darlene Love had sung lead only on these five songs and then disappeared from public view, she still would be counted among the finest female vocalists in sixties pop music.
But Love sang much more than just those five songs. Her story is the complex tale of a “singers singer” one whose sound has been far more familiar to the mass audience than her face or her name. Only after years of struggle did a combination of abiding faith, courageous determination, and sheer talent propel her into the solo spotlight.

the very embodiment of teen spirit in the ’60s.
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Gallery
Photography: Janet Macoska