Event

Melissa Manchester

Melissa Manchester's self-made You Gotta Love the Life, the singer-songwriter's first album since 2004, celebrates 40 years of making music. The album offers a variety of songs performed with legendary artists such as Stevie Wonder, Al Jarreau, Keb' Mo', Dionne Warwick, Dave Koz, and Joe Sample, in one of his last recordings. You Gotta Love the Life blends the classic American songbook with jazz, ballads and samba, and features high-caliber guest performances in powerfully evocative new songs and favorite cover tunes.

Manchester's own status as one of popular American music's most enduring artists is exceptional both for her longevity and versatility. Manchester's recording of "Don't Cry Out Loud" delivered her first Grammy nomination in 1979, and she won the award four years later for "You Should Hear How She Talks About You". Two of her songs, "Through the Eyes of Love" and "The Promise," were nominated for Academy Awards in the same year.

Today, Manchester teaches music to students at the University of Southern California, where the pupils urged her to finance her new album by a fan-based campaign. "This is an adventure I would not have wanted to miss," Manchester says. "You do have to pinch yourself when you work with your musical heroes and heroines," she admits.