they both left their american homes to see what wonders germany had in store for their lives as
it turns out the move would not only bring this duo together but make their dreams come true
then after a short run creating international chart-topping hits a heartbreaking tragedy would
change everything let's find out what happened to german euro dance duo la bouche born in fort
bragg north carolina and raised all over including kentucky and alaska as a military brat lane mccray
was an all-around entertainer in the u.s singing dancing and acting in various musical theater
productions growing up he was heavily influenced by many motown artists such as the temptations the
spinners and the supremes in the future he would go on to become a member of the united states air
force and end up stationed in germany eventually he left the air force to pursue music full-time
charleston south carolina-born melanie thornton would begin studying voice in her formative years
she was inspired by singers whom she idolized and grew up listening to such as aretha franklin
and roberta flack later on she found herself in a band in macon georgia that wasn't going anywhere
so she knew it was time for a change in 1991 she decided to move to germany where her sister and
brother-in-law already lived her brother-in-law's uncle a singer and piano player heard melanie on
tape and promised her that he would find her work if she ever came to the country after
starting out on the german nightclub scene she also soon found work in studios recording demos
shortly after that melanie and lane would meet when a friend of lanes asked him to join his
cover band of which melanie was already a member called groovin affairs one day melanie recorded
a song that would ultimately change her life when it caught the attention of german record producer
frank farian the mastermind behind the infamous 80s duo milli vanilli he decided to take both
melanie and lane under his wing in an effort to create the ultimate dance music duo he was
also the one to give them their name which means the mouth in french since they always had a lot
of opinions and often battled back and forth with frank in the studio over their sound and
look that song ended up being lebouche's debut single sweet dreams which dropped in march 1994
a year later the follow-up single be my lover would become an even bigger hit
claiming the number one position on the charts in germany italy the netherlands and sweden
it also became a top 10 hit in the u.s peaking at number six on the hot 100 and number one on the
dance chart since the chemistry between the two was undeniable on stage fans naturally assumed
that they must be an item offstage that was actually not the case however due to knowing and
working with each other for so long they did end up developing romantic feelings for one another
those sentiments can be heard loud and clear in the lyrics to their smash hit be my lover
they decided not to act on those feelings and continue to keep things strictly professional
they would both move on with melanie eventually getting married and lane entering into a long-term
relationship with the lead singer from fellow euro dance group culture beat kim sanders also at this
time melanie was enjoying added success under a different name fellow german euro dance group la
click release the smash hit tonight is the night to the world the duo consisted of kyo shekoni
and rapper singer robert haynes however melanie's vocals took the lead on this particular song
she actually recorded it around the same time as sweet dreams both tracks were shopped around and
another label picked up tonight as the night once upon a time it was even believed that
the rap performance was done by lane but later it was revealed to be robert it was eventually
included on the us version of lebouche's debut album the album aptly titled sweet dreams was
released in june 1995. their second studio album titled sos or a moment of love for the
european version was released in june 1998 several singles were released and did only moderately well
in addition to her work with lebouche melanie still provided guest vocals on many singles for
other artists after building up her repertoire she felt the time was right to strike out on her own
and in 2000 she did just that leaving lebouche to pursue a solo career full-time she experienced
success as a solo singer with her hit love how you love me in may 2001 melanie released her first
and only solo album titled ready to fly towards the end of the year she was asked to record the
song wonderful dream holidays are coming for soft drink manufacturer coca-cola it was going
to be featured on a german television commercial during christmas time sadly shortly after her
final performance in lipsic she lost her life in a plane crash near zurich switzerland on november
24 2001. she was 34 years old after her passing the single went on to become her biggest solo hit
climbing all the way to number three on the german singles chart as a tribute to melanie
frank farian decided to release a compilation album featuring songs from her album along with
the best tracks off lebouche's two albums called the best of lebouche featuring melanie thornton
he also debuted a previously unreleased track featuring her vocals called in your
life understandably melanie's passing devastated lane he took a significant amount of time off
several years in fact while drowning his sorrows in alcohol one day he decided enough was enough
and he needed to get back to doing what he loved to do make music he continued to honor
melanie by keeping the lebouche brand strong with featured rotating vocalists such as former la
click lead singer swedish nigerian kyo shekoni and hungarian singer sophie cairo just to name
a few in 2018 they debuted their first new single in 16 years called night after night
their latest effort called rhythm of love dropped in september 2020. music isn't the only art form
that lane has a passion for he also paints and has established the lane mccrae art gallery some
of his works can also be found on his website 2021 has already proved to be a big year for la bouche
in july it was announced that hungarian singer and pianist timi kullai will serve as the new lead
vocalist for lebouche's live shows additionally lane continues to work on his own solo projects
he released his latest single in june called save my life new lebouche music is also on the way
with plans to release an album featuring various international vocalists lane's message to his fans
about it on lebouche's official website suggests that the long wait will indeed be worth it i am
extremely excited to share all of this great new music with my fans i have test played some of the
singles at various nightclubs around the world and the feedback has been incredible i can't wait to
shock the world when they see some of the a-list talent that is on board for this new project
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