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College of the Arts to Present 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award to Melba Moore ‘70

Posted in: College News and Announcements

Melba Moore '70, to receive 2016 College of the Arts 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award.

The College of the Arts will be presenting the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award at its annual Convocation on May 24 to alumna Melba Moore. Moore graduated from Montclair State in 1970 with a BA in Music. 

Moore’s career has been prolific and legendary, as a TONY Award winner and four-time Grammy nominated recording artist. This May, Moore returns to her alma mater to inspire the soon-to-be graduates of 2016, as an successful artist and philanthropist.

Moore began her performing career in 1967 in the original cast of the musical Hair along with Ronnie Dyson and Diane Keaton. Moore replaced Keaton in the role of Sheila. In 1970, she won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Lutiebelle in Purlie. Following the success of Purlie, Moore starred in the female lead role on Broadway’s Les Misérables. Moore was the first and only African-American woman to perform the role. 

In her recording career, Moore found critical and popular success with her debut albums I Got Love and Look What You’re Doing To The Man and was nominated for a Grammy Award for ‘Best New Artist’ in 1971. Her work as a vocalist has garnered her three additional nominations. Moore also was the first female pop artist to perform a non-operatic solo concert at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. Her most recent single, “Love Is” was released in 2001.

As an epic musical artist with boundless talent, Moore is immersed in her philanthropy work, supporting communities and giving back. She worked with Dr. Dorothy I. Height and the National Council of Negro Women as their national membership chairwoman, and with Dr. C. Delores Tucker and the National Congress of Black Women.

Moore is also dedicated to helping the lives of children in need. As a member of the board at Hale House, she founded The Melba Moore Foundation for Children. Although the foundation is presently inactive, Moore remains committed to giving her time to organizations involved in aiding children.

Moore has starred in films including The Fighting Temptations with Beyoncé and Cuba Gooding Jr., and her film credits include Cotton Comes to Harlem, Pigeons, Hair, Lost in the Stars,  and All Dogs Go to Heaven. In addition, she starred or appeared in many television programs including The Melba Moore-Clifton Davis Show, Ellis Island, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Love Boat, Flamingo Road, Melba, Falcon Crest, The American Women and Portrayals of Courage.

With countless hits and spanning genres from disco, R&B, and rock, Moore was inducted to the Official Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2015, and received the prestigious 2015 Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award during the Artists Music Guild awards. In 2015 she also headlined “Forever Moore” at Feinstein’s 54/Below and returned again last January.