La Bouche Melanie Thornton

by John Bush
Frank Farian, the man behind Boney M and Milli Vanilli, rolled out his '90s equivalent, La Bouche, in 1995. Based in Germany (though both are American), vocalist Melanie Thornton and rapper Lane McCray hit number one throughout Europe and Canada with their singles "Sweet Dreams" and "Be My Lover." In 1995, the duo released their first American single, "Tonight Is the Night" for Logic Records. Blending R&B, house and pop, Sweet Dreams appeared in September of 1995, produced by Farian; All Mixed Up appeared in 1996, followed a year later by Moment of Love. In 1998, La Bouche issued S.O.S. On November 24, 2001, Thornton was killed in a plane crash in Switzerland -- she had been travellling from Berlin to Zurich for a performance when the plane went down, killing her and the 23 other passengers.