Ironically, when the movie won the Oscar, the only singer who joined the director and producers at the microphone was Darlene Love, who sang a gospel number very loudly. She’s been a terrific singer for half a century, but of all the women featured in the movie, Love is the one who has become the biggest star. She’s been on Broadway, in movies, in nightclubs, and on David Letterman’s annual Christmas show. In other words, she hasn’t spent her entire career twenty feet from stardom like the others in the movie, such as Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, and Sharon Hill. At the Spirit Awards, Vega and Hill joined Love to sing a solid version of “Lean On Me,” but at the Oscars, they were neither seen nor mentioned.
That’s a shame, because they deserve more acclaim — as the movie proves.