Darlene Love Suffers Heart Attack Before NJ Performance

According to published reports, Broadway veteran Darlene Love suffered a heart attack last weekend before a performance at Tim McLoone's in Asbury Park, New Jersey. After experiencing stomach pains, the singer took asprin to make it through her show. It wasn't until the following day when she was taken to the hospital that she learned that she had a heart attack.

Love is currently recovering.

From her first number one recording, "He's A Rebel," through her string of label hits with legendary producer Phil Spector, including "Da Doo Ron Ron," "He's Sure The Boy I'm Gonna Marry," and "Christmas Baby Please Come Home" to the countless songs she sang backup on for artists like Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Dionne Warwick, Cher, Luther Vandross and Aretha Franklin, Darlene Love is still blazing a trail of success in the music industry and has been nominated to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her albums include Age of Miracles, recorded live in New York City, her first gospel album; Unconditional Love released by Harmony records.

Over the course of her career Darlene has been hailed as one of the greatest singers in pop music by such music legends as Cher, Better Midler and the legendary Luther Vandross. She has proven herself a talented actress as well on stage and screen, starring as Danny Glover's wife in all of the Lethal Weapon films and lighting-up Broadway in such musicals as Grease and the Tony Award®-nominated Leader of the Pack. Darlene also starred for three years on Broadway as Motormouth Maybelle in the Tony Award®-winning musical Hairspray.

Darlene Love was just a high school sophomore in Los Angeles when she was discovered out of a gospel choir, and asked to join a burgeoning girl group called The Blossoms, who began recording for Phil Specter. Soon thereafter, other artists like Sam Cooke were attracted to her powerful sound, and sought Darlene on their recordings. With The Blossoms and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, Darlene sang lead vocals on some of the greatest music hits of the 60's. The Blossoms landed a weekly spot on the landmark television series "Shindig", and through the 60's and 70's, Darlene continued to perform with and back-up such diverse artists as The Beach Boys, The Mamas & The Papas, Tom Jones, The Righteous Brothers and Sonny & Cher.

Darlene then took her years of singing to a new level in order to pursue a solo career and when she did, rock & roll history was made. She has received great national press exposure, including a feature in People magazine, a CNN television documentary on her life, and bookings on numerous national television programs, including "Today," Rosie O'Donnell, and the Oprah Winfrey show as well as her yearly stint on the David Letterman show which she has done for over 20 years.

Darlene's first studio Christmas album, "It's Christmas, Of Course" was released December 2007 to national critical praise. In 2010 Darlene began a tour of Australia starring as 'Miss Sherman' in "Fame: The Musical." Darlene has also released a CD and DVD of her live concert "The Concert of Love" produced and released by Reel Good Productions.