Merry Clayton on How Trauma, Faith, and Real Friends Created Beautiful Scars (KEXP Interview)
To say, “
Merry Clayton’s been through it” is not only a severe understatement but also completely undermines the person I spoke with a couple of weeks ago. If you didn’t know her story and considered her solely on the way she carried herself and parlayed with others, then you would likely assume that this is a woman who has been fully blessed in all ways. And blessed she has been, with a talent that blows the socks off of rock stars and a tight knit circle of loyal friends in an industry with which loyalty comes few and far between. But also Merry Clayton, this complete angel of a human, has been fucking
The Day - Merry Clayton, co-star of 20 Feet from Stardom, soars on Beautiful Scars after grisly crash
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Merry Clayton Bounces Back From Tragedy With New Album
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Vocal dynamo Merry Clayton was just 16 when she became the lead female singer in the Ray Charles Orchestra and 20 when she famously duetted with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones’ classic “Gimme Shelter.” She was 21 when she sang on Neil Young’s equally classic “Southern Man” and on much of Carole King’s landmark album, “Tapestry.”
Now, at the age of 73, Clayton who co-starred in the 2014 Oscar-winning music documentary “20 Feet From Stardom” is back with “Beautiful Scars,” her first solo album since 1994. Born out of tragedy, it marks the start of an inspirational new chapter for the versatile singer, who has collaborated with everyone from Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Coldplay to Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Lynyrd Skynyrd (that’s her singing on the choruses of “Sweet Home Alabama”).