Melanie Thornton

beats,

rhymes

& life

A Christmas song cobbled together from the Coca-Cola jingle might not be everyone's idea of Yuletide joy, but there's a tragic story behind Wonderful Dream (Holidays are Coming).

Following her mid-90s success as lead singer for Eurodance group La Bouche, Melanie Thornton signed a record deal with Sony/Epic Records in 2000, and in May 2001 released her debut album, Ready to Fly. The title was to prove prophetic.

Later that year, Thornton was in Germany promoting her new single Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming) (recorded for a Coca-Cola commercial), and on the night of 24th November had just given what was to prove her final performance, in Leipzig. Thornton then boarded Crossair Flight 3597 from Berlin to Zürich for more radio and TV appearances - but the aircraft didn't reach its destination. The plane crashed into wooded hills near Bassersdorf, Switzerland, catching fire and killing all but nine of the 33 people on board, including Thornton. She was 34.

Following her death, Coca-Cola went ahead with the commercial, which has since aired in Germany every year, with the song climbing the German single charts every year since (it's currently number 5 in the Offizielle Deutsche Charts).

Find more Melanie Thornton at KAOS - or find other artists in the index at the bottom of the page!