La Bouche

La Bouche
OriginFrankfurt am Main, Germany
Genres
Years active
  • 1994–2002
  • 2007–present
Labels
Members
Past members
WebsiteLa Bouche Booking
Melanie Thornton at her final performance in Leipzig on 24 November 2001, hours before she died in a plane crash

La Bouche (French for "The Mouth", pronounced [la buʃ]) is a German-American Eurodance duo best known for the hits "Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams", "You Won't Forget Me" and "S.O.S."[1] La Bouche was founded in 1994 by record producer Frank Farian in Frankfurt am Main. He worked together with techno DJ Ulli Brenner and producer Amir Saraf to produce the music, while American singer Melanie Thornton and American rapper and backup singer Lane McCray fronted the act.

Thornton and McCray had already worked together in music, prior to La Bouche's creation. Thornton departed La Bouche in 2000, continuing her career as a solo artist.

In 2001, Thornton was killed in the Crossair Flight 3597 crash in Bassersdorf near Zürich, Switzerland. As a tribute to the singer, Farian released "In Your Life", a previously unreleased song featuring vocals recorded earlier with Thornton and McCray. Farian released The Best of La Bouche featuring Melanie Thornton, a compilation album featuring Thornton's solo tracks alongside La Bouche hits in 2002.[2]

McCray continues to tour the world as La Bouche. In 2015, McCray pulled Hungarian-born singer Sophie Cairo out of obscurity to be the new official singer of the act. A new official remix titled "Sweet Dreams 2017" was released featuring vocals from McCray and Cairo.