La Bouche

The Eurodance duo La Bouche—featuring rapper Lane McCray and singer Melanie Thornton—dominated dance floors in the mid-’90s with hits like “Be My Lover” and “Sweet Dreams”. • Thornton and McCray were two Americans who met in Germany. She was there working as a session singer, while he was in the US Air Force. • In 1993, Thornton sang on a demo of a song called “Sweet Dreams” for producers Amir Saraf and Uli Brenner, who worked with famed German producer Frank Farian, the man behind Boney M. and Milli Vanilli. • Farian released “Sweet Dreams” in 1994, and the track charted across Europe. The newly named La Bouche (French for “the mouth”) then added McCray, whom Thornton had sung with in a German cover band. • La Bouche cracked America in 1995, when “Be My Lover” reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Dance Club Songs chart. “Sweet Dreams” later became the duo’s second U.S. hit, peaking at No. 13 on the Hot 100. • The group’s 1995 debut album, Sweet Dreams, went platinum in the US. • La Bouche returned in 1996 with the remix album All Mixed Up, followed by their second and final studio album, S.O.S., two years later. • Thornton left La Bouche in 2000 to pursue a solo career and tragically died in a 2001 plane crash while promoting her debut album. • McCray continues to tour under the La Bouche name with singer Sophie Cairo.