At 85, Darlene Love Is Still Singing, Surviving And Telling Her Story
The one of one, Grammy-winning, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame icon Darlene Love is celebrating another trip around the sun—and at 85 years young, she remains every bit the powerhouse, storyteller and living piece of music history she has always been.
Love stopped by NBC’s TODAY ahead of her July 26, 2026 birthday to reflect on more than six decades in the business and share details about the documentary now being made about her journey. Because when your voice helped shape the sound of an entire generation, one documentary feels less like an indulgence and more like overdue documentation.
DARLENE LOVE FOREVER
Revisit The Voice Behind The Classics
Celebrate Darlene Love’s milestone birthday with her official world, timeless recordings and the music connected to one of the most resilient careers in American pop history.
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The film is titled Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been, borrowing its name from the show-stopping anthem Love performed as Motormouth Maybelle in the original Broadway production of Hairspray. The documentary is being directed by Barry Avrich and produced by Taraji P. Henson and Mark Selby.
Production is still underway, with no release date announced yet. The project is expected to trace Love’s rise from a young church singer in Los Angeles to one of the defining voices of rock, soul and pop, while also examining the racial barriers and industry battles she faced along the way.
And the guest list is properly legendary. New interviews for the documentary are set to include Cher, Bruce Springsteen, David Letterman, Dionne Warwick, Nancy Sinatra, Steven Van Zandt, Paul Shaffer, Marc Shaiman, Lou Adler and Jimmy Fallon, among others. In other words, the people who watched Love make history are finally helping tell the full story.
That story includes singing lead on “He’s a Rebel,” creating the forever-holiday standard “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” backing some of the biggest artists in music, rebuilding her career after stepping away from the industry, conquering Broadway and becoming a standout presence in the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom.
What makes Love’s milestone especially sweet is that she is not being treated like a museum piece. She is still performing, still speaking her mind and still moving forward. At 85, the voice remains unmistakable—and now the woman behind it is preparing to tell thee whole story on her own terms.
Watch Darlene Love Celebrate 85 And Preview Her New Documentary
During her TODAY appearance, Darlene Love reflects on her milestone birthday, enduring career and the documentary Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been.
Source: NBC’s TODAY and Playbill.
