US singer dead in Swiss crash

Thornton's latest single is due for release on Monday

US pop singer Melanie Thornton was among the dead in Saturday's plane crash near Zurich in Switzerland.

Zurich police spokesman Karl Steiner confirmed that the 34-year-old singer was on the passenger list and said: "She is not among the survivors."

Also among the dead were two members of the all-female group Passion Fruit.

The plane came down in poor weather conditions

Maria Serrano-Serrano and Nathaly van het Ende were killed, but Debby St Marteen, 27, survived, said manager Georg Bergheim.

Melanie Thornton was on tour to publicise her solo album Ready to Fly and her new single Wonderful Dream, which was due for release on Monday.

Ms Thornton was born in May 1967 in South Carolina in the USA.

Dance

She studied singing as a child and began working with US jazz and blues bands.

But she only found success in Germany, where she arrived in 1992 with just $15.

Spotted by dance music producers in Frankfurt, she went on to front dance act La Bouche with rapper Lane McCray.

La Bouche had a series of hits including the singles Be My Lover, Sweet Dreams and Falling In Love.

Solo

The Sweet Dreams album was a major success in Europe and the group made two more, Moment of Love in 1998 and SOS in 1999.

But Ms Thornton left the group in February 2000 for an independent career.

Her first solo single, Love How You Love Me, was a hit in Germany in November 2000.

And her upcoming single has been chosen as the song for a new Coca-Cola TV commercial.

The Crossair Flight LX3597 from Berlin was carrying 28 passengers and five crew when it came down in poor weather conditions on its final approach to the airport on Saturday evening.

The crash killed 24 people on board but nine survived.

Swiss authorities have all but ruled out foul play.