Melanie Appleby

English singer (1966–1990)

Melanie Susan "Mel" Appleby (11 July 1966 – 18 January 1990) was an English singer and model best known as one half of the 1980s English duo Mel and Kim. They had a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart in March 1987, with the song "Respectable".

Appleby was born in Hackney, London, to a Jamaican father and a British mother. She initially worked as a glamour model, before joining her sister Kim Appleby to form Mel and Kim. The duo enjoyed considerable chart success in the late 1980s, achieving four UK top ten hits, including the number one "Respectable" (1987), while their debut album, F. L. M. (1987) spent 25 weeks on the UK chart and was certified platinum in the UK.

In 1985, prior to the duo's recording career, Mel was treated for malignant paraganglioma, a form of cancer, on her liver. By January 1987, Mel was experiencing back problems, delaying the filming of the "Respectable" music video. During a promotional visit to Japan in June 1987, Mel's back pain worsened, rendering her unable to perform, and she returned to the UK in a wheelchair. A recurrence of the cancer was detected in Mel's spine after undergoing tests at St Bartholomew's Hospital. The sisters withdrew from publicity while Mel underwent treatment, while trying to keep the diagnosis secret from the public and many colleagues. The terminal cancer diagnosis was revealed to the public when a journalist went to her house pretending to be a nurse. Appleby died of pneumonia in Westminster, London, on 18 January 1990 following treatment for cancer. She died at the age of 23 and is buried in East Finchley Cemetery.