Melody Thornton is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to stardom as a member of the successful pop group the Pussycat Dolls; the youngest member of the group, Thornton assumed the second most prominent vocal role, after lead vocalist Nicole Scherzinger, was distinguished for her melismatic vocal runs. As of 2010, Thornton has departed from the group to focus on her solo career. Thornton's first mixtape, P. O. Y. B. L was released March 15, 2012. Thornton graduated from Camelback High School in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2003, she is of Mexican American descent through her mother and African American descent through her father, Theolph Thornton. Thornton has an older sister named Nichole Thornton, her talent was first discovered at a Papago Elementary School talent show when she sang Mariah Carey's remake of Badfinger's "Without You". In 2003, Thornton saw The Pussycat Dolls on MTV Diaries featuring Christina Aguilera and heard they were auditioning for a new group member. Thornton went to the audition on December 2, 2003, was recruited that month.

For her audition, Thornton only sang, but was still accepted into the group as a soprano vocalist in order to add vocal strength. As with the other Dolls, she was a salaried employee of Interscope Records, her nickname for the group is "Baby Doll". The Pussycat Dolls achieved worldwide success in 2005 with their album PCD, which debuted at number five on the U. S. Billboard 200 Chart and produced the hits "Don't Cha", "Buttons", "Stickwitu", the last of which earned the group a Grammy Award nomination. Following the departure of Carmit Bachar in March 2008, the group continued as a quintet and in 2008 released their second studio album, Doll Domination which included the hits "When I Grow Up", "I Hate This Part", "Jai Ho!" and "Hush Hush". She was the only member to have contributed vocals apart from Scherzinger on Doll Domination, she provides additional backing vocals and ad-libs to several of the songs, although on Takin' Over the World", "Elevator", "Love the Way You Love Me" and "Painted Windows" she can be found sharing the lead vocals with Scherzinger.

Additionally on "When I Grow Up", "Whatcha Think About That", "In Person" and "Top of the World" she sings secondary vocals. She recorded her first solo song called "Space", included in the deluxe edition of Doll Domination. During the Pussycat Doll's hiatus, Thornton worked on several projects including a cameo on Keri Hilson's music video "Slow Dance" and being a judge at E!'s TV show Bank of Hollywood with the production by Ryan Seacrest. In June 2010 Rap-Up was working on her solo album. Speaking about her position in the group she commented, "I got into the group to sing; that was made clear to me. But it became more apparent what was going on. Roles were being minimized and minimized, by the time it got on the show, it was much like'Y'all play your part and this is what it is.' It was tough because you don't want to shit on your own opportunity."On February 20, 2010, in an interview for The Source Thornton explained that her songs will be different from the group's sound but will not going to abandon that pop demographic that she acquired through the Pussycat Dolls.

In June 2010 Rap-Up first announced that Thornton was working on her solo album with collaborators including Cee Lo Green, Polow da Don, Lil Wayne. On Vibe Magazine she stated that she is working with Dre and Vidal. Thornton's recording of the Cee Lo produced song; the song was recorded by Green and Lauren Bennett for his album The Lady Killer. On June 16, 2011, Thornton's first official single, "Sweet Vendetta", was released. On June 26, 2011, Thorton announced plans to have her debut solo album released sometime in 2012. On March 5, 2012, Lipstick & Guilt was released as a promotional single. On March 15, 2012, her first mixtape "P. O. Y. B. L", an acronym for Piss on Your Black List, was released; the mixtape four originals all written by Melody. The project includes production from Andre Harris and State, Mark Vinten, Melody on the self-produced "Hit the Ground Runnin'," plus a duet with Bobby Newberry. On May 24, 2012, a music video for the cover version of "Bulletproof" from P. O. Y. B. L, featuring Bobby Newberry, premiered.

On June 14, 2012, she made a cameo appearance in a Bobby Newberry's music video for his debut single Dirrty Up, alongside ex-Pussycat Doll member Ashley Roberts. On April 30, 2013, Thornton was a featured vocalist on LL Cool J's 2013 album Authentic on the track "Something About You" along with Charlie Wilson and Earth, Wind & Fire. On May 17, 2013, Thornton made a special guest appearance in Fat Joe's music video "Ballin'". In 2017, Thornton appeared in the second season of E4 reality series Celebs Go Dating, in 2019, she participated in the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice alongside professional partner Alexander Demetriou, she finished in fifth place, after being eliminated in Week 8 following a skate-off against Saara Aalto. In June 2019, Thornton joined Rip It Up The Show, a 70’s musical on a theatre tour of the UK concluding in November 2019 at the London Palladium. Official website Melody Thornton on IMDb

Willa Cather's A Lost Lady was first published in 1923. It tells the story of Marian Forrester and her husband, Captain Daniel Forrester who live in the Western town of Sweet Water, along the Transcontinental Railroad; the novel is written in the third person, but is written from the perspective of Niel Herbert, a young man who grows up in Sweet Water and witnesses the decline of Mrs. Forrester, for whom he feels deeply, of the West itself from the idealized age of noble pioneers to the age of capitalist exploitation. Mrs. Marian Forrester: The wife of Captain Forrester, she is a small town aristocrat. Niel falls in love with what she represents, is dismayed to discover that she has a lover, Frank Ellinger. After her husband's death she allows Ivy Peters to run her estate, she leaves the town and marries an Englishman, dying before Niel sees her again. Captain Daniel Forrester: A strong man who made his fortune building track for the railroads in the old pioneering days, he is proud of his beautiful wife.

The novel opens at a time when he has been physically destroyed by a fall from a horse. After suffering two strokes he dies, signifying the end of the pioneering era. Niel Herbert: The main character, Niel is a young boy when he meets Mrs. Forrester, he falls in love with what she struggles to preserve his boyhood image of her. After watching her first have an affair with Frank Ellinger and Ivy Peters, he gives up on her. Niel realizes by the end of the novel that his perception of Mrs. Forrester is based on the Captain's influence over her. Judge Pommeroy: Niel's uncle, he is a lawyer that falls on hard times much the way the Forresters do. Ivy Peters: An elder boy who knocks down a woodpecker and slits her eyes before releasing her, he pretentious and becomes a lawyer. In the novel he becomes wealthy and he succeeds in owning the Forrester estate. Frank Ellinger: A large man, he was a bachelor at the beginning. Frank visits her when the Captain is away from the house, he marries Constance Ogden.

Constance Ogden: A girl Niel's age whom he tries to entertain at the Forresters, she marries Frank Ellinger. Black Tom: Judge Pommeroy's black servant, he works for the Forresters as well. Adolph Blum: One of Niel's friends, he accidentally comes across Mrs. Forrester and Frank Ellinger in the cedar grove. Cyrus Dalzell: The president of the Colorado and Utah and a good friend of the Forrester family. Mrs. Beasley: The town phone operator, she listens in on all long distance calls; the novel is regarded as having a robust symbolic framework. Uma mulher perdida. Translated by Mauricio Tamboni. PONTOEDITA, 2019; the novel is regarded as having been an influence on F. Scott Fitzgerald, as Marian Forrester was an inspiration for his Daisy Buchanan character in The Great Gatsby; the first film version of the novel was created in 1924, adapted by Dorothy Farnum. Directed by Harry Beaumont, it starred Irene Rich, Matt Moore, June Marlowe, John Roche, it would be adapted loosely into a film of the same name in 1934 by Gene Markey, starred Barbara Stanwyck as Marian Forrester.

The film did not live up to the novel's reputation and is regarded as mediocre. A Lost Lady at the Internet Archive A Lost Lady public domain audiobook at LibriVox A Lost Lady at the IMDB