Seattle’s Merrilee Rush Looks Back at Her Hit "Angel of the Morning"

Just over 50 years ago, the song, “Angel of the Morning,” hit the national airwaves and turned Seattle’s Merrilee Rush into a household name.

The song, composed in 1966 and released in 1968, rocketed up the charts and has since been recorded by dozens (read: countless) of other artists. Rush, who came up in the Emerald City, singing popular teenage dances in local venues, lends her giant, golden voice to the track, which has since been placed in television and movie soundtracks like 1978’s Fingers, starring Harvey Keitel. We caught up with Rush, who recently turned 75, to talk about her origins as an artist in the Northwest, how she came to sing the iconic track and what she learned throughout her career.