Darlene Love, at 85, finally gets the spotlight to herself in a new documentary at TIFF

TORONTO (AP) — It’s cosmic justice that Darlene Love, whose career in music so often went uncredited in her youth, still sings so well at age 85. The new documentary, “Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been,” is punctuated by Love’s performances of some of her classic songs, including “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and “He’s a Rebel.” The performances feel Love reclaiming songs from an up-and-down past. Even in her mid-80s, one of the greatest American vocalists of the 20th century sounds amazing.

“I always took care of my voice,” Love said, speaking in an interview the day before the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. “People don’t realize but talking puts more strain on your voice than singing.” Love sat in a quiet corner of a Toronto hotel with a scarf draped around her neck — one of many tricks she’s picked up over the years to preserve her voice. She quit smoking decades ago and made a habit of not going out after a concert.

Her husband, Alton Allison, keeps a glass of wine waiting for her. Love still performs regularly performs, especially around Christmas, but she takes breaks during concerts to rest her voice, sit down and tell the audience a story. “And I have a lot of stories to tell,” she said with a laugh.

“Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been,” which premiered Monday at TIFF, isn’t the first documentary to chronicle Love’s life, but it is the first to focus entirely on her. The acclaimed 2013 documentary “20 Feet From Stardom” was about often-unheralded backup singers and heavily featured Love. It won the Oscar for best documentary feature.

At the podium, Love belted out a few lines from the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” “I sing because I’m happy,” Love sang. “I sing because I’m free.” But Love getting a spotlight entirely of her own in “I Know Where I’ve Been” is meaningful. For so long Love was denied center stage.

The film, directed by Barry Avrich and produced by Taraji P. Henson, is a lavish tribute to a music icon. “There was no bigger talent,” Bruce Springsteen says in the film.