Every Billboard Top 40 act of the ‘80s (as described by Now USA: The 80s)
In honor of next Independence Day in 2024, me and the Now! family are bringing you every Top 40 act of the '80s as listed in Now USA: The 80s.
And to make sure, I'm listing their span of '80s Top 40 hits as well.
Key
• "*" = Now USA: The 80s highlight
© Sony Music/EMI
And to make sure, I'm listing their span of '80s Top 40 hits as well.
Key
• "*" = Now USA: The 80s highlight
© Sony Music/EMI
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- Actor
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Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John Such quit the band in 1994, and longtime guitarist and co-songwriter Richie Sambora left in 2013. The band have been credited with " the gap between heavy metal and pop with style and ease".
In 1984 and 1985, Bon Jovi released their first two albums and their debut single "Runaway" managed to crack the Top 40. In 1986, the band achieved widespread success and global recognition with their third album, Slippery When Wet, which sold over 20 million copies and included three Top 10 singles, two of which reached No. 1 ("You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer") Their fourth album, New Jersey (1988), was also very successful, selling over 10 million copies and featuring five Top 10 singles (a record for a glam metal album), two of which reached No. 1 ("Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There for You"). After the band toured and recorded extensively during the late 1980s, culminating in the 1988-1990 New Jersey Tour, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora released successful solo albums in 1990 and 1991, respectively.
In 1992, the band returned with the double-platinum Keep the Faith. This was followed by their biggest-selling and longest-charting single "Always" (1994) and the album These Days (1995), which proved to be a bigger success in Europe than in the United States, producing four Top Ten singles in the United Kingdom. Following a second hiatus, their 2000 album Crush, particularly the lead single, "It's My Life", successfully introduced the band to a younger audience, and the band considered this their comeback album. The band followed up with Bounce in 2002. The platinum albums Have a Nice Day (2005) and Lost Highway (2007) saw the band incorporate elements of country music into some of the songs, including the 2006 single "Who Says You Can't Go Home", which won the band a Grammy Award and became the first single by a rock band to reach No. 1 on the country charts. The Circle (2009) marked a return to the band's rock sound. The band also enjoyed great success touring, with both the 2005-2006 Have a Nice Day Tour and 2007-2008 Lost Highway Tour ranking among the Top 20 highest-grossing concert tours of the 2000s. After recording and releasing Because We Can in 2013, lead guitarist Richie Sambora left the band just before an April concert during the supporting tour to spend more time with his family. The band released their first studio album without Sambora, Burning Bridges, in 2015 and the follow-up album This House Is Not For Sale in 2016, the tour for which encompassed 2017-2019. Their most recent album 2020 (2020) was re-worked to include songs inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd protests; its supporting tour was delayed to 2022.
Bon Jovi has released 16 studio albums, five compilations and three live albums. They have sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling American rock bands, and performed more than 2,700 concerts in over 50 countries for more than 34 million fans. Bon Jovi was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. The band received the Award of Merit at the American Music Awards in 2004, and Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Runaway" (№39, 1984)
– 2. "You Give Love a Bad Name" (№1, 1986) ⭐
– 3. "Livin' on a Prayer" (№1, 1987) ⭐*
– 4. "Wanted Dead or Alive" (№7, 1987)
– 5. "Bad Medicine" (№1, 1988) ⭐
– 6. "Born to Be My Baby" (№3, 1989)
– 7. "I'll Be There for You" (№1, 1989) ⭐
– 8. "Lay Your Hands on Me" (№7, 1989)
– 9. "Living in Sin" (№9, 1989)- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born September 23, 1949 in Long Branch, New Jersey, USA. His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen, worked as a bus driver, and was of Irish and Dutch ancestry. His mother, Adele Ann (Zerilli), worked as a legal secretary, and was of Italian descent. He has an older sister, Virginia, and a younger sister Pamela Springsteen. Bruce was raised as a Catholic. He was inspired to take up music when he, at the age of seven, saw Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). When he was thirteen he bought his first guitar for 18 dollars. His mother took out a loan when Bruce was 16 and bought him a Kent guitar for 60 dollars.
In 1965, he became the lead guitarist in the band "The Castiles", he would later become lead singer in the band. The Castiles recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in Brick Township, New Jersey. From 1969 to 1971 he performed with Steven Van Zandt, Danny Federici and Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez in a band called "Child", that was renamed later to "Steel Mill" when guitarist Robbin Thompson joined the band.
In 1972, he signed a record deal with Columbia Records and released his debut album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.", with his New Jersey-based colleagues, who would later be called "The E Street Band", In January, 1973. The album had critical success and so did their second album, "The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle", released in September, 1973, but had little commercial success. In 1975, after more than 14 month of recording, their third album was released, "Born to Run", which had both critical and commercial success for Springsteen and the band.
In 1977, he returned to the studio, after a two-year legal battle with former manager Mike Appel, and produced the album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town", released in 1978 and became a turning point musically for his career. In 1980 came the release of "The River", the album sold well and he followed up with the album "Nebraska" which had critical success but had little commercial success. Springsteen came back with a bang with the release of the album "Born in the U.S.A." in 1984, which sold 15 million copies in the U.S. alone and had seven top ten singles. It became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
After the huge success of the "Born in the U.S.A." album he released a more calm and sedate album in 1987, "Tunnel of Love", which included songs about love lost and the challenges of love, after the break-up with first wife, Julianne Phillips. The albums released in 1992, "Lucky Town" and "Human Touch" were also popular, Human Touch being the most popular of the two, hitting the number one spot of the best-selling albums in the UK. In 1994 he won an academy award for the song "Streets of Philadelphia" featured in the film Philadelphia (1993).
In 1995, he released the album "The Ghost of Tom Joad", which was mostly a solo guitar album and was inspired by "Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass," a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Dale Maharidge. After being apart from the E Street Band for several years they reunited with a successful tour which ended in Madison Square Garden in New York in the year 2000. In 2002 he released the first studio album with the full band in over 18 years, "The Rising", and it became a critical and commercial success. In 2005 he released his third folk album (after "Nebraska" and "The Ghost of Tom Joad"), "Devils & Dust" It was followed by "We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions" in 2006 and "Magic" in 2007. His 16th album will be released on January 27, 2009 and is called "Working on a Dream".
He married for the first time at the age of 35 to actress Julianne Phillips. The marriage helped boost her acting career, but his traveling took it's toll on the marriage and the final blow came when she found out his affair with the American singer/songwriter/guitarist Patti Scialfa. Their marriage ended in 1989. He then married Patti Scialfa on June 8th, 1991, They had lived together since the separation between him and his first wife and they had a child before they married. They have three children together: Evan James Springsteen (born July 25, 1990), Jessica Rae (born December 30, 1991) and Sam Ryan Springsteen (born January 5, 1994).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Hungry Heart" (№5, 1980)*
– 2. "Fade Away" (№20, 1981)
– 3. "Dancing in the Dark" (№2, 1984)
– 4. "Cover Me" (№7, 1984)
– 5. "Born in the U.S.A." (№9, 1985)
– 6. "I'm on Fire" (№6, 1985)
– 7. "Glory Days" (№5, 1985)
– 8. "I'm Goin' Down" (№9, 1985)
– 9. "My Hometown" (№6, 1986)
– 10. "War" (with the E Street Band) (№8, 1986)
– 11. "Brilliant Disguise" (№5, 1987)
– 12. "Tunnel of Love" (№9, 1988)
– 13. "One Step Up" (№13, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
John Mellencamp was born on 7 October 1951 in Seymour, Indiana, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for The Perfect Storm (2000), Colors (1988) and Footloose (1984). He was previously married to Elaine Irwin, Victoria Granucci and Priscilla Diane Esterline.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "This Time" (№27, 1980)
– 2. "Ain't Even Done with the Night" (№17, 1981)
– 3. "Hurts So Good" (№2, 1982)
– 4. "Jack & Diane" (№1, 1982) ⭐*
– 5. "Hand to Hold On To" (№19, 1983)
– 6. "Crumblin' Down" (№9, 1983)
– 7. "Pink Houses" (№8, 1984)
– 8. "Authority Song" (№15, 1984)
– 9. "Lonely Ol' Night" (№6, 1985)
– 10. "Small Town" (№6, 1985)
– 11. "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." (№2, 1986)
– 12. "Rain on the Scarecrow" (№21, 1986)
– 13. "Rumbleseat" (№28, 1986)
– 14. "Paper in Fire" (№9, 1987)
– 15. "Cherry Bomb" (№8, 1988)
– 16. "Check It Out" (№14, 1988)
– 17. "Pop Singer" (№15, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
The Police were a British rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the band consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s and are generally regarded as one of the first new-wave groups to achieve mainstream success, playing a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz. They are also considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the United States. They disbanded in 1986, but reunited in early 2007 for a one-off world tour that ended in August 2008.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (№10, 1981)
– 2. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (№10, 1981)
– 3. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (№3, 1981)
– 4. "Spirits in the Material World" (№11, 1982)
– 5. "Every Breath You Take" (№1, 1983) ⭐*
– 6. "King of Pain" (№3, 1983)
– 7. "Synchronicity II" (№16, 1983)
– 8. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (№8, 1984)- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Pat Benatar was born Patricia Andrzejewski in Brooklyn and raised in suburban Lindenhurst, Long Island. Her mother Millie had sacrificed her own career as an opera singer to bring up Pat and son Andrew. Years later, it was Pat who sang classically, honing the powers of her 4.5-octave voice as a member of Lindenhurst High's musical theater department. Having been accepted at Juilliard, Pat shocked friends and family by marrying her high-school sweetheart Dennis T. Benatar, a soldier, and moving off to Virginia where he had been stationed. Before long, the tedium of life as a housewife/bank teller proved too much for Pat, and she joined Coxon's Army, a cabaret band on the Richmond club circuit. Coxon's Army rose to new heights of fame, and Pat was instilled with the confidence to move to New York City and pursue her own dream, which brought her to Manhattan's "Catch A Rising Star".
Having thrilled the audience with her first performance on amateur night, Pat soon found herself with a paying gig, a manager and a recording contract, but her image was still in limbo. Primarily singing torch songs and Judy Garland classics, she longed to perform hard-rocking tunes in the Led Zeppelin vein. Her wishes were fulfilled when her handlers introduced her to Cleveland guitar-man Neil Giraldo, whose aggressive playing unleashed Pat's inner rocker. She had found her muse, and when her audience roared one Halloween night over a sultry costume she wore on stage, she had found her image.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Heartbreaker" (№23, 1980)
– 2. "We Live for Love" (№27, 1980)
– 3. "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" (№9, 1980)
– 4. "Treat Me Right" (№18, 1981)
– 5. "Fire and Ice" (№17, 1981)
– 6. "Promises in the Dark" (№38, 1981)
– 7. "Shadows of the Night" (№13, 1982)
– 8. "Little Too Late" (№20, 1983)
– 9. "Looking for a Stranger" (№39, 1983)
– 10. "Love Is a Battlefield" (№5, 1983)*
– 11. "We Belong" (№5, 1985)
– 12. "Ooh Ooh Song" (№36, 1985)
– 13. "Invincible" (№10, 1985)
– 14. "Sex as a Weapon" (№28, 1986)
– 15. "All Fired Up" (№19, 1988)- Actor
- Composer
- Director
Rick Springfield was born Richard Lewis Springthorpe in Guildford, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to Eileen Louise (Evennett) and Norman James Springthorpe, a Lt. Colonel in the Australian Army. His maternal grandparents were English, and his father was of English and some Scottish descent. Rick spent his childhood on various army bases in Australia and Britain. As a teenager, he fronted many music bands, such as the "Jordy Boys", "Wakedy Wak", and "Zoot". The latter was his most successful, paving his way for future success as a musician. He came to the U.S. early 1970s, and recorded an album, Beginnings. It had one "major" hit - Speak to The Sky. After that came "Comic Book Heroes", which was marginally successful.
He learned to speak English with an American accent to further his acting career, after he lost his record label. While he waited for his big break, he signed a contract with Universal television, playing bit parts in shows such as The Six Million Dollar Man (1974) and The Rockford Files (1974). He also had a recurring role on the soap The Young and the Restless (1973). In the early 1980s, his luck changed as he signed to RCA Records and was then cast as "Dr. Noah Drake" on the soap General Hospital (1963). While he had released six albums in the 1970s, his 1980 break-through album "Working Class Dog" gave him the #1 single "Jessie's Girl". From the music and TV exposure, he became a teen idol. He continued to star on "GH" while touring and releasing "Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet", with the hit "Don't Talk To Strangers". Upon releasing his 3rd album with RCA-"Living In Oz" he quit "GH" and went back to his rock roots. "Living In Oz" is considered by many his finest (and hardest rock) album. He starred in the movie Hard to Hold (1984) in 1984 and released the soundtrack to it with the hit "Love Somebody", followed by "Don't Walk Away" and "Bop Til Ya Drop". His next album, "Tao", started his slow descent from rock star status. It was followed up in 1988 by "Rock Of Life" which was his 'moodiest' and least recognized album (by the public).
In 2015, Rick received positive notices playing Meryl Streep's character's boyfriend in Ricki and the Flash (2015).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Jessie's Girl" (№1, 1981) ⭐*
– 2. "I've Done Everything for You" (№8, 1981)
– 3. "Love Is Alright Tonite" (№20, 1982)
– 4. "Don't Talk to Strangers" (№2, 1982)
– 5. "What Kind of Fool Am I" (№21, 1982)
– 6. "I Get Excited" (№32, 1982)
– 7. "Affair of the Heart" (№9, 1983)
– 8. "Human Touch" (№18, 1983)
– 9. "Souls" (№23, 1983)
– 10. "Love Somebody" (№5, 1984)
– 11. "Don't Walk Away" (№26, 1984)
– 12. "Bop 'Til You Drop" (№20, 1984)
– 13. "Bruce" (№27, 1985)
– 14. "Celebrate Youth" (№26, 1985)
– 15. "State of the Heart" (№22, 1985)
– 16. "Rock of Life" (№22, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Wait for Me" (№18, 1980)
– 2. "How Does It Feel to Be Back" (№30, 1980)
– 3. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" (№12, 1980)
– 4. "Kiss on My List" (№1, 1981) ⭐
– 5. "You Make My Dreams" (№5, 1981)*
– 6. "Private Eyes" (№1, 1981) ⭐
– 7. "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" (№1, 1982) ⭐
– 8. "Did It in a Minute" (№9, 1982)
– 9. "Your Imagination" (№33, 1982)
– 10. "Maneater" (№1, 1982) ⭐
– 11. "One on One" (№7, 1983)
– 12. "Family Man" (№6, 1983)
– 13. "Say It Isn't So" (№2, 1983)
– 14. "Adult Education" (№8, 1984)
– 15. "Out of Touch" (№1, 1984) ⭐
– 16. "Method of Modern Love" (№5, 1985)
– 17. "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" (№18, 1985)
– 18. "Possession Obsession" (№30, 1985)
– 19. "A Nite at the Apollo Live!" (with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks) (№20, 1985)
– 20. "Everything Your Heart Desires" (№3, 1988)
– 21. "Missed Opportunity" (№29, 1988)
– 22. "Downtown Life" (№31, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
William Martin Joel is an American singer, pianist, composer and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his single and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s, having released 12 pop and rock studio albums from 1971 to 1993 as well as one studio album of classical compositions in 2001. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, as well as the seventh-best-selling recording artist and the fourth-best-selling solo artist in the United States, with over 160 million records sold worldwide. His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2, is one of the best-selling albums in the United States.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "You May Be Right" (№7, 1980)
– 2. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" (№1, 1980) ⭐
– 3. "Don't Ask Me Why" (№19, 1980)
– 4. "Sometimes a Fantasy" (№36, 1980)
– 5. "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (Live) (№17, 1981)
– 6. "She's Got a Way" (Live) (№23, 1982)
– 7. "Pressure" (№20, 1982)
– 8. "Allentown" (№17, 1983)
– 9. "Tell Her About It" (№1, 1983) ⭐
– 10. "Uptown Girl" (№3, 1983)
– 11. "An Innocent Man" (№10, 1984)
– 12. "The Longest Time" (№14, 1984)
– 13. "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" (№27, 1984)
– 14. "Keeping the Faith" (№18, 1985)
– 15. "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" (№9, 1985)
– 16. "The Night Is Still Young" (№34, 1985)
– 17. "Modern Woman" (№10, 1986)
– 18. "A Matter of Trust" (№10, 1986)*
– 19. "This Is the Time" (№18, 1987)
– 20. "We Didn't Start the Fire" (№1, 1989) ⭐- Music Department
- Actress
- Composer
Raspy-voiced singer/songwriter Kim Carnes was born on July 20, 1945 in Los Angeles, California. Kim wanted to become a successful singer and songwriter ever since she was three. Carnes began her music career in the 60s writing songs for other artists while performing at local clubs and working as a session vocalist. In 1966 Kim joined the folk group the New Christy Minstrels, but subsequently left to form the duo Kim and Dave with her husband David Ellingson. Carnes acted in the 1967 motion picture "C'mon, Let's Live a Little." She recorded her debut album "Rest on Me" in 1972. This was followed by a few more albums. Carnes scored her first hit song with "You're a Part of Me," a duet with Gene Cotton. Her duet with Kenny Rogers on "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" and a sensuous, stirring cover of "More Love" by the Miracles likewise did well. Kim enjoyed her most substantial smash with the fantastic and mesmerizing "Bette Davis Eyes," which peaked at number one on the Billboard charts for nine weeks. The song won Grammy Awards for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Moreover, Carnes sang the song live for Bette Davis at a tribute for the legendary actress. In 1985 Kim had the distinction of having singles in three different categories all simultaneously on the pop charts: solo ("Invitation to Dance"), duo ("Make No Mistake, He's Mine," with Barbra Streisand), and trio ("What About Me," with Kenny Rogers and James Ingram). In addition, Carnes sings along with an all-star musical line-up on the song "We Are the World." Kim had her last top 20 hit with "Crazy in the Night." Her songs are featured on the soundtracks to several films which include the cult classic car chase action thriller "Vanishing Point," the blockbuster smash "Flashdance," "Spaceballs," "North Country," and "Heartbreak Hotel." She's the mother of sons Ry and Collin. In 1994 Kim Carnes moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she continues to perform live and has written songs for such popular country artists as Tanya Tucker, Sawyer Brown, Pam Tillis, Reba McIntire, and Deanna Carter.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "More Love" (№10, 1980)
– 2. "Bette Davis Eyes" (№1, 1981) ⭐*
– 3. "Draw of the Cards" (№28, 1981)
– 4. "Voyeur" (№29, 1982)
– 5. "Does It Make You Remember" (№36, 1983)
– 6. "Invisible Hands" (№40, 1983)
– 7. "Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)" (№15, 1985)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Any Way You Want It" (№23, 1980)
– 2. "Walks Like a Lady" (№32, 1980)
– 3. "The Party's Over (Hopelessly in Love)" (№34, 1981)
– 4. "Who's Crying Now" (№4, 1981)
– 5. "Don't Stop Believin'" (№9, 1981)
– 6. "Open Arms" (№2, 1982)*
– 7. "Still They Ride" (№19, 1982)
– 8. "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" (№8, 1983)
– 9. "Faithfully" (№12, 1983)
– 10. "After the Fall" (№23, 1983)
– 11. "Send Her My Love" (№23, 1983)
– 12. "Only the Young" (№9, 1985)
– 13. "Be Good to Yourself" (№9, 1986)
– 14. "Suzanne" (№17, 1986)
– 15. "Girl Can't Help It" (№17, 1987)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "99" (№26, 1980)
– 2. "Rosanna" (№2, 1982)
– 3. "Make Believe" (№30, 1982)
– 4. "Africa" (№1, 1983) ⭐
– 5. "I Won't Hold You Back" (№10, 1983)*
– 6. "Stranger in Town" (№30, 1984)
– 7. "I'll Be Over You" (№11, 1986)
– 8. "Without Your Love" (№38, 1987)
– 9. "Pamela" (№22, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Keep on Loving You" (№1, 1981) ⭐*
– 2. "Take It on the Run" (№5, 1981)
– 3. "Don't Let Him Go" (№24, 1981)
– 4. "In Your Letter" (№20, 1981)
– 5. "Keep the Fire Burnin'" (№7, 1982)
– 6. "Sweet Time" (№26, 1982)
– 7. "I Do' Wanna Know" (№29, 1984)
– 8. "Can't Fight This Feeling" (№1, 1985) ⭐
– 9. "One Lonely Night" (№19, 1985)
– 10. "Live Every Moment" (№34, 1985)
– 11. "That Ain't Love" (№16, 1987)
– 12. "In My Dreams" (№19, 1987)
– 13. "Here with Me" (№20, 1988)- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Born on October 13, 1941, in Newark New Jersey, Paul Simon is one of the greatest singer/songwriters ever. In 1957, he and high school pal, Art Garfunkel, wrote and recorded the single, "Hey Schoolgirl", under the name "Tom and Jerry". After some failures, they broke up. Simon still wrote and recorded music as "Tico and The Triumphs" and "Jerry Landis". He also attended Queens College and got a B.A. in English. He also studied law but quit to pursue a music career in 1964.
He and Art Garfunkel got back together as Simon & Garfunkel and recorded "Wednesday Morning 3 a.m.". After the commercial failure of the album, they broke up again. Simon left America to go to England, where he played in folk circuits and he made a solo album. Back in America, the producer of their first album, Tom Wilson, dubbed bass, electric guitar, and drums to the all-acoustic song, "Sound of Silence", which propelled them into the folk-rock scene. Simon & Garfunkel were back and, in 1966, they had popularity with the album, "The Sound of Silence", which features songs such as "I am a Rock", "Richard Cory" and "Kathy's Song". Their next album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme", had songs such as "Homeward Bound" "The 59th Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".
In 1967, Mike Nichols asked Simon to write a score for his upcoming movie, The Graduate (1967). Their next album, "Bookends", which is considered one of the greatest albums of the sixties, featured songs such as "Mrs. Robinson" from The Graduate (1967), "Hazy Shade of Winter", "At The Zoo", "America". Their last album, "Bridge Over Troubled Water", featured songs such as the title song, "The Boxer", "Cecilia".
In the seventies, Simon emerged as a singer/songwriter with albums such as "Paul Simon", Still Crazy After All These Years", "Hearts and Bones", "Graceland", and "Songs from the Capeman". Aside from music, he wrote and starred in the movie, One-Trick Pony (1980), and reunited with friend, Art Garfunkel, in 1981, to give a concert in Central Park.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Late in the Evening" (№6, 1980)*
– 2. "One-Trick Pony" (№40, 1980)
– 3. "You Can Call Me Al" (№23, 1987)- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Singer/songwriter Christopher Cross was born Christopher Charles Geppert on May 3, 1951 in San Antonio, Texas. A self-described Army brat, Christopher's father was a U.S. Army pediatrician who was stationed at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1950s. Cross began his career in the music industry as a member of the San Antonio-based cover band Flash. Christopher signed a solo contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1978. His self-titled debut album was released in December, 1979. Besides featuring the hit songs "Sailing," "Ride Like the Wind" (with backing vocals by Michael McDonald), "Never Be the Same," and "Say You'll Be Mine" (the latter has backing vocals by Nicolette Larson), the album garnered five Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s).
Cross released his second album "Another Page" in early 1983; this album featured the hit songs "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (as a bonus track on the CD and cassette versions only), "Think of Laura," and "All Right." Christopher's follow-up albums "Every Turn of the World" and "Back of My Mind" alas failed to match the substantial success of his first two albums. Cross released his fifth album "Rendezvous" in 1995. He has released a handful of additional albums since then which include a Best of compilation that came out in 2002 and his most recent album "Secret Ladder," which was issued in September, 2014. Moreover, Cross continues to do live concerts on a regular basis.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Ride Like the Wind" (№2, 1980)*
– 2. "Sailing" (№1, 1980) ⭐
– 3. "Never Be the Same" (№15, 1980)
– 4. "Say You'll Be Mine" (№19, 1981)
– 5. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (№1, 1981) ⭐
– 6. "All Right" (№12, 1983)
– 7. "No Time for Talk" (№33, 1983)
– 8. "Think of Laura" (№9, 1984)- Actress
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Juice Newton was born on 18 February 1952 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Deadpool (2016), Charlie's Angels (2000) and Boogie Nights (1997).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Angel of the Morning" (№4, 1981)*
– 2. "Queen of Hearts" (№2, 1981)
– 3. "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)" (№7, 1982)
– 4. "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me" (№7, 1982)
– 5. "Break It to Me Gently" (№11, 1982)
– 6. "Heart of the Night" (№25, 1983)
– 7. "Tell Her No" (№27, 1983)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Writer
Born in Houston, Texas on August 21, 1938, Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, actor, record producer and entrepreneur Kenneth Ray Rogers was the fourth of eight children born to a carpenter father who worked in a shipyard and a mother who was a hospital nurse's assistant. Of humble Irish and Native American heritage, the boy grew up in the poorer section of Houston, but would become the first member of his family to graduate from high school.
Kenny took an early interest in singing and, as a teenager, joined a doo-wop recording group called "The Scholars". The group recorded the song "Poor Little Doggie," and Kenny, age 19, recorded his first solo song, "That Crazy Feeling," for a small Houston label, Carlton Records, and his career was off and running. He subsequently joined the "New Christy Minstrels" 1966 as a singer and double bass/bass guitar player, then splintered off with others from the popular folk music group a year later to form the rock group "The First Edition," an eclectic-styled rock band whose repertoire included rock and roll, R&B, folk and country.
The First Edition's first Billboard hit, "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (1968) was a psychedelic rock song which peaked at #5, and was followed by the more popular soft-rock hit "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" (1969) which hit #6 on the US charts and made them a star attraction. Other successes would include "Reuben James" (1969, #26), "Something's Burning" (1970, #11) and "Tell It All Brother" (1970, #17). By this time, the dark-haired, husky-framed, ear-pierced singer's ingratiating personality and sensual gravel tones, affectionately dubbed "Hippie Kenny," had taken center stage and the group changed their name to "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition" in 1969. The First Edition enjoyed worldwide success, appeared on such popular shows as "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," had featured roles in the TV movie The Dream Makers (1975) and went on to host the syndicated TV variety series Rollin' on the River (1971).
Sadly, the pressures of taping a weekly show caused extreme friction within the group and eventually took its toll. After a couple more years of producing songs that couldn't reach the "Top 20," the group decided to disband in 1976 and, inevitable as it was, Kenny went solo. It didn't take long before he started chalking up a string of country-tinged 'Top 20' pop hits with "Lucille" (#5), "Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer" (#4, with Kim Carnes), "Through the Years" (#13), "We've Got Tonight" (#6, with Sheena Easton) and his two #1 hit sellers "Islands in the Stream" (with Dolly Parton) and "Lady." By the late 1970s, the (now) silver fox had sold over $100 million worth of records. He also made popular hit duets with both country female stars (Parton and Dottie West) as well as the distaff pop elite (Kim Carnes and Sheena Easton).
Into the 1980's Kenny began to feel a downswing in his singing career. After charting lower and lower, he wisely branched off into other successful areas. In 1980, he touched off a modest, lightweight, but highly appealing acting career starting with the Southern-styled TV-movie The Gambler (1980), based on his #1 1979 Grammy-winning song hit. The feature had Kenny starring as poker-playing card shark Brady Hawkes, who attempts to unite with a son he never knew. This led to four equally popular sequels -- Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (1987), The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) and Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (1994). Two other old-fashioned western TV movies followed. The first was also based on a hit Kenny Rogers song, Coward of the County (1981), (Country, #3) in which he played a town preacher who tries to mentor his young "cowardly" nephew. The second, Wild Horses (1985), had him starring as a has-been rodeo champion looking for personal fulfillment herding wild mustangs.
Kenny also tried to parlay his popularity as a major country singer into a conservative film career. There would only be one starring role. In Six Pack (1982), Kenny stars as a race car driver who tangles with six roughhouse orphans. Instead, he was back to TV-movies where he went on to appear as himself in two TV country-flavored biopics -- Big Dreams & Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story (1995) and Get to the Heart: The Barbara Mandrell Story (1997). He also put out the folksy yuletide offering Christmas in America (1990) which had his real-life son Kenneth Rogers co-starring in a father-son strained relationship; and the western Rio Diablo (1993) in which he he essays the role of a nice-guy bounty hunter assisting a revengeful groom country singer Travis Tritt in a search for of kidnapped bride. Another then-reigning country star, Naomi Judd, was featured as a colorful madam.
In addition to a few acting appearances on TV with "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," "Touched by an Angel" and "How I Met Your Mother," Kenny also became a perennial star or guest of TV specials and seasonal events over the years, including Kenny Rogers and the First Edition: Rollin' on the River (1971), A Christmas Special... With Love, Mac Davis (1979), Kenny Rogers Live in Concert (1983), Kenny & Dolly: A Christmas to Remember (1984), Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Together (1985), Kenny, Dolly and Willie: Something Inside So Strong (1989), Kenny Rogers Going Home (1995), Live by Request: Kenny Rogers (1999) and Consequence (2007). He also hosted two TV documentary series: The Real West (1992) and High Point Casinos of the World (2003).
In addition, Kenny published several books on photography and opened a rotisserie-chicken fast-food franchise (Kenny Rogers Roasters). Less and less visible in the ensuing years, Kenny produced the 1999 album "She Rides Wild Horses", which peaked at #6 on the country charts, his highest in 15 years, and included the #1 single "Buy Me a Rose."
Spending much of his free time over the years breeding Arabian horses and cattle on a 1,200-acre Georgia farm, Kenny's seemed to settle with his fifth wife Wanda Miller, whom he married in 1997. He had five children altogether and his namesake, son, Kenneth Rogers, left acting and briefly launched his own singing career in 1989 with "Take Another Step Closer". He now is on the business end of entertainment providing music for TV and movies.
Kenny made one last concert tour, "The Gambler's Last Deal," in 2015 and it was running worldwide, with visits including Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, The Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as the U.S., until his health, plagued by bouts of bladder cancer and hepatitis C, failed him and he was forced to retire in 2018. The 81-year-old legend died on March 20, 2020, under hospice care at his home in Sandy Springs, Georgia.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Coward of the County" (№3, 1980)
– 2. "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" (with Kim Carnes) (№4, 1980)
– 3. "Love the World Away" (№14, 1980)
– 4. "Lady" (№1, 1980) ⭐*
– 5. "I Don't Need You" (№3, 1981)
– 6. "Share Your Love with Me" (№14, 1981)
– 7. "Through the Years" (№13, 1982)
– 8. "Love Will Turn You Around" (№13, 1982)
– 9. "We've Got Tonight" (with Sheena Easton) (№6, 1983)
– 10. "All My Life" (№37, 1983)
– 11. "Islands in the Stream" (with Dolly Parton) (№1, 1983) ⭐
– 12. "This Woman" (№23, 1984)
– 13. "What About Me?" (with Kim Carnes and James Ingram) (№15, 1984)- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
With almost fifty years in the music business, Tina Turner became one of the most commercially successful international female rock stars. Her sultry, powerful voice, her incredible legs, her time-tested beauty and her unforgettable story all contributed to her legendary status.
Born to a share-cropping family in the segregated South, Anna Mae Bullock and her elder sister were abandoned by their sparring parents early on. After her grandmother's death, she eventually moved to St. Louis, Missouri to reunite with her mother. This opened up a whole new world of R&B nightclubs to the precocious 16-year-old. Called up to sing onstage with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm in 1956, she displayed a natural talent for performing which the bandleader was keen to develop. Soon, Anna Mae's aspirations of a nursing career were forgotten and she began to hang around with the group. When the singer booked to record "A Fool in Love" failed to turn up for the session, Ike drafted Anna Mae to provide the vocal with the intention of removing it later. However, once he heard her spine-tingling performance of the song, he soon changed his plans. He changed her name to Tina Turner, and when the record became a hit, Tina became a permanent fixture in Ike's band and his quest for international stardom. One thing led to another: they were married in Mexico after the births of Tina's two sons - the first a result of an earlier relationship with a musician, the second with Ike.
Before too long, the Ike and Tina Turner Revue was tearing up large and small R&B and soul venues throughout the early and mid-1960s. The hits were relatively few, but the unsurpassed energy and excitement generated by the live stage show, primarily Tina, made the Revue a solid touring act, along with the likes of James Brown and Ray Charles. Their greatest attempt to "cross over" came in 1966 with the historic recording of the Phil Spector production, "River Deep, Mountain High". While it was a commercial flop in the United States, it was a monster hit in Europe - and the start of Tina's European superstar status, which never faded during her long stint of relative obscurity in America in the late 1970s. The Revue entered that decade as a top touring and recording act, with Tina becoming more and more recognized as the star power behind the group's international success. Ike, while having been justly described as an excellent musician, a shrewd businessman and the initial "brains" behind the Revue, was also described (by Tina and others) as a violent, drug-addicted wife-beater who was not above frequently knocking Tina (and other women) around both publicly and privately. Despite hits such as "Proud Mary" and Tina's self-penned "Nutbush City Limits", further mainstream success eluded the group and Ike blamed Tina. After years of misery and a failed suicide attempt, Tina finally had enough in July 1976, when she fled the marriage (and the Revue) with the now-famous 36 cents and a Mobil gasoline credit card.
Tina, nearing 40, endured a long and, at times, humiliating trek back to superstardom through working many substandard gigs and performing a repertoire of current Top 40 hits and old Ike & Tina tunes in hotel ballrooms and supper clubs. She later admitted she was having the time of her life at this point, simply putting together her own show and performing. She refused to wrangle for a settlement from the divorce, despite being in huge debt to all the tour promoters she had let down by fleeing the Revue. After an appearance on Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights (1980), Tina - in a wise business move - persuaded Newton-John's management team to take her on. With Roger Davies at her side, Tina's profile began to rise, and performances alongside the likes of Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones introduced her to the rock market she so wanted to pursue.
The European release of her cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" in 1983 was a major turning point in Tina's career. The record hit #6 on the British chart, and Capitol Records were soon demanding a full album. "Private Dancer" was hurriedly produced in England in two weeks flat. The rest is rock and roll history. The next single - "What's Love Got to Do with It?" - became Tina's first #1 single the following year, and the album hung around the Top 10 for months, spawning two further hits. At the 1985 Grammy Awards, her astonishing comeback was recognized with nominations in the rock, R&B and pop categories and rewarded with four trophies. After that time, the successes just kept coming: a starring role in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985); duets with Bryan Adams, David Bowie, Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger amongst others; several sell-out world tours; a string of hit albums and awards; a bestselling autobiography, "I, Tina"; and the blockbuster biopic What's Love Got to Do with It (1993) chronicling her life.
After her "Twenty Four Seven Millenium Tour" in 2000, Tina announced she would retire from the concert stage, but continue to record and play live on a smaller scale. Four years later, at age 65, she released a career retrospective entitled "All the Best" featuring new recordings, and reached #2 in the American album chart, her highest ever placing for an album there. She ended 2005 as one of five recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, the highest form of recognition of excellence in the arts in America. Despite changing the direction of her working life, she will always be remembered as a dynamic live performer and recording artist, able to thrill audiences like no other woman in music history. Tina Turner is the undisputed Queen of Rock and Roll.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Let's Stay Together" (№26, 1984)
– 2. "What's Love Got to Do with It" (№1, 1984) ⭐*
– 3. "Better Be Good to Me" (№5, 1984)
– 4. "Private Dancer" (№7, 1985)
– 5. "Show Some Respect" (№37, 1985)
– 6. "We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)" (№2, 1985)
– 7. "One of the Living" (with the Device) (№15, 1985)
– 8. "Typical Male" (№2, 1986)
– 9. "Two People" (№30, 1987)
– 10. "What You Get Is What You See" (№13, 1987)
– 11. "The Best" (№15, 1989)- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Anita was born January 26, 1958 in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She began singing in church choir when she was 12 and at 16 sang in a local group along with high school friends. In 1975 she successfully auditioned for the group Chapter 8, having been approached by bass player David Washington, and spent the next few years playing in and around Detroit, eventually signing with Ariola, releasing an album in 1979. However, when Ariola was bought out by Arista, the group's contract was not renewed.
Anita returned to Detroit, finally working with a law firm as a receptionist. In 1981, Otis Smith, who was the man behind Chapter 8's contract, formed his own label, Beverly Glenn. He contacted her in 1982 and offered her a deal which at first she refused, but when Smith increased the amount of his original offer, and the contract was approved legally, she accepted, releasing the album "Songstress" in 1983. In 1986 she signed with Elektra, and at the same time was an executive producer on "Rapture", her debut album for the label, which sold over 6 million records worldwide. She won two Grammy awards: Best R&B Female Performance for the album "Rapture" and Best R&B Song for "Sweet Love".
In 1987, Anita began work on her follow-up album "Giving You The Best That I Got" in between a busy performance schedule. This album was also awarded three Grammies: one in1989 for Best R&B Female Performance, one in 1990 for Best R&B Song ("Giving You The Best That I Got") and one for Best R&B Song ("Just Because"). She took a more involved role in the song-writing for her third album, Compositions, also moving towards experimenting with jazz. The album contained 7 self-penned songs and was mostly cut live.; the album won her a 7th Grammy award for Best R&B Female Performance.
On Christmas Eve 1988, she married Walter Bridgforth, Jr, whom she had met two years earlier in her home of Detroit and in January 1993, gave birth to a son, Walter Baker Bridgforth. Five months later Anita started working on her next project, "Rhythm of Love" and produced most of the album, which was mainly recorded in her home due to another pregnancy, writing 5 out of the 12 songs. In September 1994 (after the birth of her second son, Edward Carlton Bridgforth earlier that year) the album was released and attracted an 8th Grammy for Best R&B Song ("I Apologize") in 1995.
Sadly, her parents died within two years of each other; her mother in 1996 and her father 2 years later, and during this time, attempted to record and release a new CD. Unfortunately, the tracks recorded for the new CD were damaged in the recording process and could not be salvaged. Anita sued and won the case against Elektra, later signing with Atlantic Records.
During her career, she has appeared with other artists such as The Winans, Howard Hewitt, and James Ingram, and since December 2002 has began to tour again on a limited basis.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Sweet Love" (№8, 1986)
– 2. "Caught Up in the Rapture" (№37, 1987)
– 3. "Giving You the Best That I Got" (№3, 1988)*
– 4. "Just Because" (№14, 1989)- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Jennifer Holliday was born on 19 October 1960 in Houston, Texas, USA. She is an actress, known for Ally McBeal (1997), I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) and Fairy Tale Forest. She was previously married to Rev. Andre Woods and Billy Meadows.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (№22, 1982)*- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actor
Neil Leslie Diamond was born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York City, on January 24, 1941. His father, Akeeba "Kieve" Diamond, was a dry-goods merchant. Both he and wife Rose were Jewish immigrants from Poland. The Diamond family temporarily relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming, because of Kieve Diamond's military service during World War II. During their time in Wyoming, Neil fell in love with "singing cowboy" movies on matinée showings at the local cinema. After the end of World War II, Neil and his parents returned to Brooklyn. He was given a $9 acoustic guitar for a birthday gift, which began his interest in music. At age 15 Neil wrote his first song, which he titled "Here Them Bells".
At Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School, Neil sang in the 100-member fixed chorus, with classmate Barbra Streisand, although the two would not formally meet until over 20 years later. Neil and a friend, Jack Packer, formed a duo singing group called Neil & Jack, and they sang at Long Island's Little Neck Country Club and recorded a single for Shell Records. The record failed to sell, however, and the duo soon broke up.
In 1958 Neil entered New York University's pre-med program to become a doctor, on a fencing scholarship. Medicine did not catch his interest as much as music did, though, and he dropped out at the end of his junior year, only 10 credits shy of graduation. He Diamond went to work for Sunbeam Music on Manhattan's famous Tin Pan Alley. Making $50 a week, he worked at tailoring songs to the needs and abilities of the company's B-grade performers. Finding the work unrewarding, Neil soon quit. Renting a storage room in a printer's shop located above the famed Birdland nightclub on Broadway, Neil began to live there and installed a $30 piano and a pay telephone, and set about writing his songs his own way.
A chance encounter with the songwriting/record producing team of Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich led to a contract with Bang Records. In 1966 he recorded his first album, featuring hit singles such as "Solitary Man" and "Cherry, Cherry". That same year Diamond appeared twice on Dick Clark's American Bandstand (1952) TV musical variety show. Also, The Monkees recorded several songs to which he wrote the music, including "I'm a Believer" which was a hit in 1967. A number of TV appearances followed, including singing gigs on The Mike Douglas Show (1961), The Merv Griffin Show (1962) and een a dramatic part as a rock singer on an episode of Mannix (1967). Filling a musical void that existed between Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, Diamond found wide acceptance among the young and old with his songs, but endured criticism that his music was too middle-of-the-road.
Diamond split with Bang Records in 1969, and signed a contract with California's Uni label, for which he recorded his first gold records. In 1970 he introduced British rock star Elton John in his first Stateside appearance at Hollywood's Troubador nightclub. In December 1971 Diamond signed a $5-million contract with Columbia Records, which led to more recording contracts and live concert appearances. In 1972 Diamond took a 40-month break from touring, during which he agreed to score the film Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973). Although Diamond's soundtrack for that film earned him a Grammy Award, it was a box-office failure. Despite having worked with an acting coach since 1968, and talk of a five-picture acting contract with Universal Studios, Diamond remained inhibited by shyness of being in front of a camera. He turned down acting roles in every movie contract he was offered (among them was Bob Fosse's Lenny (1974) and Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976)). However, he did appear as himself with Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young in the 1978 documentary The Last Waltz (1978). He appeared at the 1977 Academy Awards where he presented Barbra Streisand the Oscar for Best Song.
In the summer of 1976, on the eve of three Las Vegas shows, Diamond's house in Bel Air was raided by the police because they received an anonymous tip that there were drugs and weapons stored there. The police found less than an ounce of marijuana. To have the arrest expunged from his recored, Diamond agreed to a six-month drug aversion program. In 1977 he starred in two TV specials for NBC. He had a cancer scare in 1979, when a tumor was found on his spine and had to be surgically removed, which confined him to a wheelchair for three months. During his recuperation he was given the script for the lead role in a planned remake of the early sound film The Jazz Singer (1927). Signing a $1-million contract to appear as the son of a Jewish cantor trying to succeed in the music industry, Diamond was cast opposite the legendary Laurence Olivier and Broadway actress Lucie Arnaz. Despite the almost universally negative reviews of the film, it grossed three times its budget when released late in 1980. In 1981 Diamond's hit single, "America", which was part of the film's soundtrack, was used on news broadcasts to underscore the return of the American hostages from Iran.
Aware of his lack of acting talent, Diamond never acted in movie roles again, aside from making appearances as himself. A movie fan, he collaborated on writing the scores of many different soundtracks, which can be heard in such films as Cactus Flower (1969), Pulp Fiction (1994), Beautiful Girls (1996), Donnie Brasco (1997), Bringing Out the Dead (1999) and many more. He continues to occasionally perform in concerts and write a vast catalog of music which is recored by both him and other artists.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "September Morn" (№17, 1980)
– 2. "Love on the Rocks" (№2, 1981)
– 3. "Hello Again" (№6, 1981)
– 4. "America" (№8, 1981)*
– 5. "Yesterday's Songs" (№11, 1982)
– 6. "On the Way to the Sky" (№27, 1982)
– 7. "Be Mine Tonight" (№35, 1982)
– 8. "Heartlight" (№5, 1982)
– 9. "I'm Alive" (№35, 1983)- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Sir Paul McCartney is a key figure in contemporary culture as a singer, composer, poet, writer, artist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, and holder of more than 3 thousand copyrights. He is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for most records sold, most #1s (shared), most covered song, "Yesterday," largest paid audience for a solo concert (350,000+ people, in 1989, in Brazil). He is considered one of the most successful entertainers of all time.
He was born James Paul McCartney on June 18, 1942, in Liverpool General Hospital, where his mother, Mary Patricia (Mohin), was a medical nurse and midwife. His father, James "Jim" McCartney, was a cotton salesman and a pianist leading the Jim Mac's Jazz Band in Liverpool. He has Irish and English ancestry. Young McCartney was raised non-denominational. He studied music and art, and had a happy childhood with one younger brother, Michael. At age 11, he was one of only four students who passed the 11+ exam, known as "the scholarship" in Liverpool, and gained a place at Liverpool Institute for Boys. There he studied from 1953 to 1960, earning A level in English and Art.
At the age of 14, Paul McCartney was traumatized by his mother's sudden death from breast cancer. Shortly afterward, he wrote his first song. In July 1957 he met John Lennon during their performances at a local church fête (festival). McCartney impressed Lennon with his mastery of guitar and singing in a variety of styles. He soon joined Lennon's band, The Quarrymen, and eventually became founding member of The Beatles, with the addition of George Harrison and Pete Best. After a few gigs in Hamburg, Germany, the band returned to Liverpool and played regular gigs at the Cavern during 1961.
In November 1961, they invited Brian Epstein to be their manager, making a written agreement in January 1962. At that time McCartney and Harrison were under 21, so the paper wasn't technically legal, albeit it did not matter to them. What mattered was their genuine trust in Epstein. He improved their image, secured them a record deal with EMI, and replaced drummer Best with Ringo Starr. With a little help from Brian Epstein and George Martin, The Beatles consolidated their talents and mutual stimulation into beautiful teamwork, launching the most successful career in the history of entertainment.
The Beatles contributed to music, film, literature, art, and fashion, made a continuous impact on entertainment, popular culture and the lifestyle of several generations. Music became their ticket to ride around the world. Beatlemania never really ended since its initiation; it became a movable feast in many hearts and minds, a sweet memory of youth, when all you need is love and a little help from a friend to be happy. Their songs and images carrying powerful ideas of love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity and liberation that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking walls in the minds of millions, thus making impact on human history.
All four members of The Beatles were charismatic and individually talented artists, they sparked each other from the beginning. Paul McCartney had the privilege of a better musical education, having studied classical piano and guitar in his childhood. He progressed as a lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, as well as a singer-songwriter. In addition to singing and songwriting, Paul McCartney played bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboards, as well as over 40 other musical instruments.
McCartney wrote more popular hits for the Beatles than other members of the band. His songs Yesterday, Let It Be, Hey Jude, Blackbird, All My Loving, Eleanor Rigby, Birthday, I Saw Her Standing There, I Will, Get Back, Carry That Weight, P.S. I Love You, Things We Said Today, "Hello, Goodbye," Two of Us, Why Don't We Do It in the Road?, Helter Skelter, Honey Pie, When I'm 64, Lady Madonna, She's a Woman, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," Mother Nature's Son, Long And Winding Road, Rocky Raccoon, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Fool on the Hill, You Never Give Me Your Money, Your Mother Should Know, The End, Yellow Submarine, and many others are among the Beatles' best hits. Yesterday is considered the most covered song in history with over three thousand versions of it recorded by various artists across the universe.
Since he was a teenager, McCartney honored the agreement that was offered by John Lennon in 1957, about the 50/50 authorship of every song written by either one of them. However, both were teenagers, and technically, being under 21, their oral agreement had no legal power. Still, almost 200 songs by The Beatles are formally credited to both names, regardless of the fact that most of the songs were written individually. The songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney was really working until the mid-60s, when they collaborated in many of their early songs. Their jamming on a piano together led to creation of their first best-selling hit 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' in 1963.
In total, The Beatles created over 240 songs, they recorded many singles and albums, made several films and TV shows. Thousands of memorable pictures popularized their image. In their evolution from beginners to the leaders of entertainment, they learned from many world cultures, absorbed from various styles, and created their own. McCartney's own range of interests spanned from classical music and English folk ballads to Indian raga and other Oriental cultures, and later expanded into psychedelic experiments and classical-sounding compositions. His creative search has been covering a range of styles from jazz and rock to symphonies and choral music, and to cosmopolitan cross-cultural and cross-genre compositions.
Epstein's 1967 death hurt all four members of The Beatles, as they lost their creative manager. Evolution of each member's creativity and musicianship also led to individual career ambitions, however, their legacy as The Beatles remained the main driving force in their individual careers ever since. McCartney and The Beatles made impact on human history, because their influence has been liberating for generations of nowhere men living in misery beyond the Iron Curtain.
Something in their songs and images appealed to everybody who wanted to become free as a bird. Their songs carrying powerful ideas of real love, peace, help, imagination and freedom evoked creativity and contributed to breaking chains and walls in the minds of millions. The Beatles expressed themselves in beautiful and liberating words of love, happiness, freedom, and revolution, and carried those messages to people across the universe. Their songs and images helped many freedom-loving people to come together for revolutions in Prague and Warsaw, Beijing and Bucharest, Berlin and Moscow. The Beatles has been an inspiration for those who take the long and winding road to freedom.
McCartney was 28 when he started his solo career, and formed his new band, Wings. His first solo album, "McCartney," was a #1 hit and spawned the evergreen ballad "Maybe I'm Amazed", yet critical reaction was mixed. He continued to release music with Wings, that eventually became one of the most commercially successful groups of the 70s. "Band on the Run" won two Grammy Awards and remained the Wings' most lauded work. The 1977 release "Mull of Kintyre" stayed at #1 in the UK for nine weeks, and was highest selling single in the UK for seven years. In 1978 McCartney's theme "Rockestra" won him another Grammy Award. In 1979, together with Elvis Costello, he organized Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. In 1979, McCartney released his solo album "Wonderful Christmastime" which remained popular ever since.
In 1980 McCartney was arrested in Tokyo, Japan, for marijuana possession, and after a ten-day stint in jail, he was released to a media firestorm. He retreated into seclusion after the arrest, and was comforted by his wife Linda. Yet he had another traumatic experience when his ex-band-mate, John Lennon, was shot dead by a crazed fan near his home in New York City on December 8, 1980. McCartney did not play any live concerts for some time because he was nervous that he would be "the next" to be murdered.
After almost a year of absence from the music scene, McCartney returned in 1982 with the album "Tug of War," which was well received by public and enjoyed great critical acclaim. He continued a successful career as a solo artist, collaborated with wife Linda McCartney, and writers such as Elvis Costello. During the 80s, McCartney released such hits as 'No More Lonely Nights' and his first compilation, "All the Best." In 1989, he started his first concert tour since the John Lennon's murder.
In 1994, the three surviving members of The Beatles, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr, reunited and produced Lennon's previously unknown song "Free as a Bird." It was preserved by Yoko Ono on a tape recording made by Lennon in 1977. The song was re-arranged and re-mixed by George Martin at the Abbey Road Studios with the voices of three surviving members. The Beatles Anthology TV documentary series was watched by 420 million people in 1995.
During the 1990s McCartney concentrated on composing classical works for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, such as "The Liverpool Oratorio" involving a choir and symphony, and "A Leaf" solo-piano project, both released in 1995. That same year he was working on a new pop album, "Flaming Pie," when his wife Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer, and caring for his wife during her illness meant only sporadic public appearances during that time. The album was released in 1997 to both critical and commercial success, debuting at #2 on both the UK and US pop charts. That same year he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II as Sir Paul McCartney for his services to music.
In April 1998, Linda McCartney, his beloved wife of almost 30 years, mother of their four children, and his steady partner in music, died of breast cancer. McCartney suffered from a severe depression and undergone medical treatment. He spent much of the next year away from the public eye, emerging only to campaign on behalf of his late wife for animal rights and vegetarian causes.
He eventually returned to the studio, releasing an album of rock n'roll covers in 1999. "Run Devil Run" made both Entertainment Weekly and USA Today's year-end top ten lists. McCartney also slowly returned to the public spotlight with the release of his another classical album, "Working Classical" in November 1999, in recording by the London Symphony Orchestra. His 2000 release "A Garland for Linda" was a choral tribute album, which raised funds to aid cancer survivors.
In 2000 he was invited by Heather Mills, a disabled ex-model, to her 32nd birthday. McCartney wrote songs dedicated to her, he and Mills developed a romantic relationship and became engaged in 2001. However, the year brought him a cascade of traumatic experiences. On September 11, 2001, Paul McCartney was sitting on a plane in New York when the World Trade Center tragedy occurred in front of his eyes, and he was able to witness the events from his seat. Yet there was another sadness, as his former band-mate George Harrison died of cancer in November, 2001.
Recuperating from the stressful year, McCartney received the 2002 Academy Award nomination for the title song to the movie Vanilla Sky (2001), and also went on his first concert tour in several years. In June, 2002, Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills married in a castle in Monaghan, Ireland. Their daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney, was born in October 2003. Four years later, the high profile marriage ended in divorce, after a widely publicized litigation. "Whenever you're going through difficult times, I'm at the moment, it's really cool to be able to escape into music" says Paul McCartney.
In 2003 Paul McCartney rocked the Red Square in Moscow with his show "Back in USSR" which was attended by his former opponents from the former Soviet KGB, including the Russian president Vladimir Putin himself, who invited McCartney to be the guest of honor in the Kremlin. In 2004 Paul McCartney received a birthday present from the Russian president. In June 2004, he and Heather Mills-McCartney stayed as special guests at suburban Royal Palaces of Russian Tsars in St. Petersburg, Russia. There he staged a spectacular show near the Tsar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg where the Communist Revolution took place, just imagine.
In 2005 the Entertainment magazine poll named The Beatles the most iconic entertainers of the 20th Century. In 2006, the guitar on which Paul McCartney played his first chords and impressed John Lennon, was sold at an auction for over $600,000.
On June 18, 2006, Paul McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, as in his song "when I'm Sixty-Four." McCartney's celebrity status, made it a cultural milestone for a generation of those born in the baby-boom era who grew up with the music of The Beatles during the 1960s. The prophetic message in the song has been intertwined with McCartney's personal life and his career.
In 2007 McCartney left his longtime label, EMI, and signed with Los Angeles based Hear Music. He learned to play mandolin to create a refreshing feeling for his latest album "Memory Almost Full," then appeared in Apple Computer's commercial for iPod+iTunes to promote the album. In June 2007 McCartney appeared together with Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison and Guy Laliberté in a live broadcast from the "Revolution" Lounge at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
His 3-DVD set "The McCartney Years" with over 40 music videos and hours of Historic Live Performances was released in November 2007. His classical album "Ecco Cor Meum" (aka.. Behold My Heart), recorded with the Academy of St. Martin of the Fields and the boys of King's college Choir, was voted Classical Album of the Year in 2007. That same year, Paul McCartney began dating Nancy Shevell. The couple married in 2011, in London. Sir Paul's "On the Run Tour" once again took him flying across world from July through December 2011 giving sold out concerts in the USA, Canada, UK, United Arab Emirates, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
In July 2012, Paul McCartney rocked the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He delivered a live performance of The Beatles's timeless hit "Hey Jude" and engaged the crowd of people from all over the world to join his band in a sing along finale. The show was seen by a live audience of close to 80000 people at the Olympic Park Stadium in addition to an estimated TV audience of two billion people worldwide.
On the long and winding road of his life and career, Sir Paul McCartney has been a highly respected entertainer and internationally regarded public figure.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Ebony and Ivory" (with Stevie Wonder) (№1, 1982) ⭐
– 2. "Take It Away" (№10, 1982)
– 3. "Say Say Say" (with Michael Jackson) (№1, 1983) ⭐*
– 4. "So Bad" (№23, 1984)
– 5. "No More Lonely Nights" (№6, 1984)
– 6. "Spies Like Us" (№7, 1986)
– 7. "Press" (№21, 1986)
– 8. "My Brave Face" (№25, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Actress, singer, songwriter, and producer Irene Cara was destined for a life of accomplishments that millions strive for but very few actually attain. From being able to play the piano by ear at age five to earning an Oscar, multiple Grammys, a Golden Globe, and a People's Choice Award, Irene's rise to stardom was paved with experiences of a lifetime.
Beginning shortly after realizing their daughter's natural talent, Irene was quickly enrolled in music, acting, and dance classes. Shortly before that, her mother entered her into multiple competitions and at the age of three, Irene was a finalist in the "Little Miss America" pageant.
Her professional career began on Spanish-language television singing and dancing before performing on shows including 'The Original Amateur Hour', 'The Ed Sullivan Show', and 'The Tonight Show' with Johnny Carson. Her talent was also showcased On and Off Broadway in various productions including 'Ain't Misbehavin'', the Obie Award-winning musical 'The Me Nobody Knows', 'Maggie Flynn' starring Shirley Jones and Tony Award-nominated actor Jack Cassidy, and 'Via Galactica' opposite Raul Julia.
Having performed on the stage, the next natural progression seemed to be series television. She would find a home on the daytime drama 'Love of Life' and the educational series 'The Electric Company' where she participated as a member of the group 'The Short Circus', teaching children about grammar through music. 'The Electric Company's' cast was made up of veteran actors Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and Morgan Freeman.
Continuing the pursuit of excellence, Irene recorded her first Spanish-language album at the age of eight and released an English-speaking holiday album shortly thereafter. Her career already blossoming, she would receive the honor of becoming the youngest member to perform in an all-star concert tribute for the legendary Duke Ellington. Held at Madison Square Garden, Irene performed along with music greats Stevie Wonder, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Roberta Flack.
With Broadway, television, and recording firmly tucked under her belt, Irene's next stop was the big screen. Before she entered her teenage years, she had won the title role in the film Aaron Loves Angela. Her performance in the movie was so outstanding that she was cast as the lead in the now cult classic musical drama 'Sparkle'. Proving that she was a tremendously versatile actress, Irene received international acclaim for her roles in 'Roots: The Next Generation' starring alongside James Earl Jones and Diahann Carroll among others, and 'The Guyanna Tragedy: The Jim Jones Story' where she would again work with James Earl Jones as well as LeVar Burton. As much as she had already accomplished, nothing could have prepared her for the super-stardom that would come with her next role.
In 1980, Irene would portray the character Coco Hernandez in a movie-musical titled 'Fame', a story about a group of students auditioning for acceptance into New York's High School for the Performing Arts. The film follows the students from their first to final days at the school and served to shine a light on the film's inspiration, LaGuardia High, and its counterpart Julliard. Irene's massive solo vocal talent was showcased through the title song 'Fame' as well as 'Out Here on My Own'. They and Irene would make Academy Awards history as it marked the first time two songs from the same film were nominated in the same category, and both performed by Irene. The title track won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The impact of 'Fame' would catapult Irene Cara into a household name and earn her two Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Artist, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical. Billboard Magazine named her the Top New Single Artist and Cashbox Magazine awarded her with the Most Promising Female Vocalist and Top Female Vocalist honors.
In 1982, Irene was awarded the NAACP Image Award for Best Actress for the NBC movie-of-the-week Maya Angelou's 'Sister, Sister' also starring Diahann Carroll and Rosalind Cash. She would garner another NAACP Image Award nomination for the title role in the PBS film 'For Us the Living: The Medgar Evers Story'. When it seemed her professional life couldn't get any better, Irene set the world on fire again.
Composer Giorgio Moroder approached Irene in 1983 to collaborate on the theme to a film he was attached to titled 'Flashdance'. Irene agreed and actually wrote the lyrics to the title song 'Flashdance...What a Feeling' in a car with producer Keith Forsey while on the way to the studio to record it. Those lyrics would reinforce Irene's already solid place in Hollywood history. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards with Irene taking home the coveted Oscar for Best Original Song. She would also add a Golden Globe to her already impressive collection of honors for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture in addition to two Grammys, a People's Choice Award, and an American Music Award. On a personal level, as a woman of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, her Academy Award win is even more special as she was the first bi-racial woman to ever win in any category other than acting and only the second to be nominated outside of an acting category.
In 1984/85, Irene was back on the big screen in the film 'City Heat' opposite Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. She co-wrote the theme as well as performed the classic standards 'Embraceable You' and 'Get Happy'. Irene also starred opposite Tatum O'Neal in the film 'Certain Fury', voiced "Snow White" in the animated film 'Happily Ever After', and toured as "Mary Magdalene" in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.
Not having sat on her laurels, in between winning Oscars, Grammys, and touring, she released the albums 'Anyone Can See' and 'What a Feeling' in 1982 and 1983 respectively which spawned the additional hits 'Breakdance', 'The Dream', 'You Were Made for Me', and 'Why Me', and in 1985 collaborated and sang with Placido Domingo. 'Breakdance' and 'Why Me' would both become Top 10 hits. In 1987, the release of the album 'Carasmatic' was shelved in the United States because of legal issues with the label, but it was issued in limited quantities in the United Kingdom, immediately making the album a collector's piece for anyone lucky enough to have gotten a copy.
Still feeling the love of audiences everywhere, the 90s were spent living out of a suitcase on multiple European concert tours. After finally getting a little breathing space, Irene formed the group Hot Caramel in 1999 and returned to performing to the delight of eager audiences clamoring to hear her unmistakable voice.
In 2004, Irene was awarded the Prestige Award for Lifetime Achievement. She was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fort Lauderdale Film Institute in 2005, and in 2006, was awarded the Honorary Lifetime Achievement for outstanding contribution in the African-American community by the Columbus Times of Georgia, the country's oldest black newspaper. In 2007, the Reel Sisters of the Disapora Film Festival presented her with the Trailblazer Award, and the Council of the City of New York honored her for her outstanding contributions as a performer. Perhaps one her most pleasurable moments was the 2011 unveiling of her name on a street sign in the Grand Concourse of the Bronx Walk of Fame. That same year, she released a new album titled Irene Cara Presents Hot Caramel. Now semi-retired from the industry that filled every corner of her life for decades, Irene is now enjoying entertaining audiences via her YouTube podcast 'The Irene Cara Show' where she shares videos and talks about the acting and music industry's backstory.
While the outpouring of love from fans still makes her happy, Irene continues to be touched by the knowledge that she and her roles have inspired others within the acting/music industry as well.
Mariah Carey: "Around the same time, my mother entered me in a talent competition in the city, and I sang one of my favorite songs, 'Out Here on My Own', by Irene Cara. I felt 'Out Here on My Own' described my entire life, and I loved singing that way - singing to reveal a piece of my soul. And I won doing it. At that age. I lived for the movie 'Fame', and Irene Cara was everything to me."
Celine Dion: "Whether it's 'Titanic' and the unsinkable 'My Heart Will Go On', 'Michael's Song' and 'Listen to the Magic Man' (in English and French) for 'The Peanut Butter Solution', or 'Deadpool 2's' unexpected 'Ashes', she presides over movie theme songs as if taking up the baton from Irene Cara herself."
Whitney Houston: "'Sparkle' was especially important to because she'd been trying to get the film made for 15 years, having fallen in love with the 1976 original (starring Irene Cara, who went on to appear in Fame) as a teenager, seeing it every Saturday for three months straight."
The two most memorable lines from the title song 'Fame' are "I'm gonna live forever," and "Baby, remember my name". From "Little Miss America" to Carson, 'The Electric Company', 'Flashdance' and beyond, Irene Cara's legacy is guaranteed. Everyone will remember her name.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Fame" (№4, 1980)
– 2. "Out Here on My Own" (№19, 1980)
– 3. "Flashdance... What a Feeling" (№1, 1983) ⭐*
– 4. "Why Me?" (№13, 1983)
– 5. "The Dream (Hold On to Your Dream)" (№37, 1984)
– 6. "Breakdance" (№8, 1984)- Music Department
- Composer
- Actor
Michael Sembello was born on 17 April 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a composer and actor, known for Flashdance (1983), Virtuosity (1995) and Independence Day (1996).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Maniac" (№1, 1983) ⭐*
– 2. "Automatic Man" (№34, 1983)- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Guitarist/songwriter/producer Ray Parker Jr. had hits as Raydio (the million-selling "Jack and Jill," "You Can't Change That"), Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio ("Two Places at the Same Time," "A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]"), and Ray Parker Jr. (the number one R&B and pop gold single "Ghostbusters"), and he co-wrote hit songs for Rufus and Chaka Khan (the number one "You Got the Love" from fall 1974) and Barry White ("You See the Trouble with Me" from spring 1976). He stars in the new film, "Hired Gun."
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Parker started out as a teenaged session guitarist playing on sessions recorded for Holland-Dozier-Holland's Hot Wax and Invictus Records, whose roster listed Freda Payne, Honey Cone, Chairmen of the Board, 100 Proof Aged in Soul, Laura Lee, and 8th Wonder. He also played behind the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Spinners, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and other Motown acts when they appeared at the Twenty Grand Club. In 1972, Wonder called Parker to ask him to play behind him on a tour that he was doing with the Rolling Stones. Parker thought it was a crank call and hung up the phone. Wonder called back and convinced Parker that he was the real deal by singing "Superstition" to him.
Later, Parker played on Wonder's albums Talking Book (1972) and Innervisions (1973). Moving from Detroit to Los Angeles, Parker got into session work, playing on sides by Leon Haywood, Barry White, and arranger Gene Page and working with Motown producer Clarence Paul on Ronnie McNeir's 1976 Motown debut, Love's Comin' Down, and he appeared in the picnic scene in the Bill Cosby/Sidney Poitier comedy classic Uptown Saturday Night.
Deciding to become a recording artist, Parker got a deal with Arista Records in 1977. Not confident on his singing ability, he put together a band that included vocalist Arnell Carmichael, bassist/singer Jerry Knight (who later had his own solo hit with "Overnight Sensation" and as half of Ollie & Jerry, and co-produced hits by the Jets), guitarist Charles Fearing, Larry Tolbert, and Darren Carmichael. However, on record, Parker played most, if not all of the instruments -- although Arnell et al. were paid a retainer so they'd be available if Raydio had a hit record and needed to tour.
His first LP, Raydio, went gold, peaking at number eight R&B in spring 1978. The LP included the number five gold R&B hit single "Jack and Jill" (lead vocal by Jerry Knight), "Is This a Love Thing," and the charting single "Honey I'm Rich." The hits continued with Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio's number four gold Rock On (the single "You Can't Change That" was number three R&B, number nine pop in the spring of 1979); the number six gold R&B Two Places at the Same Time from spring 1980 ("Two Places at the Same Time" was number six R&B in spring 1980); and the number one gold record A Woman Needs Love from 1981 ("A Woman Needs Love [Just Like You Do]" -- the first song Parker sang all the way through without trading vocals -- held the number one R&B spot for two weeks and went number four pop in spring 1981). Then, the Ray Parker Jr. album The Other Woman held the number one R&B, number 11 pop spot in spring 1982 ("The Other Woman" was number two R&B for four weeks).
One of Parker's biggest hits and best-loved songs, "Ghostbusters" was initially submitted for the background score of the Dan Aykroyd/Harold Ramis/Bill Murray/Ernie Hudson comedy. Director Ivan Reitman thought that the song should be released as a single. The "Ghostbusters" music video is one of the funniest and most star-studded videos ever made (breakdancing Bill Murray style). "Ghostbusters" parked at the number one R&B spot for two weeks and the number one pop for three weeks on Billboard's charts in summer 1984. Around this time, Huey Lewis sued Columbia Pictures and Ray Parker Jr. for copyright infringement, claiming that "Ghostbusters" was a ripoff of his recent hit, "I Want a New Drug." Lewis received an out-of-court settlement. The new Ghostbusters movie comes out in July and it will be the biggest blockbuster of the season.
Parker also wrote and produced hits for New Edition ("Mr. Telephone Man" -- Parker originally recorded this with Jr. Tucker for his 1983 self-titled Geffen album), Randy Hall ("I've Been Watching You [Jamie's Girl]," the refreshing "Gentleman"), Cheryl Lynn ("Shake It Up Tonight" from In the Night), Deniece Williams (the 1979 ARC/Columbia LP When Love Comes Calling), Brick (the 1981 Bang LP Summer Heat), and Diana Ross ("Upfront" from her 1983 RCA LP Ross).
Ray is writing the definitive memoir, "Who Ya Gonna Call? The Adventures of Ray Parker Jr." as well as a new album consisting of the exceptional original songs, "1983," with both expected out early 2019. He continues to tour and sell out throughout the world.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "The Other Woman" (№4, 1982)
– 2. "Let Me Go" (№38, 1982)
– 3. "Bad Boy" (№35, 1983)
– 4. "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" (№12, 1984)
– 5. "Ghostbusters" (№1, 1984) ⭐*
– 6. "Jamie" (№14, 1985)
– 7. "Girls Are More Fun" (№34, 1985)- Music Department
- Actress
- Composer
Deniece Williams was born on 3 June 1950 in Gary, Indiana, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Footloose (2011), Footloose (1984) and White Boy Rick (2018). She was previously married to Brad Westering, Christipher Joy and Ken Williams.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" (№10, 1982)
– 2. "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (№1, 1984) ⭐*- Music Artist
- Actress
- Producer
Best known as the the lead singer of the popular 1960s singing group The Supremes, Diana Ernestine Earle Ross was born on March 26, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan, the second of six children of African-American parents Ernestine Lillian (Moten), a schoolteacher, and Fred Earl Ross, who served in the army. After being raised in housing projects for most of the late 1940s and early 1950s, Diana started singing in the gospel choir of a Baptist church. With friends Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Barbara Martin, she formed a vocal group, The Primettes, at age 15. After Barbara had departed the group, the remaining three girls inked a deal with Motown Records and were renamed The Supremes. Ross wasn't picked to become the group's lead singer until Motown honcho Berry Gordy decided that the time was exactly right, and from then on he described the group as "Diana Ross and the Supremes." From 1965 to 1969 the group had a string of #1 records. In late 1969 Gordy announced that Ross would be leaving the group for a solo career. In the third week of 1970 she played her last concert with The Supremes and started working with the songwriting team of Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Ross' first two songs by the team reached #1 on both the pop and R&B charts, justifying her move. Prior to starting a family of her own, she won the title role in the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues (1972), which was extremely successful at the box office, and had the distinction of being nominated for an Academy Award for her first film. The movie's soundtrack reached #1 on the U.S. charts. Despite fame and fortune, her next two big films,Mahogany (1975) and The Wiz (1978), didn't meet with the same success. However, she had a #1 hit single with "Mahogany" to make up for it. In February 1976, just before another #1 hit with "Love Hangover," she was stunned when her singing partner and friend, Florence Ballard, died after complications from a combination of alcohol abuse and long-term depression, which led to cardiac arrest. Ballard was only 32 years old and Ross was devastated by the loss.
After recovering from Ballard's death, Ross went on to focus on her singing career and continued having more #1 songs, including "Upside Down". The following year she performed the theme song from Endless Love (1981), which was composed by Lionel Richie. That same year she left Motown Records and signed contracts with various record companies across the globe, and formed her own production company. The following year she released "Silk Electric," on which she sang "Muscles," a song written and produced by Michael Jackson.
After she sang a tribute song dedicated to the late Marvin Gaye, Ross scored another #1 song in 1986 in the UK with "Chain Reaction," which brought back her days as the member of The Supremes , and was written and produced by The Bee Gees. Unlike the song she sang when Florence died, this song was about how she became accustomed to Marvin over the years. After an eight-year absence, in 1989 she came back to Motown. Ross had gained more fame through concert appearances over the years, and in April 1993 she became a best-selling author with her first and only children's book, "When You Dream," which featured a CD with four songs that were dedicated to the book. That same year she was declared by the Guinness Book of World Records to be the most successful female singer of all times. Two years later she was honored with the Heritage Award for Lifetime Achievement on the Soul Train Awards. After receiving those honors, she came back to the studio in 1999 with "Every Day Is A New Day," and the song reached the UK Top 10. The following year, with Mary Wilson--the only other surviving original Supremes member--she planned to book a Supremes reunion tour, but this was eventually canceled.
She was arrested in 2002 in Tucson, Arizona, for driving under the influence and after pleading guilty was sentenced to two days in jail, 36 hours of counseling and one year probation. Today she is hard at work finishing her forthcoming book, "Upside Down: Wrong Turns, Right Turns and the Road Ahead."'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Upside Down" (№1, 1980) ⭐*
– 2. "I'm Coming Out" (№5, 1980)
– 3. "It's My Turn" (№9, 1981)
– 4. "Endless Love" (with Lionel Richie) (№1, 1981) ⭐
– 5. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (№7, 1981)
– 6. "Mirror, Mirror" (№8, 1982)
– 7. "Muscles" (№10, 1982)
– 8. "So Close" (№40, 1983)
– 9. "Pieces of Ice" (№31, 1983)
– 10. "Swept Away" (№19, 1984)
– 11. "Missing You" (№10, 1985)- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Edward Regan Murphy was born April 3, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York, to Lillian Lynch (born: Lillian Laney), a telephone operator, and Charles Edward Murphy, a transit police officer who was also an amateur comedian and actor. After his father died, his mother married Vernon Lynch, a foreman at a Breyer's Ice Cream plant. His brothers are Charlie Murphy & Vernon Lynch Jr. Eddie had aspirations of being in show business since he was a child. A bright kid growing up in the streets of New York, Murphy spent a great deal of time on impressions and comedy stand-up routines rather than academics. His sense of humor and wit made him a stand out amongst his classmates at Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School. By the time he was fifteen, Murphy worked as a stand-up comic on the lower part of New York, wooing audiences with his dead-on impressions of celebrities and outlooks on life.
In the early 1980s, at the age of 19, Murphy was offered a contract for the Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players of Saturday Night Live (1975), where Murphy exercised his comedic abilities in impersonating African American figures and originating some of the show's most memorable characters: Velvet Jones, Mr. Robinson, and a disgruntled and angry Gumby. Murphy made his feature film debut in 48 Hrs. (1982), alongside Nick Nolte. The two's comedic and antagonistic chemistry, alongside Murphy's believable performance as a streetwise convict aiding a bitter, aging cop, won over critics and audiences. The next year, Murphy went two for two, with another hit, pairing him with John Landis, who later became a frequent collaborator with Murphy in Coming to America (1988) and Beverly Hills Cop III (1994). Beverly Hills Cop (1984) was the film that made Murphy a box-office superstar and most notably made him a celebrity worldwide, and it remains one of the all-time biggest domestic blockbusters in motion-picture history. Murphy's performance as a young Detroit cop in pursuit of his friend's murderers earned him a third consecutive Golden Globe nomination. Axel Foley became one of Murphy's signature characters. On top of his game, Murphy was unfazed by his success, that is until his box office appeal and choices in scripts resulted into a spotty mix of hits and misses into the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Films like The Golden Child (1986) and Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) were critically panned but were still massive draws at the box office. In 1989, Murphy, coming off another hit, Coming to America (1988), found failure with his directorial debut, Harlem Nights (1989). Another 48 Hrs. (1990), his turn as a hopeless romantic in Boomerang (1992) and as a suave vampire in Vampire In Brooklyn did little to resuscitate his career. However, his remake of Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor (1996) brought Murphy's drawing power back into fruition. From there, Murphy rebounded with occasional hits and misses but has long proven himself as a skilled comedic actor with laudable range pertaining to characterizations and mannerisms. Though he has grown up a lot since his fast-lane rise as a superstar in the 1980s, Murphy has lived the Hollywood lifestyle with controversy, criticism, scandal, and the admiration of millions worldwide for his talents. As Murphy had matured throughout the years, learning many lessons about the Hollywood game in the process, he settled down with more family-oriented humor with Doctor Dolittle (1998), Mulan (1998), Bowfinger (1999), and the animated smash Shrek (2001), in a supporting role that showcased Murphy's comedic personality and charm. Throughout the 2000s, he further starred in the hits The Haunted Mansion (2003), Shrek 2 (2004), Dreamgirls (2006) (for which he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar), Norbit (2007), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010).
Murphy was married to Nicole Mitchell Murphy from 1993 to 2006. Murphy has ten children.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Party All the Time" (№2, 1985)*
– 2. "Put Your Mouth on Me" (№27, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actress
- Music Department
Olivia Newton-John was an English singer and actress who was born on September 26, 1948, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK. In 1954, her family relocated to Australia when her father was offered a job as the dean of a Presbyterian college in Melbourne. After winning a singing talent contest, she returned to England with her mother, where she resided until 1975. Her many hit singles include, "You're The One That I Want" from the movie Grease (1978), which she starred in with John Travolta. She appeared on the TV series, It's Cliff Richard (1970), as well as in the film Toomorrow (1970). For several years, she was engaged to Bruce Welch, a founding member of The Shadows, which included Cliff Richard. Welch was one of the producers of her first international hit, "If Not For You".'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Magic" (№1, 1980) ⭐
– 2. "Xanadu" (with the Electric Light Orchestra) (№8, 1980)
– 3. "Suddenly" (with Cliff Richard) (№20, 1981)
– 4. "Physical" (№1, 1981) ⭐*
– 5. "Make a Move on Me" (№5, 1982)
– 6. "Heart Attack" (№3, 1982)
– 7. "Tied Up" (№38, 1983)
– 8. "Twist of Fate" (№5, 1984)
– 9. "Livin' in Desperate Times" (№31, 1984)
– 10. "Soul Kiss" (№20, 1985)- Actor
- Soundtrack
Lipps Inc. was a late 70s studio group from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band combined tasty elements of disco, R&B, and New Wave music into a uniquely catchy, funky, and arresting sound. Lipps Inc. was formed in 1979 by producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Steven Greenberg. The group was fronted by singers Cynthia Johnson (Miss Black Minnesota 1976), Dana Greenberg, and Joyce Lepinsky. Other band members were: Terry Grant (bass), Peter Johnson (keyboards), Bobby Vandell (drums), Ivan Rafowitz (keyboards), Bobby Schnitzer (guitars), Tom Riopelle (guitars), and David Rivkin (guitars). Lipps Inc. released their debut album "Mouth to Mouth" in early 1980 on the Casablanca Records label. The group scored a massive smash hit with the incredibly bouncy, groovy, and infectious "Funkytown": The song spent four weeks at #1 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts, soared to #2 in the United Kingdom, and reached the #1 spot in Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, and the Netherlands. One of the most beloved and memorable of early 80s #1 hit songs, "Funkytown" has been covered by Pseudo Echo, Selena, and Alvin & the Chipmunks. Moreover, this song has not only been featured on the soundtracks for a handful of movies and episodes of various TV shows, but also has been used as a jingle in TV commercials for such products as Cocoa Puffs, Avera Energy, Volkswagen, and the Nissan Altima automobile. Alas, Lipps Inc. was unable to match or surpass the monumental success of "Funkytown;" for example, the rousing "Rock It" only made it to #64 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts. However, the band's cool syncopated cover of Ace's "How Long?" did pretty well; it climbed to #4 on the US dance chart and went to #29 on the US souls single chart. Lipps Inc. released their fourth and final album "4" in 1983. The group stopped recording altogether in 1985.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Funkytown" (№1, 1980) ⭐*- Actress
- Soundtrack
Company B. is known for Company B: Fascinated (1986), Company B: Perfect Lover (1987) and Company B: You Stole My Heart (1989).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Fascinated" (№21, 1987)*- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
The S.O.S. Band is known for 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Bulletproof (1996) and Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" (№3, 1980)*- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Grammy-winning Queen of Soul and the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Barbara Vernice (Siggers) and C. L. Franklin, a Baptist minister, who preached at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit for over thirty years. Known as the man with the "Million-Dollar Voice", her father was one of the most respected and prominent ministers in the country, and Aretha grew up singing in church, and surrounded by local and national celebrities. She learned how to play piano by ear and soon understood the correct tones and pitches.
Aretha released her first single at the age of eighteen, under Columbia Records, it reached number ten on the BillBoard charts and her first record was released in January of 1961. While working for the label, she managed to score two more R&B hits, Operation Heartbreak and Won't Be Long. However the people at Columbia often felt they didn't understand the direction Aretha wanted to go with her music, and ultimately failed to bring out her potential. In 1966, Aretha signed a contract with Atlantic Records, where she released her first legendary single, Respect, written by The King Of Soul, Otis Redding. With this single, Franklin would trigger a new vocal skill called, "call and response," which would help liven up many of her singles. While signed with Atlantic, she released three additional top ten hits, Baby I Love You, A Natural Women,and Chain Of Fools, and won her first two Grammy awards, and eight consecutive Grammys for best female R&B vocal category.
Franklin had not only achieved her dream of becoming a musical sensation but stood out in the civil rights movement for her single with Otis Redding, Respect. The song helped send a message to Americans about equality, peace, and justice. Franklin continued to release pop hits throughout the decade, such as Think, I Say A Little Prayer, and Ain't No Way. After these amazing hits to many listeners she was seen as The Queen Of Soul. In the 1970s, she started recording gospel hits such as Don't Play That Song, Rocksteady, and Daydreaming. It was foreseeable that Franklin would soon stumble upon a masterpiece which became the best selling gospel album of all time, which she did in 1972 with her album Amazing Grace.
In the mid '70s, even though she was releasing hit songs, she began to lose touch with her soul-pop audiences due to the disco genre making its entrance into mainstream music. In 1979, she released an album in order to gain the audience of disco lovers called, La Diva. La Diva sold less than 50,000 copies and was marked as the lowest point in Franklin's career. On June 10, 1979, her father Clarence was shot by a mugger. This left Clarence in a coma for five years and Aretha decided to move back to Detroit to take care of her father. Clarence Franklin died on July 27, 1984.
In 1980, along with several other musicians such as Ray Charles and James Brown, Aretha Franklin appeared in the hit feature film The Blues Brothers. In 1982, she returned to the R&B top ten charts with her hit album Jump To It, featuring Luther Vandross. It sold more than 600,000 copies and was gold-certified, managing to stay on number one for seven weeks. In 1985, Franklin released an album which featured a unique never before heard element of rock. The album, "Who's Zoomin Who?", and soon went on to receive platinum-certified success. The album also featured a hit song with George Michael called I Know You Were Waiting For Me, and went on to sell more than one million copies. In 1987, Aretha sang the theme song to A Different World, a sitcom created by Bill Cosby, and in 1989, she released a pop album which featured Elton John, James Brown, The Four Tops, Kenny G, and Whitney Houston, called Through The Storm. In 1992, Franklin sang the song Someday We'll All Be Free for the soundtrack to the biopic film Malcolm X (1992). In 1993, Aretha sang at Bill Clinton's inauguration. At a slower rate in the mid-late '90s, she continued to release albums and singles, working with new artists such as BabyFace, Jermaine Dupri, Sean "P Diddy" Combs, and Lauryn Hill along with her label, Arista Records.
In 2003, she had ended the 23 year relationship with Arista and opened her own label, Aretha. Franklin released her first album on the label, A Woman Falling Out Of Love, in 2011. It marked her fifty years in show business.
Aretha Franklin died of advanced pancreatic cancer on August 16, 2018, in Detroit, Michigan. She will be known as one of the most influential singers of all time, and as an activist who spoke of the world through her music, and used music as a tool for truth, justice, and soul.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Jump to It" (№24, 1982)
– 2. "Freeway of Love" (№3, 1985)*
– 3. "Who's Zoomin' Who?" (№7, 1985)
– 4. "Another Night" (№22, 1986)
– 5. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" (№21, 1986)
– 6. "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with George Michael) (№1, 1987) ⭐
– 7. "Through the Storm" (with Elton John) (№16, 1989)- Actress
- Composer
- Producer
Pebbles was born on 29 August 1964 in San Francisco, California, USA. She is an actress and composer, known for Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) and License to Drive (1988). She has been married to Excel Sharieff since 2012. She was previously married to Otis Nixon, L.A. Reid and George Smith.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Girlfriend" (№5, 1988)
– 2. "Mercedes Boy" (№2, 1988)*- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Ready for the World is known for Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Straight Outta Compton (2015) and Running Scared (1986).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Oh Sheila" (№1, 1985) ⭐*
– 2. "Digital Display" (№21, 1986)
– 3. "Love You Down" (№9, 1987)- Music Department
- Actress
- Composer
Daughter of musician Pete Escovedo, Sheila E. became one of the top female musicians during the 1980s due to her fierce drumming style and her Latin rhythms. A former protégé of Prince, Sheila became a drummer in his band before branching off into solo musical projects. In addition to being considered the best female drummer alive, Sheila E. has also expanded into acting roles, most notably in the urban cult classic film Krush Groove (1985).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "The Glamorous Life" (№7, 1984)*
– 2. "The Belle of St. Mark" (№34, 1984)
– 3. "A Love Bizarre" (№11, 1986)- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
Marvin Young, best known as rapper Young MC, had a huge start to his music career with his 1989 debut album "Stone Cold Rhymin'". It had two major mainstream hits with "Bust A Move" and "Principal's Office". However, his follow up album, 1991's "Brainstorm", barely made a ripple on the charts, and 1993's "What's The Flavor?" was a complete flop, despite receiving positive reviews. After enduring a rough couple of years, in which Young's father murdered his mother and received a lengthy prison sentence, he resurfaced in 1996, releasing a single on an independent music label, which also failed to achieve much success.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Bust a Move" (№7, 1989)*- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
L.L. Cool J was born James Todd Smith in Bay Shore, Long Island, New York, the son of Ondrea Griffith and James Louis Smith, Jr.
Todd, as he was called, did not have a very happy childhood. At the age of four, he saw his mother and grandfather shot by his own father. After they recovered from their injuries, his mother began to date a young physical therapist she met while in the hospital. The therapist treated Ondrea kindly, but for years he abused Todd physically and verbally, which resulted in Todd becoming a bully himself. It was during this period that he started wearing hats all the time (one of L.L. Cool J's trademarks is the fact that people never see him without a hat on--until recently). Fortunately, Ondrea finally discovered what this man was doing to her son and left him.
As he grew older, Todd found a way to escape the effects of his abuse and his bullying attitude: hip-hop music. He fell in love with it at the age of nine, and by 11 he was writing lyrics and making his own songs with some DJ equipment his grandfather gave him. At 15, he and one of his best friends came up with his present stage name, L.L. Cool J, which means "Ladies Love Cool James."
In 1984, when L.L. was 16, he met Rick Rubin, a student at NYU, who gave him his big break in music. Rick really liked L.L.'s music and decided to try to get him a record deal. Together, they made the single "I Need a Beat" and sent it to an artist manager named Russell Simmons. Simmons loved the single, and, in the same year, Rick and Russell co-founded the famous Def Jam Recordings; L.L.'s debut album, "Radio," released in 1985, after securing a distribution deal for Def Jam with Columbia/CBS Records, was the label's first long-playing release. Even today, L.L. is considered one of Def Jam's most prized possessions.
1985 was also the year L.L. started his acting career. He first appeared in Krush Groove (1985), which is a semi-biographical account of the early days of Def Jam Recordings. L.L. had a cameo appearance in the film. In 1986, L.L. also had a cameo appearance in the movie Wildcats (1986) and also wrote that movie's theme song. After that, L.L. took a break from film and concentrated more on his first love: music. His career took off, and after every one of his albums hit platinum-selling status, he was (and still is) regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.
After a few years, he had small roles in a few other films, but was still better known for his music. All this changed in 1995. By this time he was a happily married 27-year-old with three children. His first starring film, Out-of-Sync (1995), had also been released. It didn't do very well at the box office, but it got him noticed by executives at NBC-TV, who wanted to give him a part in a sitcom they were going to air. This sitcom was In the House (1995), which showed L.L.'s acting ability; the show stayed on the air until 1999.
He had been offered several films roles during the run of the show and decided to accept a part in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). Its success resulted in L.L. being cast in bigger and better film roles, and he has acted alongside such stars as Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Lee Curtis, James Woods, Al Pacino, Omar Epps, Pam Grier, Stanley Tucci, and Dennis Quaid, to name a few.
In 2000, he was finally rewarded for his acting talent. That year he won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for the best supporting actor in the action film Deep Blue Sea (1999). Even though his film career has taken off, he hasn't forgotten his love of hip-hop music. In 1998, he was planning to retire from hip-hop and just concentrate on his film career, but he later decided to keep dividing his time between both fields. L.L. is not only known as one of the greatest MCs of all time, but he is also known as a great actor.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "I Need Love" (№14, 1987)*
– 2. "Going Back to Cali" (№31, 1988)
– 3. "I'm That Type of Guy" (№15, 1989)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam is known for The Meyerowitz Stories (2017), House Party (1990) and Gladiator (1992).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "I Wonder If I Take You Home" (with Full Force) (№34, 1985)
– 2. "All Cried Out" (with Full Force) (№8, 1986)
– 3. "Head to Toe" (№1, 1987) ⭐
– 4. "Lost in Emotion" (№1, 1987) ⭐*
– 5. "Little Jackie Wants to Be a Star" (№29, 1989)- Actress
- Soundtrack
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Come Go with Me" (№5, 1987)
– 2. "Point of No Return" (№5, 1987)
– 3. "Let Me Be the One" (№7, 1987)
– 4. "Seasons Change" (№1, 1988) ⭐*
– 5. "What You Don't Know" (№8, 1989)
– 6. "When I Looked at Him" (№10, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actress
- Soundtrack
The Bangles are a hugely popular and successful all-female rock group from Los Angeles, California. The band first formed in 1981. The original line-up was: Susanna Hoffs (vocals/guitar), Victoria Peterson (vocals/guitar), Vicki's sister Debbi Peterson (drums/vocals) and Annette Zilinskas (bass/vocals). They initially called themselves Colours, The Supersonic Bangs, and The Bangs, prior to settling on the name, The Bangles. The group hailed from the 80's L.A. Paisley Underground music scene and released their self-titled debut EP in 1982. Zilinskas subsequently left the band and was replaced by singer/bassist Michael Steele. The group's first full-length album "All Over the Place" was released in 1984. The 1986 follow-up album "Different Light" beget two smash songs: the plaintive lament "Manic Monday" peaked at #2 on the US Billboard pop charts and the dynamic "Walk Like an Egyptian" soared all the way to #1 not only in America, but also in Britain, Australia, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands as well. ("Manic Monday" was written by none other than Prince). The band scored a #2 US Billboard chart hit in 1987 with a cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song "Hazy Shade of Winter". In 1989, The Bangles had another massive smash with the lovely ballad "Eternal Flame", which peaked at the #1 spot in the United States, England, Norway, Sweden, Australia and the Netherlands. Alas, tensions amongst the band members steadily mounted and the group broke up in 1989. In 1999, The Bangles got back together to record the song "Get the Girl" for the soundtrack of the hit comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999). The group then embarked on a brief tour in 2000 and released the comeback album "Doll Revolution" in 2003. The Bangles continue to tour and perform in concert all over America and Europe.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Manic Monday" (№2, 1986)
– 2. "If She Knew What She Wants" (№29, 1986)
– 3. "Walk Like an Egyptian" (№1, 1986) ⭐*
– 4. "Walking Down Your Street" (№11, 1987)
– 5. "Hazy Shade of Winter" (№2, 1988)
– 6. "In Your Room" (№5, 1989)
– 7. "Eternal Flame" (№1, 1989) ⭐
– 8. "Be with You" (№30, 1989)- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Culture Club is an English band that was formed in 1981. The band comprised Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and Jon Moss (drums and percussion). They are considered one of the most representative and influential groups of the 1980s. Culture Club sold more than 50 million albums and 100 million singles (including Boy George solo) records worldwide, including 7 million-records awards RIAA certificate in the United States.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" (№2, 1983)
– 2. "Time (Clock of the Heart)" (№2, 1983)
– 3. "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" (№9, 1983)*
– 4. "Church of the Poison Mind" (№10, 1983)
– 5. "Karma Chameleon" (№1, 1984) ⭐
– 6. "Miss Me Blind" (№5, 1984)
– 7. "It's a Miracle" (№13, 1984)
– 8. "The War Song" (№17, 1984)
– 9. "Mistake No. 3" (№33, 1985)
– 10. "Move Away" (№12, 1986)- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
The Go-Go's is known for Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019), RoboCop 3 (1993) and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Our Lips Are Sealed" (№20, 1981)
– 2. "We Got the Beat" (№2, 1982)*
– 3. "Vacation" (№8, 1982)
– 4. "Head Over Heels" (№11, 1984)
– 5. "Turn to You" (№32, 1984)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, that was formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe. R.E.M. was pivotal in the creation and development of the alternative rock genre. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. R.E.M. disbanded in September 2011.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "The One I Love" (№9, 1987)
– 2. "Stand" (№6, 1989)*- Actor
- Soundtrack
The Fixx is a British rock and new wave band formed in London in 1979. The band's hits include "One Thing Leads to Another", "Saved by Zero", "Are We Ourselves?", and "Secret Separation", all of which made the U.S. Top 20, as well as early MTV Video hits "Red Skies" and "Stand or Fall" and Mainstream Rock chart hits "Driven Out" and "Deeper and Deeper", the latter of which was featured on the soundtrack of the 1984 film Streets of Fire.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Saved by Zero" (№20, 1983)
– 2. "One Thing Leads to Another" (№4, 1983)*
– 3. "The Sign of Fire" (№32, 1984)
– 4. "Are We Ourselves?" (№15, 1984)
– 5. "Secret Separation" (№19, 1986)- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
The Romantics is known for Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021), Grown Ups (2010) and Grown Ups 2 (2013).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Talking in Your Sleep" (№3, 1984)*
– 2. "One in a Million" (№37, 1984)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Touch and Go" (№37, 1980)
– 2. "Shake It Up" (№4, 1982)*
– 3. "You Might Think" (№7, 1984)
– 4. "Magic" (№12, 1984)
– 5. "Drive" (№3, 1984)
– 6. "Hello Again" (№20, 1984)
– 7. "Why Can't I Have You" (№33, 1985)
– 8. "Tonight She Comes" (№7, 1986)
– 9. "I'm Not the One" (№32, 1986)
– 10. "You Are the Girl" (№17, 1987)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Duran Duran is an English new wave and synth pop band formed in Birmingham in 1978. The band grew from alternative sensations in 1982 to mainstream pop stars by 1984. The band achieved 14 singles in the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart and 21 in the Billboard Hot 100, and have sold over 100 million records worldwide.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Hungry Like the Wolf" (№3, 1983)
– 2. "Rio" (№14, 1983)
– 3. "Is There Something I Should Know?" (№4, 1983)
– 4. "Union of the Snake" (№3, 1983)
– 5. "New Moon on Monday" (№10, 1984)
– 6. "The Reflex" (№1, 1984) ⭐*
– 7. "The Wild Boys" (№2, 1984)
– 8. "Save a Prayer" (№16, 1985)
– 9. "A View to a Kill" (№1, 1985) ⭐
– 10. "Notorious" (№2, 1987)
– 11. "Skin Trade" (№39, 1987)
– 12. "I Don't Want Your Love" (№4, 1988)
– 13. "All She Wants Is" (№22, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Production Manager
Peter Schilling was born on 28 January 1956 in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. He is a music artist and actor, known for Atomic Blonde (2017), The Umbrella Academy (2019) and Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Major Tom (Coming Home)" (№14, 1983)*- Music Artist
- Music Department
- Actress
The woman the world knows simply as NENA was born in the small German town of Hagen in 1960 as Gabriele Susanne Kerner. But "Nena" was not simply a stage name she would assume later on. The wunderkind of the German new wave scene got the name at the age of three while on vacation with her family in Spain when the name stuck. Always a child of rock'n'roll, NENA's career began in her hometown at 17 as the singer of her first band, The Stripes. English was still lingua franca for pop music at the time and their first single "Ecstasy" appeared in 1979, with their self-titled debut following in 1980. The energy of the small town band was pure and simple rock'n'roll but was a playful sample of what NENA would be capable of. After the Stripes broke up in 1981 and NENA moved to West Berlin with Stripes' drummer Rolf Brendel, she formed her eponymous band NENA with Brendel, Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges and Jürgen Dehmel. Along with a band change, came a language change as well. NENA's songs were from then on sung in German - at that time relatively new for pop, new wave and rock music in Germany. In May of 1982, the band performed their first single "Nur geträumt" ("Just a Dream") on German music TV program Musikladen and sold 40,000 copies of the single within one day. NENA became the biggest name in German new wave in little over a heartbeat. But It was their second single "99 Luftballons" that pushed NENA out of West Germany and into the wider world. The German-language hit struck a chord everywhere it landed, securing a number one spot in the US Cashbox charts, as well as top chart spots in Europe, Japan, Mexico, Canada and Australia. The two singles proved no fluke and their first two albums Nena and ? (Fragezeichen) (Question Mark) were smash hits making them the poster children of German new wave and opening up the rest of the world's eyes not only to NENA but Germany's music scene in general. The English version of "99 Luftballons", known as "99 Red Balloons", hit #1 in the UK and held there fast for four weeks, two English-language albums (99 Luftballons and It's All In the Game) from the band followed and then almost endless world touring. But their meteoric rise to fame, paired with the endless touring and the demands of the media began to wear on the band and soon after their fourth record the band quietly split up. To this day, "99 Luftballons" remains the most successful German-language song in international pop history. After the band split, NENA starred in German film Der Unsichtbare (The Invisible) in 1987 where she met Swiss actor Benedict Freitag. In 1988, their first son Christopher Daniel was born, but sadly suffered a brain injury during birth. He tragically died 11 months later. Working through her grief, NENA released her first solo record Wunder Gescheh'n (Miracles Happen), released in 1989. A single of the same name was released and just three days later the world saw the fall of the Berlin Wall. NENA, again pregnant, sung the appropriately titled "Wunder Gescheh'n" as the final song before midnight at the legendary Concert for Berlin on November 12, 1989. In April of 1990 her twins Larissa and Sakias were welcomed into the world. At the same time NENA released her first children's record "Komm lieber Mai..." (Come dear May...) showcasing classic children songs with a NENA twist. The album went gold. NENA and Benedict Freitag broke up in 1992 and shortly after NENA met drummer and producer Philipp Palm with whom she had two children: Samuel in 1995 and Simeon in 1997. But even with four children NENA remained NENA and every two to three years released a new album, landing in the German charts each time. At the beginning of the new millennium NENA released the single "Oldschool Baby", sung half in English, half in German, with legendary techno-DJ and Love Parade-stalwart Westbam, giving NENA yet another club hit. The single's video took home the prize for video of the year from the German Dance Awards. Twenty years after the start of her monumental career, NENA reached a new zenith. In 2002, she celebrated the musical anniversary by releasing Nena feat. Nena - reaching number one in the Austrian charts and number two in the German. Among several hits, her duet with British singer Kim Wilde ("Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime") was a success well beyond the German-language speaking countries, and the album as a whole went on to receive multiple gold and platinum certifications. The video for the new version of NENA's very first single, "Nur geträumt", was then recorded in legendary New York punk club CBGB's. In October 2005 NENA released her autobiography Willst du mit mir gehen (Will You Go With Me?) and landed promptly at #3 on Germany's top bestseller list. The album of the same name achieved multiple gold status and the single "Liebe ist" (Love Is) found her another number one in the charts. Her stadium tour to support the record sold out city after city. In 2009, the record Made In Germany followed. The album and its single "In meinem Leben" (In My Life) put NENA back at the top of the German charts just in time for her 50th birthday. Another record, Du bist gut (You Are Good), in 2012 brought NENA gold once more. But NENA's career in pop music isn't the only field that's kept her busy. The singer lends her voice to more than just music - frequently to several beloved children's films including Eragon, Arthur and the Invisibles, Peter Pan 2 and many more. Making records for children also remains important to NENA - she's recorded nine in total to the date (most recently a 2014 concept album in which children learn the multiplication tables through her hits). In 2007 she co-founded the Neue Schule Hamburg (New Hamburg School) with her partner Philipp Palm and in 2008 she founded her own record label Laugh + Peas, realizing a new artistic freedom and independence for herself and her work. Shortly thereafter NENA helped launch the German edition of The Voice, sitting in the female coach chair for the first three seasons and instantly making it the most successful music format show on German television. Music is and remains for NENA a family affair - not only with her partner Philipp Palm who handles a large share of the production, but NENA's children are writing pop history along with her as they share the stage with their mom on tour. With her most recent record Oldschool (2015) NENA adeptly bridges past and present. Produced by German Hip-Hop giant Sammy Deluxe, NENA merged her signature sound with electro beats, mirroring the marriage of styles with lyrics that deal with the passage of time. The video for "Berufsjugendlich" (Professionally Young) was shot in SO36 - Berlin's equivalent to CBGB's and NENA's punk playground in the early 1980s - bringing things full circle for the singer. NENA was never one to stand still and that still applies today: with her 30+ year career (and showing no signs of stopping), her loyal fan base, over 25 million records sold and success in her own language abroad, NENA as a singer and songwriter remains something completely inimitable - in Germany, and worldwide. That's proven all over again in 2018 as NENA embarks on her "Nichts Versäumt Tour 2018: 40 Years on Stage", celebrating an ongoing career of hits reaching all the way back to her STRIPES years through today, taking her fans on the most epic of journeys. And she's adding one more hit to her repertoire. In 2018, she and Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, two rebels of the pop-rock world, released their explosive single "Be My Rebel!", inviting fans to join their rebellion. Celebrating forty years on stage doesn'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "99 Luftballons" (№2, 1984)*- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Corey Hart was born on 31 May 1962 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and composer, known for Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), 9½ Weeks (1986) and Future Man (2017). He has been married to Julie Masse since 1 June 2000. They have four children. He was previously married to Erika Gagnon.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Sunglasses at Night" (№7, 1984)*
– 2. "It Ain't Enough" (№17, 1984)
– 3. "Never Surrender" (№3, 1985)
– 4. "Boy in the Box" (№26, 1985)
– 5. "Everything in My Heart" (№30, 1986)
– 6. "I Am by Your Side" (№18, 1986)
– 7. "Can't Help Falling in Love" (№24, 1987)
– 8. "In Your Soul" (№38, 1988)- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
A Flock of Seagulls is known for Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Atomic Blonde (2017) and Monster (2003).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "I Ran (So Far Away)" (№9, 1982)*
– 2. "Space Age Love Song" (№30, 1983)
– 3. "Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You)" (№26, 1983)- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Wang Chung is a British new wave musical band formed in 1980. The name Wang Chung means "yellow bell" in Chinese and is the first note in the Chinese classical music scale. The band found their greatest success in the United States, with five Top 40 hits in the US, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days", "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!". They have released five studio albums and in 1985 they recorded the soundtrack for William Friedkin's action movie "To Live and Die in L.A.".'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Don't Let Go" (№38, 1984)
– 2. "Dance Hall Days" (№16, 1984)
– 3. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (№2, 1986)*
– 4. "Let's Go" (№9, 1987)
– 5. "Hypnotize Me" (№36, 1987)- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Conga" (№10, 1986)*
– 2. "Bad Boy" (№8, 1986)
– 3. "Words Get in the Way" (№5, 1986)
– 4. "Falling in Love (Uh-Oh)" (№25, 1987)- Actor
- Composer
- Producer
El DeBarge was born on 4 June 1961 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Short Circuit (1986), Snake Eyes (1998) and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). He is married to Monique DeBarge. They have one child. He was previously married to Tracey Ferguson.'80s Top 40 hits
– "Who's Johnny" (№3, 1986)*- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Stacey Swain was born on 30 November 1958 in Fullerton, California, USA. She is an actress, known for The Return of the Living Dead (1985), Little Nicky (2000) and Hot Rod (2007).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Two of Hearts" (№3, 1986)*
– 2. "We Connect" (№35, 1987)- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Paula Abdul grew up in the San Fernando Valley, California. She began taking dance lessons when she was eight. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was senior class president and head cheerleader. After graduating in 1980, she started college at Cal State-Northridge, majoring in TV and radio. After joining the L.A. Lakers cheerleaders, she became head cheerleader/choreographer after only a few months, eventually dropping out of college to dance and choreograph full-time. She was recruited by The Jacksons to choreograph their 1984 "Torture" video, the first in a long list of videos and movies she would choreograph. She branched out into singing with her first CD, "Forever Your Girl", which had lackluster sales until the single "Straight Up" exploded onto the charts in December 1988 and she has been a popular singer/dancer ever since, enhanced by her stint as a judge on the hit series American Idol (2002).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Straight Up" (№1, 1989) ⭐
– 2. "Forever Your Girl" (№1, 1989) ⭐
– 3. "Cold Hearted" (№1, 1989) ⭐*
– 4. "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" (№3, 1989)- Actress
- Composer
- Producer
For more than 30 years, Debbie Gibson has proven she's an entertainer of immeasurable talent. From singer, songwriter and musician to actress and dancer, she embodies what it truly means to be an entertainer. A music prodigy, Gibson burst on the Billboard Pop Charts at the tender age of 16 with the self-penned "Only In My Dreams." The "Original Pop Princess" quickly became the youngest artist ever to write, produce and perform a No. 1 hit song, "Foolish Beat," and entered the Guinness Book of World Records. To date, she is still the youngest female to hold that record and has sold more than 16 million albums worldwide.
After conquering the pop world with three consecutive albums and world tours, she set her sights on the theater and starred in 17 musicals in 17 years. Gibson made her mark in the Broadway production of Les Miserables as Eponine. She broke box office records in the London West End production of Grease as Sandy. She then took the stage in the U.S. Broadway tours of Grease as Rizzo and Funny Girl as Fanny Brice. Gibson also wowed critics as Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy, The Narrator in the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cinderella in the national production of Cinderella with Eartha Kitt, Velma Kelly in Chicago, and, Sally Bowles in the Broadway revival of Cabaret with Neil Patrick Harris.
In 2016, Gibson created, executive produced and starred in Hallmark Channel's "Summer of Dreams," which featured her new, original song "Wonderland" and a new acoustic version of her self-penned, debut, hit single "Only In My Dreams." The original movie was the highest-rated and most-watched movie premiere in the network's "Summer Nights" franchise with 2.5 Million total viewers, becoming the No. 1 rated program and telecast on August 27. "Summer of Dreams" was also the week's most social original movie premiere across broadcast and cable, attracting the most Unique and Interactions on Facebook and Twitter combined than any other original movie premiere. She reunited with Robert Gant to walk down the aisle in the sequel, "Wedding of Dreams," that premiered September 8, 2018 on Hallmark Channel.
She celebrated the 30-year anniversary of her pop career, including her mega-hit album Electric Youth and biggest single "Lost In Your Eyes," with her commemorative, retrospective 10 CD / 3 DVD box set We Could Be Together. In 2019, Gibson launched her bi-weekly radio show, "Debbie Gibson's Mixtape," on SiriusXM The Blend Channel 16 and performed 55 shows on the mega successful 53-city North American Mixtape Tour that sold 600,000 tickets with New Kids On The Block, Tiffany, Naughty by Nature and Salt-N-Pepa. She also served as a celebrity judge on Nickelodeon's first ever competition show "America's Most Musical Family."
Gibson shows no signs of slowing down. On January 10, 2020, "Girls Night Out" (Tracy Young Remixes) were digitally released. The #VegasVibe remix was the most added record and No. 1 breakout hit making its debut on the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart at No. 44. The song soared to No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard and U.K. MusicWeek charts. The official music video for the song was released February 13, 2020 and subsequent remixes were released from Dirty Werk, John Hohman, Dave Matthias, Kevsi, and Until Dawn. In fall of 2020, Gibson's debut album Out of the Blue was reissued on blue vinyl as an exclusive to Barnes & Noble and skyrocketed to #1 in SALES during its preorder run. She has two original Broadway musicals in the works, one with Jimmy Van Patten entitled "Flunkytown" and the other entitled "Skirts" as composer and lyricist with Hilary Carlip and Katie Ford. In 2021, she will appear in the musical episode of "Lucifer" on Netflix. From No. 1 hits and platinum albums to starring roles on stage and screen, Gibson is a true entertainer with timeless talent and charisma.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Only in My Dreams" (№4, 1987)
– 2. "Shake Your Love" (№4, 1987)
– 3. "Out of the Blue" (№3, 1988)
– 4. "Foolish Beat" (№1, 1988) ⭐*
– 5. "Staying Together" (№22, 1988)
– 6. "Lost in Your Eyes" (№1, 1989) ⭐
– 7. "Electric Youth" (№11, 1989)
– 8. "No More Rhyme" (№17, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Multi-talented performer/writer/producer Smokey Robinson's career, and life, is inextricably tied up with Motown Records' founder Berry Gordy (his first two children are named Tamla, for the Gordy-owned label Smokey recorded for, and Berry, for Gordy himself). He and Gordy have had a professional and personal relationship since the late 1950s, when Robinson went to work for Gordy's budding musical empire not only as a performer with his group, The Miracles, but also as a songwriter/producer. Robinson and The Miracles began turning out an almost unbroken string of hits in the early 1960s on Gordy's Tamla label (although they had minor hits on a few labels before they signed with Gordy). Robinson's high, warm tenor was perfect for the romantic ballads that he wrote for the group (one of the music industry's most prolific songwriters, Robinson was also such an imaginative one that Bob Dylan once called him "America's greatest living poet"), although they could also do hard, driving dance records (i.e., "Mickey's Monkey"). In addition to his writing/performing/producing chores for The Miracles, Robinson also turned out hit after hit for other Motown acts: Mary Wells ("My Guy"), The Temptations ("My Girl"), and others for The Marvelettesand Marvin Gaye. He left The Miracles to go solo in 1972, and met with even more success, turning out hit record after hit record all through the 1970s and 1980s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Cruisin'" (№4, 1980)
– 2. "Let Me Be the Clock" (№31, 1980)
– 3. "Being with You" (№2, 1981)*
– 4. "Tell Me Tomorrow" (№33, 1982)
– 5. "Just to See Her" (№8, 1987)
– 6. "One Heartbeat" (№10, 1987)- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and television judge. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recording the hit singles "Easy", "Sail On", "Three Times a Lady" and "Still", with the group before his departure. In 1980, he wrote and produced the US Billboard Hot 100 number one single "Lady" for Kenny Rogers. The following year, he wrote and produced the single "Endless Love", which he recorded as a duet with Diana Ross; it remains among the top 20 bestselling singles of all time, and the biggest career hit for both artists. In 1982, he officially launched his solo career with the album Lionel Richie, which sold over four million copies and spawned the singles "You Are", "My Love", and the number one single "Truly".'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Truly" (№1, 1982) ⭐
– 2. "You Are" (№4, 1983)
– 3. "My Love" (№5, 1983)*
– 4. "All Night Long (All Night)" (№1, 1983)
– 5. "Running with the Night" (№7, 1984)
– 6. "Hello" (№1, 1984) ⭐
– 7. "Stuck on You" (№3, 1984)
– 8. "Penny Lover" (№8, 1984)
– 9. "Say You, Say Me" (№1, 1985) ⭐
– 10. "Dancing on the Ceiling" (№2, 1986)
– 11. "Love Will Conquer All" (№9, 1986)
– 12. "Ballerina Girl" (№7, 1987)
– 13. "Se La" (№20, 1987)- Music Artist
- Actress
- Producer
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born into a musical family on 9 August 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of gospel star Cissy Houston (née Emily Lee Drinkard) and John Russell Houston, Jr., and cousin of singing star Dionne Warwick.
She began singing in the choir at her church, The New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, as a young child and by the age of 15 was singing backing vocals professionally with her mother on Chaka Khan's 1978 hit, 'I'm Every Woman'. She went on to provide backing vocals for Lou Rawls, Jermaine Jackson and her own mother and worked briefly as a model, appearing on the cover of 'Seventeen' magazine in 1981.
She began working as a featured vocalist for the New York-based funk band Material and it was the quality of her vocal work with them that attracted the attention of the major record labels, including Arista with whom she signed in 1983 and where she stayed for the rest of her career.
Her debut album, 'Whitney Houston', was released in 1985 and became the biggest-selling album by a debut artist. Several hit singles, including 'Saving All My Love For You', 'How Will I Know', 'You Give Good Love', and 'The Greatest Love of All', were released from the album, setting her up for a Beatles-beating seven consecutive US number ones. The album itself sold 3 million copies in its first year in the US and went on to sell 25 million worldwide, winning her the first of her six Grammies.
The 1987 follow-up album, 'Whitney', which included the hits 'Where Do Broken Hearts Go' and 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody', built on her success but it was the 1992 film The Bodyguard (1992) that sealed her place as one of the best-selling artists of all time. While the movie itself and her performance in it were not highly praised, the soundtrack album and her cover of the Dolly Parton song 'I Will Always Love You' topped the singles and albums charts for months and sold 44 million copies around the world.
That same year she married ex-New Edition singer Bobby Brown with whom she had her only child, their daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown in March 1993. It was about this time that her much documented drug use began and by 1996 she was a daily user.
Her 1998 album, 'My Love Is Your Love' was well reviewed but the drug abuse began to affect her reputation and press reports at the time said that she was becoming difficult to work with, if she turned up at all. She was dropped from a performance at The 72nd Annual Academy Awards (2000) because she was "out of it" at rehearsals. Her weight fluctuated wildly - she was so thin at a 'Michael Jackson' tribute in 2001 that rumors circulated the next day that she had died - and her voice began to fail her. She was twice admitted to rehab and declared herself drug-free in 2010 but returned to rehab in May 2011.
Her 2009 comeback album 'I Look To You' was positively received and sold well, but promotional performances were still marred by her weakened voice. Her final acting performance was in Sparkle (2012) (a remake of the 1976 movie, Sparkle (1976)), released after her death.
She was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel room on 11 February 2012.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "You Give Good Love" (№3, 1985)*
– 2. "Saving All My Love for You" (№1, 1985) ⭐
– 3. "How Will I Know" (№1, 1986) ⭐
– 4. "Greatest Love of All" (№1, 1986) ⭐
– 5. "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" (№1, 1987) ⭐
– 6. "Didn't We Almost Have It All" (№1, 1987) ⭐
– 7. "So Emotional" (№1, 1988) ⭐
– 8. "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" (№1, 1988) ⭐
– 9. "Love Will Save the Day" (№9, 1988)
– 10. "One Moment in Time" (№5, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Poor Man's Son" (№33, 1981)
– 2. "Eye of the Tiger" (№1, 1982) ⭐*
– 3. "American Heartbeat" (№17, 1982)
– 4. "I Can't Hold Back" (№13, 1984)
– 5. "High on You" (№8, 1985)
– 6. "The Search Is Over" (№4, 1985)
– 7. "Burning Heart" (№2, 1986)
– 8. "Is This Love" (№9, 1987)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Kenny Loggins was born on 7 January 1948 in Everett, Washington, USA. He is a music artist and actor, known for Footloose (1984), Caddyshack (1980) and Top Gun (1986). He was previously married to Julia Cooper and Eva Ein.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "This Is It" (№11, 1980)
– 2. "Keep the Fire" (№36, 1980)
– 3. "I'm Alright" (№7, 1980)
– 4. "Don't Fight It" (with Steve Perry) (№17, 1982)
– 5. "Heart to Heart" (№15, 1983)
– 6. "Welcome to Heartlight" (№24, 1983)
– 7. "Footloose" (№1, 1984) ⭐
– 8. "I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man)" (№22, 1984)
– 9. "Vox Humana" (№29, 1985)
– 10. "Forever" (№40, 1985)
– 11. "Danger Zone" (№2, 1986)*
– 12. "Meet Me Half Way" (№11, 1987)
– 13. "Nobody's Fool" (№8, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actress
- Composer
Blondie rates highly as the single most popular and successful group to emerge from the 1970s New York City punk/New Wave music scene. Blondie was founded by singer/songwriter Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein in 1974. Drummer Clem Burke, bass player Gary Valentine and keyboardist Jimmy Destri joined the band in 1975. Blondie started out by performing in such noted New York City underground club venues as CBGB's, Max's Kansas City (Harry had previously worked at this place as a waitress), and Club 51. The band released their self-titled debut album in 1976. Their second album "Plastic Letters" followed in 1977; the song "Denis" was a #2 hit in England.
Blondie achieved even greater success with their third album "Parallel Lines" in 1978; the excellent disco song "Heart of Glass" was a #1 hit on the US and UK radio charts alike and sold over a million copies. The album went on to sell over twenty million copies worldwide. The punchy "One Way or Another" reached #24 on the US Billboard charts and the charming "Sunday Girl" was a #1 hit in Britain. Blondie enjoyed three more US #1 radio hits in steady succession in the early 1980s: the rousing "Call Me" (this song was featured as the opening credits tune for the film American Gigolo (1980)), the catchy calypso number "The Tide is High", and the funky proto-rap offering "Rapture". Alas, the group was forced to break up in 1982 because of the failure of their ill-received sixth album "The Hunter" and Stein being diagnosed with the rare severe illness pemphigus.
In 1997, Blondie got back together and went on an international tour in 1998. In 1999, the band released their seventh album "No Exit". The song "Maria" was a #1 hit in England (this single was the sixth Blondie song to reach the #1 top spot in Britain). This comeback album was followed by "The Curse of Blondie" in 2003. Blondie's songs have been featured on the soundtracks to numerous films that include The Heartbreak Kid (2007), New York Minute (2004), Mean Girls (2004), Monster (2003), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Coyote Ugly (2000), 54 (1998), Donnie Brasco (1997), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), Summer School (1987), The Last American Virgin (1982), Just Before Dawn (1981), Endless Love (1981), Roadie (1980) and Little Darlings (1980).
The group appear as themselves in the documentary movie The Blank Generation (1976). Blondie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2006 and the Rock Walk Hall of Fame on May 22, 2006. In 2008, Blondie embarked on another international tour.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Call Me" (№1, 1980) ⭐*
– 2. "Atomic" (№39, 1980)
– 3. "The Tide Is High" (№1, 1981) ⭐
– 4. "Rapture" (№1, 1981) ⭐
– 5. "Island of Lost Souls" (№37, 1982)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Heart Like a Wheel" (№24, 1981)
– 2. "Abracadabra" (№1, 1982) ⭐*- Actor
- Music Department
- Additional Crew
Yes are an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by singer Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire. The band has undergone numerous personnel changes throughout its history; twenty musicians have been full-time members. Yes have explored several musical styles over the years, and are most notably regarded as progressive rock pioneers. With the exception of a brief period, between January 1981 and summer 1983, when the band were disbanded, they have not split up. Chris Squire was the only founding member never to leave the group, until his death in June 2015.
The beginnings of Yes can be traced back to Soho, London in April 1968. It was there that singer Jon Anderson was introduced to bassist Chris Squire by Jack Barrie at La Chasse Club on Wardour Street, a few doors down from the legendary Marquee Club. The pair wrote a song together soon after meeting: "Sweetness". On 18 May 1968, Jon Anderson joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop on stage during the encore of a London gig, performing "Midnight Hour" alongside Chris Squire, singer/guitarist Clive Bayley, guitarist Peter Banks and drummer Robert Hagger. The group had been formed by Clive Bayley and Robert Hagger in summer 1967, Chris Squire and Peter Banks having joined in the winter following the break up of The Syn.
Following the 18 May gig, Peter Banks left the group to join Neat Change. Clive Bayley then switched from rhythm to lead guitarist and Jon Anderson became the group's lead singer. At the very start of June, Robert Hagger also left. Anderson, Bayley and Squire put an advertisement in the Melody Maker music magazine, which led to the recruitment of drummer Bill Bruford. He rehearsed with the group in the basement of the Lucky Horseshoe Café on Shaftesbury Avenue on 7 June and then played his first gig with them that evening.
Eight weeks of rehearsals at the Lucky Horseshoe followed. During this time, they recruited Tony Kaye as organist, making Mabel Greer's Toyshop a quintet. They played a single gig in July 1968, in Kingston, Surrey on the 20th, followed by an after-party at Bayley's parents' house nearby. Very soon after the gig, Clive Bayley left Mabel Greer's Toyshop, the group he had formed. Peter Banks re-joined as guitarist in late July.
After a few more rehearsals in the basement of the Lucky Horseshoe, the group emerged on 3 August with a new name, Yes (suggested by Banks), and played their first gig, that evening, in Essex. Well rehearsed and different, Yes began growing support around London. Before really getting off the ground, Buford left in September 1968, to go to Leeds University. He was replaced by drummer Tony O'Reilly (formerly of the Koobas), but proved unreliable due to his drinking habits. He ended up in hospital and was replaced by drummer Ian Wallace for a November gig. Wallace had previously played alongside Anderson in The Warriors. The group played a gig at Leeds University, with O'Reilly back on drums, which Buford attended with friends to show them the group he used to play in. With O'Reilly a beat behind the rest of the band, Bruford felt embarrassed and was persuaded to rejoin. He did so just in time for a big show supporting Cream at their farewell concert at London's Royal Albert Hall.
The group made their television debut in December 1968 (Episode dated 31 December 1968 (1968)) and their radio debut on the BBC in January 1969. By the spring, they had secured a record deal with Atlantic Records and began recording their debut album, "Yes", which opened with the Mabel Greer's Toyshop track "Beyond and Before". This was followed by their second album, "Time and a Word" in 1970, which featured an orchestra. Prior to the album's release, guitarist Peter Banks was fired after a gig at Luton in April.
In early May 1970, with new guitarist Steve Howe, the group moved to Devon to write their third album. In September, the group filmed the television special Rock of the 70s: Yes (1970) with Howe miming to Banks' parts. "The Yes Album" was recorded in London in late 1970 and released in January 1971. With new manager Brian Lane, Yes finally began finding success. "The Yes Album" made it into the UK charts and they made their USA debut tour in summer 1971. The group performed "Yours Is No Disgrace" on Episode #8.13 (1971) and Episode #1.66 (1971). After an outdoor London show in late July 1971, Tony Kaye left the group.
With new keyboard-player Rick Wakeman, the group began rehearsing their fourth album, "Fragile", in August 1971. Released in autumn, it became their first big hit record in the UK and "Roundabout" became their first big hit single in the USA. An October show was filmed for the television program Yes (1972). 1972 saw the group produce their fifth album: "Close to the Edge", which was followed by Bruford's second departure from the band, leaving this time to join King Crimson. His replacement, drummer Alan White, joined just a few days before a big American tour.
Shows from the autumn 1972 "Close to the Edge" tour were recorded and released on the successful "Yessongs" album the following year. A December London show was recorded for the concert film Yessongs (1975). 1973 also saw the group release their sixth studio album: "Tales from Topographic Oceans". Following the album's tour, Wakeman quit in spring 1974. He was replaced by Swiss Patrick Moraz for the "Relayer" album, recorded in 1974 and followed by extensive touring into 1975.
The group then took a short break, with each of its members producing solo albums between summer 1975 and spring 1976. They then embarked on a hugely successfully North American tour supported by Peter Frampton. In autumn, the group headed to Montreux, Switzerland to work on their eighth studio album. After a short time, Moraz parted ways and Rick Wakeman was brought back. "Going for the One" was completed in 1977 and featured the hit single "Wonderous Stories". The group made their first music video for "Wonderous Stories", which was aired on Episode #14.40 (1977).
In 1978, the group made their ninth studio album, "Tomato", followed by extensive touring into 1979. After aborted sessions in Paris at the end of the year, Wakeman left the group for a second time and Anderson also left. Rehearsing as a trio, Squire, Howe and White recruited singer Trevor Horn and keyboard-player Geoff Downes, who had just had a big hit as The Buggles with "Video Killed the Radio Star". The tenth studio album, "Drama" was recorded in spring 1980 and followed by American and European tours. The immense strain on Horn, in filling Anderson's shoes on stage, led to him leaving the band after touring was completed. A private meeting in January 1981 led to the decision to disband. Horn and Downes made the second Buggles album, while Howe began working with John Wetton. Wetton brought in Carl Palmer and Howe brought in Downes, resulting in the super-group Asia.
Meanwhile, Squire and White began working with Jimmy Page on the short-lived XYZ (Ex- Yes Zeppelin) project. After that fell through, the duo made the Christmas single "Run with the Fox". In January 1982, they formed a new group, Cinema, with guitar/singer Trevor Rabin. Original Yes keyboard-player Tony Kaye was brought in and work began on an album, with Trevor Horn back this time as producer rather than a band member. In summer 1983, Squire called Jon Anderson and played him some of their demos. With Anderson joining the group, making them from a quartet to a quintet, plans to name themselves Bunch of Daffs were aborted when they realized they were Yes again, with three original members.
The result was the hugely successful 1983 album "90125". The album featured the hit single "Owner of a Lonely Heart", which made it to number one in the USA chart. The Yes: Owner of a Lonely Heart (1983) music video features Eddie Jobson on keyboards. After the album's completion, Yes parted ways from the group. However, Kaye returned for the "90125" tour and Jobson was largely edited out of the video as a consequence. Kaye appears in the Yes: Leave It (1984) music video.
Touring throughout 1984 saw the group enjoying a second wave of success. The Yes: 9012 Live (1985) concert film was shot at Edmonton, Canada in September 1984. The next album, "Big Generator" wasn't finished until 1987. Touring in 1988 was followed by Anderson's second departure from the band. He went on to team up with fellow ex-Yes members to form Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe (ABWH). Meanwhile, Squire, White, Kaye and Rabin began recording with Billy Sherwood. However, Sherwood declined the role as lead singer.
By spring 1991, Squire, Rabin, White and Kaye had joined forced with ABWH to form an eight-man Yes line-up. They released the studio album "Union" and embarked on a world tour, finishing in spring 1992. During the spring 1991 rehearsals for the tour, the group were filmed for the YesYears (1991) documentary. One by one, Bruford, Howe and Wakeman left the group, reverting back to the "90125" line-up. Early 1994 saw the release of the next studio album: "Talk". Billy Sherwood joined the group on the world tour, after which Rabin and Kaye left the group.
Wakeman and Howe returned and the part-live/part-studio albums "Keys to Ascension" and "Keys to Ascension 2" were released in 1996 and 1997 respectively. By the time volume 2 was released, Wakeman had left the group for a fourth time and Billy Sherwood became an official member of the band, recording the "Open Your Eyes" album with the band. Russian keyboard-player Igor Khoroshev was recruited for the autumn 1997 tour.
In 1999, the six-man line-up made "The Ladder", touring into the twenty-first century. An October 1999 show was filmed for the House of Yes: Live from House of Blues (2000) concert film. In the course of the year 2000, the group went from six to four members, with Sherwood and Khoroshev parting ways one by one. Rather than recruiting another keyboard player, Anderson, Squire, Howe and White made the "Magnification" album with an orchestra and White handling piano parts. On tour, Tom Brislin was brought in as keyboard player. The concert film Yes: Symphonic Live (2002) was filmed in Amsterdam in November 2001.
Wakeman joined the group for a fifth time in spring 2002 touring the world with the group until autumn 2004 when both he and Anderson left again. During those two years, numerous DVDs were made: Yesspeak (2003), Yes Acoustic (2004), Songs from Tsongas: Yes 35th Anniversary Concert (2005) and Yes: Live at Montreux 2003 (2007). After a November 2004 London gig with the line-up of Squire, Howe, White, Downes and Rabin, the group went on hiatus for three years, during which time Howe rejoined Asia alongside Downes and Squire re-formed The Syn with White. Plans for a 2008 fortieth anniversary tour with Anderson were canceled due to Anderson's health. Wakeman had suggested his eldest son Oliver Wakeman as keyboard-player.
Tired of waiting for Anderson, the trio of Howe, Squire and White, along with Oliver Wakeman and new singer Benoît David began touring America in autumn 2008. The "In the Present" touring cycle continued to spring 2011, recording a live album in France in December 2009, which was released two years later along with an accompanying DVD documentary: Yes: In the Present - Live from Lyon (2011). This line-up had entered the studio with Trevor Horn in autumn 2010 and worked on a "Drama"-era song called "Fly from Here". In January 2011, Downes was brought in to play keyboards on the track, re-forming the "Drama" line-up. Subsequently, Downes played on the whole album and Oliver Wakeman was asked to leave following his touring commitments with the group.
Partway through the "Fly From Here" tour, Benoît David left the group having experienced health issues from singing live. He was replaced by Jon Davison. The Davison, Squire, Howe, White, Downes line-up entered the studio in 2014 to make the "Heaven and Earth" album. Throughout 2014 and 2015, the group played four 1970s albums in their entirety live on tour, releasing two live concert album-video sets: Like It Is: Yes at the Bristol Hippodrome (2014) (featuring "Going for the One" and "The Yes Album") and Like It Is: Yes at Mesa Arts Centre (2015) (featuring "Close to the Edge" and "Fragile"). Sadly, Squire died from leukemia in June 2015. Whilst ill, Squire had suggested multi-instrumentalist and former Yes member Billy Sherwood as his replacement. This line-up continuing playing original albums in their entirety with "Drama" and "Tales from Topographic Oceans". In 2016, White had to temporarily leave the group for health reasons and was temporarily replaced by Jay Schellen. Both Schellen and White appear on 2017's "Topographic Drama" live album. A six-man line-up toured America in summer 2017, with Howe's eldest son Dylan Howe drumming alongside White to create a richer drum sound whilst White continued to recover from back surgery.
In April 2017, the "Union" line-up of Anderson, Squire, Bruford, Kaye, Howe, Wakeman, White and Rabin were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The 2017 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (2017). Squire was represented by widow Scotland Squire and their daughter Xilan. Kaye was not represented. The other six members attended, all except for Bruford performed live together.
The line-up of Davison, Sherwood, Howe, White and Downes celebrated the group's fiftieth anniversary in 2018 with original keyboard-player Tony Kaye as special guest and Jay Schellen sharing drumming duties to White not being fully recovered. During the world tour, former members Bill Bruford, Patrick Moraz, Trevor Horn and Tom Brislin all reunited with the group on stage, all performed except Bruford; having retired as a musician some years before, he introduced the group at their London Palladium concert. Concert footage and interviews were filmed during the fiftieth anniversary tour for the documentary Yes 50: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (2018).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (№1, 1984) ⭐*
– 2. "Leave It" (№24, 1984)
– 3. "Love Will Find a Way" (№30, 1987)
– 4. "Rhythm of Love" (№40, 1988)- Actress
- Music Department
- Composer
Laura Branigan was born on 3 July 1952 in Mount Kisco, New York, USA. She was an actress and composer, known for Flashdance (1983), Ghostbusters (1984) and I, Tonya (2017). She was married to Laurence Ross Kruteck. She died on 26 August 2004 in East Quogue, New York, USA.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Gloria" (№2, 1982)
– 2. "Solitaire" (№7, 1983)
– 3. "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" (№12, 1983)
– 4. "Self Control" (№4, 1984)
– 5. "The Lucky One" (№20, 1984)
– 6. "Spanish Eddie" (№40, 1985)*
– 7. "Power of Love" (№26, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Music Department
The Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in Hereford, England, in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). Following the drug-related deaths of Honeyman-Scott and Farndon, the band has experienced numerous subsequent personnel changes, with Hynde as the only consistent member, and Chambers returning after an absence of several years.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Brass in Pocket" (№14, 1980)
– 2. "Back on the Chain Gang" (№5, 1983)
– 3. "Middle of the Road" (№19, 1984)
– 4. "Show Me" (№28, 1984)*
– 5. "Don't Get Me Wrong" (№10, 1986)- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Pop icon Belinda Carlisle experienced full-blown American success twice in the 1980s, first with the all-female rock band The Go-Go's and then, on an international level (which she always wanted), as a solo artist. The Go-Go's first album, 1981's "Beauty and the Beat", spent six weeks at number 1 and they are still the only all-female band ever to have a number 1 album. (Band meaning where all the members play their own instruments). In 1982, the group released the album "Vacation" and set out on a major sell out tour of the states. The album debuted in the top 10 (one of the first albums to ever do so) peaking at number 8. It would eventually go on to sell over 1 million copies though their record company only had it certified as gold. Problems were rising in the band as tensions grew between member Jane Wiedlin and Belinda as Jane felt too much focus was placed on Belinda as the star. Members Gina Schock and Charlotte Caffey both experienced health problems and all of the members were experiencing drug addiction. The group also consistently had problems with their record label as they were not paid royalties when they should have been. 1984 saw the group releasing "Talk Show" and despite having one of the biggest tours of the summer of 1984, the album was considered a commercial disappointment. The band broke up in spring 1985. 1986 saw Belinda releasing her first solo album called, aptly, "Belinda". Drug free, married, happy, and healthy, she continued to experience major solo success through 1989 with the releases of her albums "Heaven On Earth" (1987) and "Runaway Horses" (1989). With the onslaught of grunge moving in during the early 1990s, Belinda's 1991 effort "Live Your Life Be Free" barely made a dent on the charts and its first single peaked at #83 on the Billboard Hot 100. By 1993, her solo album "Real" also tanked and her American record company MCA Records dropped her a year later. MCA technically should be to blame as they hardly promoted her work and most of it sold on its own. They did the same to Olivia Newton-John some 10 years earlier. But just because a pop star isn't experiencing American success does not mean they are not experiencing it elsewhere. Belinda proves to be a huge commodity in Europe, almost as big as Madonna, and sells out stadiums in the United Kingdom where they truly seem to appreciate her. Today, Belinda only occasionally records both as a solo artist and as a member of The Go-Go's. She considers herself a part-timer in these fields as she prefers her home life as opposed to the nail-biting entertainment industry. She appeared in the 1984 Goldie Hawn vehicle Swing Shift (1984) and, in 2001, she showed that a 43-year-old with no plastic surgery and who isn't a size 0 can still be sexually viable when she posed nude for Playboy.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Mad About You" (№3, 1986)*
– 2. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" (№1, 1987) ⭐
– 3. "I Get Weak" (№2, 1988)
– 4. "Circle in the Sand" (№7, 1988)
– 5. "Leave a Light On" (№11, 1989)- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
Eric Carmen was born on 11 August 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was a music artist and composer, known for Footloose (1984), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and To Die For (1995). He was married to Amy Murrphy, Susan Brown and Marcy Hill. He died on 11 March 2024 in the USA.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "I Wanna Hear It from Your Lips" (№35, 1985)
– 2. "Hungry Eyes" (№4, 1988)*
– 3. "Make Me Lose Control" (№3, 1988)- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" (№40, 1983)
– 2. "Sister Christian" (№5, 1984)*
– 3. "When You Close Your Eyes" (№14, 1984)
– 4. "Sentimental Street" (№8, 1985)
– 5. "Four in the Morning (I Can't Take Anymore)" (№19, 1985)
– 6. "Goodbye" (№17, 1986)- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
The J. Geils Band is known for Fighting (2009), Hancock (2008) and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Come Back" (№32, 1980)
– 2. "Love Stinks" (№38, 1980)
– 3. "Centerfold" (№1, 1982) ⭐*
– 4. "Freeze-Frame" (№4, 1982)
– 5. "Angel in Blue" (№40, 1982)
– 6. "I Do" (Live) (№24, 1983)- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Best known for his starring role as Det. Sonny Crockett on the hugely successful TV series Miami Vice (1984), Don Johnson is one of the stars who really defined the 1980s. As James "Sonny" Crockett he went toe-to-toe with drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, assassins, illegal arms-dealers and crooked cops on a weekly basis from 1984 to 1989, appearing in a grand total of 110 episodes. The show, which was executive-produced by four time Oscar-nominated director, producer and writer Michael Mann, paired Johnson with the equally cool Philip Michael Thomas as Det. Ricardo Tubbs and the calm and stoic presence of Edward James Olmos as Lt. Martin Castillo. It revolutionized television with its modern fashion, pop music, unique style and use of real locations. Johnson typically wore $1000 Armani, Versace and Hugo Boss suits over pastel cotton T-shirts, drove a Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona (later a Ferrari Testarossa) and lived on an Endeavour 42-foot sailboat named "St. Vitus' Dance" with his pet alligator Elvis. He also had full use of an offshore powerboat. Still, "Miami Vice" had not only style but substance, and his portrayal of the Vietnam veteran turned vice detective turned Sonny Crockett into the world's favorite cop. For his work on "Miami Vice" Johnson won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series in 1986, and was nominated in the same category a year later. He also picked up an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1985.
Johnson was born in Flat Creek, Missouri, the son Eva Lea "Nell" (Wilson), a beautician, and Wayne Fred Johnson, a farmer. As a kid, he wanted to become a professional bowler. Later, after a few brushes with the law at a young age, he discovered acting. After working on the stage for a while he ventured into films and television, but was not able to break into stardom despite, among other things, starring in the sci-fi cult classic A Boy and His Dog (1975).
Johnson starred in four failed TV pilots before landing his career-high role on "Miami Vice", which propelled him to superstardom. He directed four highly praised episodes of the show. He balanced his work on the series by appearing in a praised TV-movie adaption of the William Faulkner novel The Long Hot Summer (1985) and the feature Sweet Hearts Dance (1988) with Susan Sarandon. After the series ended he focused solely on his film career. Although movies like Dead Bang (1989), The Hot Spot (1990) and Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) did not fare well with the critics, quite a few of them have obtained a considerable cult following, with fans praising them as all being quality contributions to their genre. His film work has given Johnson the opportunity to work with legendary filmmakers like John Frankenheimer, Sidney Lumet and Dennis Hopper.
After working steadily, Johnson returned to TV in 1996 with the cop show Nash Bridges (1996). The show, which Johnson created and produced, did very well. It co-starred Cheech Marin and Jodi Lyn O'Keefe. Johnson played the title role, a captain in the San Francisco PD's Special Investigations Unit. He was again paired with a flashy vehicle, this time an electric-yellow 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible. After "Nash Bridges" went off the air Johnson kept a low profile, but continued to appear in films and on television. He starred in the failed WB courtroom drama Just Legal (2005), which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and traveled to Europe to make the Norwegian screwball comedy Lange flate ballær II (2008) and the Italian films Bastardi (2008) and Torno a vivere da solo (2008). As a supporting actor, he's been seen in mainstream films such as Machete (2010), Django Unchained (2012) and Knives Out (2019).
Johnson had two pre-fame marriages that were annulled within a matter of days. In the early 1970s, he lived with rock groupie Pamela Des Barres. In 1972, Tippi Hedren, his co-star in The Harrad Experiment (1973), allowed him to date her daughter Melanie Griffith despite the fact she was only 14 and he was 22; the relationship culminated in a six-month marriage during 1976. From 1981 to 1985, he lived with actress Patti D'Arbanville and they had one son together. After short-lived liaisons with Cybill Shepherd, Barbra Streisand and a barely legal Uma Thurman, he remarried Griffith in 1989. The couple divorced again in 1996, after she left him for Antonio Banderas. Johnson was engaged to "Nash Bridges" co-star O'Keefe, but broke it off before they made it to the altar. Since 1999 he's been married to former debutante Kelley Phleger, with whom he has three children.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Heartbeat" (№5, 1986)- Actor
- Composer
- Music Department
Robert Palmer was born on 19 January 1949 in Batley, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), True Romance (1993) and Lost in Space (1998). He was married to Shelly Putnam and Susan Eileen Thatcher. He died on 26 September 2003 in Paris, France.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Addicted to Love" (№1, 1986) ⭐
– 2. "Hyperactive" (№33, 1986)
– 3. "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" (№2, 1986)
– 4. "Simply Irresistible" (№2, 1988)*
– 5. "Early in the Morning" (№19, 1988)- Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
John Waite was born on 4 July 1952 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for True Romance (1993), Tango & Cash (1989) and Days of Thunder (1990).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Missing You" (№1, 1984) ⭐*
– 2. "Tears" (№37, 1984)
– 3. "Every Step of the Way" (№25, 1985)- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop rock singer-songwriter. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide.
Marx's self-titled debut album went triple-platinum in 1987, and his first single, "Don't Mean Nothing", reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Between 1987 and 1994, he had 14 top 20 hits, including three number one singles.
Marx is the only male artist in history to have his first seven singles reach the top 5 of the Billboard charts. He has scored a total of 14 number one singles, both as a performer and as a songwriter/producer. As a singer, his No. 1 hits include "Right Here Waiting", "Hold On to the Nights", "Endless Summer Nights", and "Satisfied". According to Billboard, Marx "holds the distinction of having written songs that have hit No. 1 on various Billboard charts in each of the last four decades."
Marx has written or collaborated on songs with other artists, including "This I Promise You" by NSYNC and "Dance with My Father" by Luther Vandross. Marx has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. In 2003, he won the Grammy for Song of the Year for "Dance with My Father".
Marx first number one success came in 1984 with "Crazy" a song he co-wrote with country music superstar Kenny Rogers.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Don't Mean Nothing" (№3, 1987)
– 2. "Should've Known Better" (№3, 1987)
– 3. "Endless Summer Nights" (№2, 1988)*
– 4. "Hold On to the Nights" (№1, 1988) ⭐
– 5. "Satisfied" (№1, 1989) ⭐
– 6. "Right Here Waiting" (№1, 1989) ⭐
– 7. "Angelia" (№4, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Steve Winwood was born on 12 May 1948 in Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, UK. He is a music artist and actor, known for Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Flight of the Phoenix (2004) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). He has been married to Eugenia Crafton since 18 January 1987. They have four children. He was previously married to Nicole Tacot Weir.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "While You See a Chance" (№7, 1981)
– 2. "Higher Love" (№1, 1986) ⭐
– 3. "Freedom Overspill" (№20, 1986)
– 4. "The Finer Things" (№8, 1987)
– 5. "Back in the High Life Again" (№13, 1987)*
– 6. "Valerie" (№9, 1987)
– 7. "Roll with It" (№1, 1988) ⭐
– 8. "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" (№6, 1988)
– 9. "Holding On" (№11, 1989)- Actor
- Soundtrack
Bruce Hornsby & The Range is known for Backdraft (1991), Bruce Hornsby and the Range: The Way It Is (1986) and White Water Summer (1987).'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "The Way It Is" (№1, 1986) ⭐
– 2. "Mandolin Rain" (№4, 1987)*
– 3. "Every Little Kiss" (№14, 1987)
– 4. "The Valley Road" (№5, 1988)
– 5. "Look Out Any Window" (№35, 1988)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (№1, 1982) ⭐*
– 2. "Love Me Tomorrow" (№22, 1982)
– 3. "Stay the Night" (№16, 1984)
– 4. "Hard Habit to Break" (№3, 1984)
– 5. "You're the Inspiration" (№3, 1985)
– 6. "Along Comes a Woman" (№14, 1985)
– 7. "Will You Still Love Me?" (№3, 1987)
– 8. "If She Would Have Been Faithful..." (№17, 1987)
– 9. "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" (№3, 1988)
– 10. "Look Away" (№1, 1988) ⭐
– 11. "You're Not Alone" (№10, 1989)- Music Artist
- Actor
- Composer
Foreigner is an English-American rock band, originally formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran English musician Mick Jones ex-Spooky Tooth and fellow Briton and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm. Jones came up with the band's name as he, McDonald and Dennis Elliott were British, while Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi were American. Their biggest hit single, "I Want to Know What Love Is", topped the United Kingdom and United States charts among others. They are one of the world's best-selling bands of all time with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, including 37.5 million records in the US.'80s Top 40 hits
– 1. "Urgent" (№4, 1981)
– 2. "Waiting for a Girl Like You" (№2, 1981)*
– 3. "Juke Box Hero" (№26, 1982)
– 4. "Break It Up" (№26, 1982)
– 5. "I Want to Know What Love Is" (№1, 1985) ⭐
– 6. "That Was Yesterday" (№12, 1985)
– 7. "Say You Will" (№6, 1988)
– 8. "I Don't Want to Live Without You" (№5, 1988)