Richard Marx Best Songs

[Barbro Faries]

Marxs first number one success as a songwriter came in 1984 with "What About Me?", which was recorded by Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes, and James Ingram, and topped the US and Canadian Adult Contemporary charts. His second chart-topper was 1985's "Crazy", a song he co-wrote with Rogers which reached number one in the Hot Country Songs chart. 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.[7][8] Between 1987 and 1994, he had 14 top 20 hits, including three number one singles.[9]

Marx is the only male artist in history to have his first seven singles reach the top 5 of the Billboard charts.[7] He has scored a total of 14 number one singles, both as a performer and as a songwriter/producer.[5] As a singer, his No. 1 hits include "Hazard", "Right Here Waiting", "Hold On to the Nights", "Endless Summer Nights", and "Satisfied".[10] 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."[11]

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.[12] Marx has been nominated for five Grammy Awards. In 2003, he won the Grammy for Song of the Year for "Dance with My Father".[13]

Marx was born in Chicago, Illinois,[4] the only child of Ruth (ne Guildoo), a former singer, and Dick Marx, a jazz musician and founder of a jingle company in the early 1960s. His father was of German-Jewish descent.[14][15] Marx attended North Shore Country Day School.[16] He has three half-siblings from his father's previous marriage.[17]

Marx began his career in music at age five, singing commercial jingles written by his father's company; his list of advertising hits includes Arm & Hammer, Ken-L Ration[18] and Nestl Crunch. Marx was 17 and living in Highland Park, Illinois, when a tape of his songs ended up in the hands of Lionel Richie. Richie thought Marx had talent and told the teen, "I can't promise you anything, but you should come to L.A."[19]

Marx said one of the first musicians he met in Los Angeles was Fee Waybill of the Tubes with whom he has collaborated at least 30 times. They met in a recording studio. In that same 2014 video segment for Ameoba Records. Marx called Waybill "my life-long best friend" and said Waybill is also godfather to his children.[20] Waybill went into great detail about their working relationship in a 2020 interview with American Songwriter. [21]

Marx's self-titled debut album, released in June 1987, yielded four hit singles and went triple platinum.[7][8] The debut single, "Don't Mean Nothing", is a song about the potential pitfalls of the music business. "Don't Mean Nothing" reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Billboard's Album Rock chart. Marx became the first new artist played on 117 radio stations nationwide during his initial week on the charts. The next two singles, "Should've Known Better" and "Endless Summer Nights", reached No. 3 and No. 2, respectively.[citation needed] The fourth single released from the album, "Hold On to the Nights", earned Marx his first No. 1 hit.[9] The latter three of the album's singles were also hits on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, beginning a long string of hits on that chart.

With the success of his self-titled album, Marx embarked on his first world tour, initially opening for REO Speedwagon, but quickly began headlining his own shows. His first tour kept him on the road for 14 months.[citation needed]

Repeat Offender, Marx's second album, was released in May 1989.[citation needed] It rose to No. 1 on Billboard's album chart. It went triple platinum within a few months and eventually sold over 5 million copies in the United States alone. The first two singles, "Satisfied" and the platinum-selling "Right Here Waiting", both reached No. 1.[citation needed]

"Right Here Waiting" was Marx's first No. 1 hit on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart as well as his first big hit outside of North America, reaching No. 1 in several European countries and giving Marx his first top ten hit in the UK. It has been covered numerous times, most notably by Monica and 112 in a 1998 duet. Another single from the album, "Children of the Night", was written and composed in support of a Van Nuys-based organization for runaways. It became the sixth single from Repeat Offender.[citation needed]

In 1991, Marx released his third consecutive platinum album Rush Street.[citation needed] The album saw artists such as Luther Vandross and Billy Joel appear as backing vocalists and guest pianists. The disc's first single, "Keep Coming Back", went to No. 12 on the Hot 100 and its second single, "Hazard", made it to No. 9. Both songs hit No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart for four weeks and one week respectively. "Hazard" became Marx's second UK top ten, reaching No. 3.[citation needed]

In early 1994, as he and his family permanently left Los Angeles behind and returned to Chicago, Marx released Paid Vacation, and scored his fourth consecutive platinum album.[citation needed] The acoustic ballad "Now and Forever" peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100, his final[update] top ten hit on that chart.[citation needed]

The year 1997 saw the release of Flesh and Bone, Marx's final studio album on the Capitol imprint. The disc's first single, "Until I Find You Again", hit No. 3 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart and No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100.[citation needed]

Marx's Greatest Hits compilation was released in November 1997.[citation needed] The 16-track album includes a variety of hit singles from his first five albums plus "Angel's Lullaby", a song written about his children originally appearing on For Our Children, Too, a compilation CD released in 1996 to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Greatest Hits was released in Asia in November 1998 and included two new songs, "Slipping Away" and "Thanks to You", a tribute to his mother.[citation needed] The album was certified Gold in the U.S.[citation needed]

In 2000, Marx debuted his sixth studio album, titled Days in Avalon. This disc was released on the Signal 21 Records label founded by Marx and former Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer and record producer Bobby Colomby. [citation needed]After signing a new deal with his former label, Manhattan Records, Marx released the 2004 album My Own Best Enemy.[citation needed]

On June 12, 2008, Marx was part of a PBS television series called Songwriters in the Round Presents: Legends & Lyrics. In Episode 102 of the first season, Marx appeared along with Kenny Loggins, Nathan Lee, and rock band Three Doors Down. This episode also featured an interview with singer-songwriter Diane Warren.[24][25][26]

On December 6, 2008, Marx headlined a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis research, "Newsapalooza", sponsored by WLS-AM's Roe Conn program, in which Marx both performed several of his hits with his band and accompanied Chicago broadcast news reporters and anchors covering rock hits.[27]

In an interview published in Rolling Stone on June 26, 2009, Marx said he was "ashamed" of having been linked to a $1.92 million fine against single mother Jammie Thomas-Rasset by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Rasset had shared 24 songs on the file-sharing website Kazaa in 2005, and Marx's "Now and Forever" was one of them.[28]

On May 3, 2011, Marx was invited onto the stage at the Curran Theater in San Francisco by Hugh Jackman. It was opening night of Hugh Jackman in Performance. Jackman and Marx sang "Right Here Waiting" together, with Marx changing the lyrics of the last chorus to "right here waiting for Hugh".[citation needed]

Also on May 3, 2011, the reissue of Stories to Tell was released in the United States as a three-disc set exclusively through Walmart. The set included a "best of" disc, an acoustic disc of tracks, and a DVD of a live concert performance at the Shepherd's Bush venue in England.[citation needed] The album was also made available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon, but without the bonus DVD and album booklet. "Everybody" was released as a single in Europe and "When You Loved Me" was released in the U.S., peaking in the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[30]

In the summer of 2011, Marx collaborated with the internet comedy duo Rhett and Link, producing a celebrity endorsement for a colon-cleansing spa in Sacramento, California. The ad spot and its "making of" was featured on an episode of Rhett and Link's Commercial Kings television series on IFC.[31]

Marx's next album, Limitless, was released on February 7, 2020.[32][33] Its lead-off single, "Another One Down", hit No. 14 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, giving Marx a span of 32 years at the format.[citation needed]

On January 8, 1989, Marx married singer, dancer, and actress Cynthia Rhodes, who appeared in Staying Alive, Flashdance, and Dirty Dancing.[4] Rhodes appeared as the female lead in Marx's first video, "Don't Mean Nothing". They had three sons together. In April 2014, the couple announced they were divorcing.[36]

On December 21, 2016, it was reported that Marx helped Korean Air flight attendants pacify an unruly, possibly intoxicated passenger while he and his wife were aboard a flight bound from Hanoi to Seoul,[39][40] even providing photographic evidence of the incident.[41][42][43] He also criticized the airline's handling of the situation. In response, Korean Air stated that they would respond more assertively to similar situations in the future.[44]

Earlier this month, I was in between interviews with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke at the Saving Mr. Banks premiere when I had one of my "Wait a minute, isn't that..." moments. I swore I saw '80s powerhouse singer Richard Marx appear on the red carpet, and 30 seconds later, sure enough a publicist approached me and asked if I wanted to speak with the Richard Marx. (Um, "You better believe it," said this '80s fan.)

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