Richard Marx Discography

• 
  My Own Best Enemy
  (2004)
• 
  Days in Avalon
  (2000)
• 
  Greatest Hits
  (1997)
• 
  Flesh & Bone
  (1997)
• 
  Paid Vacation
  (1994)
• 
  Rush Street
  (1991)
• 
  Repeat Offender
  (1989)
• 
  Richard Marx
  (1987)

Related Artists

Songs By

Bruce Gaitsch :: Fee Waybill

Influenced By

The Eagles :: Elton John :: Billy Joel

Similar Artists

Donna Lewis & Richard Marx :: Richard Thompson :: Westlife :: Daryl Hall :: Glenn Frey :: Ronan Keating :: Pat Benatar :: Lionel Richie :: Rod Stewart :: Phil Collins :: Don Henley :: Bryan Adams :: Ricky Martin :: Celine Dion :: Robbie Williams :: Michael Bolton

See also Biography Index (R) :: Filmography Index (R) :: Discography Index (R)

Richard Noel Marx (born September 16, 1963 in Winnetka, Illinois) is an adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of highly successful hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now & Forever", and "Hazard". Although most of his major hit songs were slow ballads like these, many of his songs had a classic rock style, such as "Don`t Mean Nothing," "Should`ve Known Better," "Satisfied," and "Too Late To Say Goodbye". Marx placed himself in the record books by being the first solo artist to have his first seven singles hit the Top 5 on the US charts.

Marx began his career in music at the age of 5, singing commercial jingles written by his father, Dick. Marx`s list of "commercial" hits includes Arm & Hammer and Nestlé 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 said he thought Marx had the talent to make it big, saying "I can`t promise you anything, but you should come to L.A." [3] So after graduating from high school, Marx moved to Los Angeles and visited Richie. "He was recording his first solo album and having trouble with the background vocal," Richard recalls. "He tells me, ‘Come try this part.’ It worked and I ended up singing on his album." Richard contributed backing vocals to Richie’s hits "You Are," "Running With The Night," and the chart-topping "All Night Long," on Lionel`s follow-up album.

In those early years, Richard would find any excuse possible to labour in the recording industry. His enthusiasm and his presence in the studio landed him several jobs as a background singer for artists like Madonna and Whitney Houston, and, eventually, as a songwriter. He was singing for Kenny Rogers in 1984 when he overheard Rogers say he needed a new song. Within days, Richard gave him a demo of "Crazy." Rogers recorded it, along with another of Richard’s songs, "What About Me," which also featured James Ingram and Kim Carnes. The trio recording hit #1 Adult Contemporary and #15 on the Hot 100 (while just scraping onto the Country chart) in late 1984 while "Crazy" hit #1 Country and #5 AC the following year. Soon after, Richard began working with producer David Foster and writing songs for the group Chicago and R&B singer Freddie Jackson.

While working as a songwriter and doing background vocals, Marx continued to pursue a record deal of his own. His demo tape was rejected by every label in Hollywood until, finally, four years after moving to Los Angeles, the president of EMI/Manhattan Records, Bruce Lundvall, heard Marx`s demo and knew he had a star on his hands. He gave Marx a record deal and the opportunity to write and record whatever he wanted. Marx contacted his good friend Fee Waybill of The Tubes, and some very talented musicians, including Joe Walsh, and Randy Meisner of the Eagles, and created a ten-track album that put Richard on the path to success.

Music career

[edit] Debut album
Marx`s self-titled debut album, released in June 1987, yielded four hit singles and sold nearly 4 million copies in the US. The debut single, "Don’t Mean Nothing", had been released the previous month and climbed to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as #1 on Billboard`s Album Rock charts. Richard became the first new artist played on 117 radio stations nationwide during his initial week on the charts. The next

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