Richard Marx
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The Forum
MENURichard Marx has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, starting with his self-titled debut which went to No. 8 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The album spawned four Top 5 singles, including “Hold on to the Nights” and “Don’t Mean Nothing,” which earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. His follow-up, 1989’s Repeat Offender, was even more successful, hitting No. 1 and going quadruple-platinum with two No. 1 singles, “Satisfied” and “Right Here Waiting.” He has since made history as the only male artist whose first seven singles reached the Top 5 on the Billboard charts.
Richard has also written on a No. 1 single in each of the last four decades, an accolade previously only reached by Michael Jackson. He has written with and for numerous artists, including Barbra Streisand, Keith Urban, Kenny Rogers, Celine Dion, Chicago, Natalie Cole, Kenny Loggins, Vince Gill, Daughtry, The Tubes, Martina McBride, Lifehouse, NSYNC, Michael Bolton, Vixen, and Josh Groban, He also went on to earn a 2004 Song of the Year Grammy for co-authoring Luther Vandross’ “Dance with My Father.” Overall, he has scored 14 No. 1 singles both as a performer and as a songwriter/producer, revealing him a true multi talented performer who continues to challenge himself and his fans.
In addition to being a musician, Richard is a committed philanthropist, supporting charitable causes like the American Cancer Society and the Ronald McDonald House Charities, Mercy For Animals, ASPCA, Humane Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and the charity closest to Richard’s heart, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, for which his produced events have raised over $4 million for research. The musician has toured extensively for the past three decades, building a strong fanbase all over the world that only continues to grow. The legacy of his career as a songwriter, singer and musician and now author is now well established and Richard is happy to continue on his trajectory, wherever it takes him.
“Every year that I get to continue writing songs, making records and doing concerts all over the world, I become more grateful. We musicians are the only occupation I can think of, other than athletes, who have the incredibly good fortune to use the word “play” for what we do. The “Songwriter” album is a longtime dream of mine finally realized, and I still have a bunch of cards up my sleeve.”
Since Rumer's first album Seasons Of My Soul landed in the Top 3 of the UK Albums Charts in 2010, achieved Platinum sales status and garnered her a MOJO Award for Best Breakthrough Act as well as two BRIT Award nominations, British singer-songwriter Rumer has gone on to forge an acclaimed career both as a highly regarded songwriter, penning global hits such as “Slow” and “Aretha,” and also a peerless interpreter of the work of others, as evidenced on her follow-up album Boys Don’t Cry – an album of classic covers from the 1970s – plus Rumer Sings Bacharach at Christmas and This Girl’s in Love: A Bacharach and David Songbook.
Rumer spent the past several years living in the American South, in northwest Arkansas, then central Georgia, where she embraced its community and culture and motherhood. Although she enjoyed her time out of the spotlight, her deep-seated desire for music discovery, which has been a constant throughout her career, eventually led her to Nashville in search of hidden gems to record. Once she heard the catalogue of Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Hugh Prestwood, a songwriter whose name is spoken with reverence by his colleagues and whose work has been recorded by transcendent singers like Alison Krauss, Trisha Yearwood, and Judy Collins, she was hooked. Her latest album, Nashville Tears collects fifteen of Prestwood’s finest songs, many never recorded until now, revealing truths of the heart, both intimate and universal, realistic and romantic.