Eric Carmen
Eric Carmen | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Eric Howard Carmen |
Born | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | August 11, 1949
Origin | Lyndhurst, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | March 2024 | (aged 74)
Genres | |
Occupations |
|
Instruments |
|
Years active | 1967–2024 |
Labels | |
Formerly of | |
Spouse(s) |
Marcy Hill
(m. 1978; div. 1979)Susan Brown
(m. 1993; div. 2009)Amy Murphy (m. 2016) |
Website | ericcarmen |
Eric Howard Carmen (August 11, 1949 – March 2024) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of the Raspberries, with whom he recorded the hit "Go All the Way"[1] and four albums. He embarked on a solo career in 1975 and had global success with "All by Myself", "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again", "She Did It", "Hungry Eyes", and "Make Me Lose Control".[2] In later years, he toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band before reforming the Raspberries in 2004.
Early life
From a family of
Though classically trained in piano, at age fifteen, Carmen started to take guitar lessons, but when his teacher's approach did not fit with what he wanted, he decided to teach himself. He bought a Beatles chord book and studied guitar for the next four months.[7]
Tenure with the Raspberries
Carmen became serious about being a musician while attending
When Cyrus Erie and the Choir disbanded at the end of the 1960s, Carmen, Bryson, Bonfanti, and Smalley teamed up to form the
In 2004, Carmen, along with original Raspberries members Jim Bonfanti, Wally Bryson, and Dave Smalley, re-formed the band for a series of sold-out live performances in cities across the United States. On that tour, the Raspberries recorded a live album of their hits at the
Solo career
Carmen's first two solo singles were chart hits in 1976. Both were built around themes by
Carmen's second album,
Carmen followed up with two more albums. Despite declining chart fortunes, the single "Change of Heart" broke into the top 20,[5] and reached number 6 on the AC chart in late 1978, with this hit also being covered by Samantha Sang on her Emotion LP.[19] In 1980, he released the album Tonight You're Mine with its lead single "It Hurts Too Much" (number 75 Billboard Hot 100).[19]
In 1984, Carmen and Dean Pitchford co-wrote "Almost Paradise", the love theme from the film Footloose. The song, performed by Ann Wilson and Mike Reno, peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.[20]
In 1985, Carmen resurfaced on Geffen Records with a second self-titled album and a sizable comeback hit, "I Wanna Hear It from Your Lips".[8] The single hit the Adult Contemporary top 10 as well as the Pop top 40. The follow-up single, "I'm Through with Love", also climbed the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 20 of the Adult Contemporary chart. Another track from the album, "Maybe My Baby", later became a country hit for Louise Mandrell reaching number 8 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. "I Wanna Hear It from Your Lips" was also covered by Mandrell, but only managed to peak at No. 35 on the same chart.[21]
In 1987, Carmen's contribution to the hit film
The year 2000 saw the stateside release of
On December 24, 2013, the first new recording in over 15 years by Carmen titled "Brand New Year" was released. The track, written and recorded in November and December 2013 in Ohio and Los Angeles, was issued as a free download by Legacy Recordings as a special "Christmas gift", to herald the March 2014 arrival of a 30-track career retrospective entitled The Essential Eric Carmen.[24]
Personal life
Carmen was married three times: to Marcy Hill from 1978 to 1979; to Susan Brown, with whom he had two children, from 1993 to 2009; and to former newscaster Amy Murphy from 2016 until his death in 2024.[25][26][27]
Carmen moved from Los Angeles back to Gates Mills[28] in northeast Ohio in the 1990s.
On March 11, 2024, Carmen's wife Amy announced that he had died in his sleep over the previous weekend; no cause of death was given. He was 74.[29][30]
Discography
With the Raspberries
Solo
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [2] |
AUS [31] |
SWE [32] |
UK [33] | |||
Eric Carmen |
|
21 | 15 | 41 | 58 | |
Boats Against the Current |
|
45 | 37 | 39 | – | |
Change of Heart |
|
137 | 93 | – | – | |
Tonight You're Mine |
|
160 | 80 | – | – | |
Eric Carmen |
|
128 | – | – | – | |
I Was Born to Love You (released as Winter Dreams in Japan) |
|
– | – | – | – |
Compilation albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [2] |
AUS [35] |
NZ [36] | |||
The Best of Eric Carmen |
|
59 | 17 | 26 | |
The Definitive Collection |
|
– | – | – | |
All by Myself – The Best of Eric Carmen |
|
– | – | – | |
The Essential Eric Carmen |
|
– | – | – |
Charted singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [37] |
US AC [38] |
AUS [31] |
CAN [39] |
GER [40] |
NL [41] |
NZ [36] |
SWE [32] |
UK [33] | ||||
"All by Myself" | 1975 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 3 | – | 7 | 6 | – | 12 | Eric Carmen | |
"Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" | 1976 | 11 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | 30 | – | – | ||
"Sunrise" | 34 | 33 | – | 33 | – | – | – | – | – | |||
"She Did It" | 1977 | 23 | 26 | 30 | 11 | – | – | 16 | – | – | Boats Against the Current | |
"Boats Against the Current" | 88 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
"Change of Heart" | 1978 | 19 | 6 | – | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | Change of Heart | |
"Baby I Need Your Loving" | 62 | 30 | – | 50 | – | – | – | – | – | |||
"It Hurts Too Much" | 1980 | 75 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Tonight You're Mine | |
"I Wanna Hear It from Your Lips" | 1985 | 35 | 10 | 27 | 17 (AC) |
– | – | – | – | – | Eric Carmen | |
"I'm Through with Love" | 87 | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||
"Hungry Eyes" | 1987 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 6 | 82 | Dirty Dancing: Original Soundtrack | |
"As Long as We Got Each Other" (with Louise Mandrell) | 1988 | –[a] | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Best of Louise Mandrell | |
"Make Me Lose Control" | 3 | 1 | 8 | 2 | – | – | 29 | – | 93 | The Best of Eric Carmen | ||
"Reason to Try" | 87 | – | 133 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time |
Notes
- ^ "As Long as We Got Each Other" peaked at number 51 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart.[44]
References
- ^ "Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Eric Carmen Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ Scharf, June (December 31, 2004). "'All by Himself' among musicians; Jewish Clevelander Eric Carmen reflects on his life as a rock star". Cleveland Jewish News. Highbeam.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ a b c Chakerian, Peter (March 12, 2024). "Remembering Eric Carmen: a sweet bushel of pop-rock milestones". Cleveland.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
- ^ Parker, Matt (March 12, 2024). ""There were times, I admit, when I had to pinch myself": Eric Carmen – the All By Myself and Hungry Eyes hitmaker, and the man who sold Joan Jett her Melody Maker – dies aged 74". Guitar World.
- ^ a b c d e Prato, Greg. "Eric Carmen Biography". allmusic. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
- ^ Peacock, Tim (April 10, 2023). "Defining Power-Pop: The Fruitful Debut Album By Raspberries".
- ^ Ankeny, Jason. "The Raspberries Biography". allmusic. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
- ^ Eustacio Humphrey (December 12, 2007). "Raspberries show and album review – Cleveland, OH 12/12/2007". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2018. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
- ^ bluffho. "Rachmaninoff vs. Eric Carmen". Youtube. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ "Eric Carmen". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ Marsh, Dave. "Boats Against the Current". Super Seventies. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ Weiner, Matthew. "Adrift in the Seventies". Save the Robot. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ Ofjord, Michael. "Boats Against the Current". AllMusic. RhythmOne Group. Archived from the original on June 24, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
- ^ Trust, Gary. "Eric Carmen's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits: 'All By Myself' & More". Retrieved March 17, 2024.
- ^ ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ "Mike Reno Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021.
- ^ "Louise Mandrell Songs". MusicVF. VF Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 28, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
- ^ "1988 Summer Olympics Album - Various Artists - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ "Eric Carmen – Interview". www.ericcarmen.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
- ^ "'Brand New Year' for songwriting legend". Cleveland Jewish News. March 13, 2014. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
- ^ Carmen, Eric [@RealEricCarmen] (October 21, 2016). "Meet Mrs. Eric Carmen. Last week I married my beautiful soulmate and best friend. Love at last!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved June 16, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- ^ Jacob, Bob (March 12, 2024). "Raspberries lead singer Eric Carmen, former Lyndhurst resident, dies at 74". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ Eric Carmen – Book Eric Carmen for your Corporate Events, Fund Raisers Archived April 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- ^ "Eric Carmen: Raspberries Lead Singer ... Dead at 74". TMZ. March 11, 2024. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ Willman, Chris (March 11, 2024). "Eric Carmen, Raspberries Frontman and 'All by Myself' Singer, Dies at 74". Variety. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ ISBN 0-646-11917-6. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting until ARIA created their own chartsin mid-1988.
- ^ a b "Discography Eric Carmen". Swedish Charts. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ a b "Eric Carmen". Official Charts. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ a b "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ "Eric Carmen Discography". Australian Charts. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ a b "Discography Eric Carmen". Charts.Org.NZ. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "Eric Carmen Chart History: Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "Eric Carmen Chart History: Billboard Adult Contemporary". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ "RPM Search Results". Library and Archives Canada. July 17, 2013.
- ^ "Discografie von Eric Carmen". Offizielle Deutsche Charts (in German). Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "Discografie Eric Carmen". Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "Eric Carmen, Hungry Eyes, Single". BPI. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ "Datenbank: BVMI". www.musikindustrie.de. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ "Eric Carmen Chart History: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 12, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
External links
- Official website
- Eric Carmen at IMDb
- Eric Carmen discography at Discogs