I never dreamed I'd be writing a RIP tribute for Prince in 2016. The extraordinary songwriter and performer passed away on April 21 at the age of 57. In addition to his own impressive list of hits, he had written many more for other artists, including The Bangles, Sinead O'Connor, Cyndi Lauper, and Chaka Khan. Prince was second only to Michael Jackson in being the most successful artist in the 80s, and also ranked #12 of the most successful in the 90s (Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles). His biggest hits included "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Cream", "Kiss", and "Batdance", all of which went to #1 on the charts. In remembrance, here is Prince at his finest, performing his smash hit "Purple Rain", which went to #2 in 1984.
2016 is shaping up to be the year the music died. Yet another legend in the rock world passed away today: Glenn Frey. Frey was a founding member of The Eagles, but also had a very successful solo career throughout the 80s following the band's break up. Frey's first solo hit was "I Found Somebody", which reached #31 in 1982. Bigger hits like "The Heat Is On" (#2), "Smuggler's Blues" (#12), and "You Belong To The City" (#2) would follow, the latter two being featured on the hit TV show, Miami Vice. Frey's solo career was running out of steam by the 90s, but I always thought one of his best songs was "Part Of Me, Part Of You", which surprisingly only reached #55 in 1991. This song, which sounds most like an Eagles tune, was featured in the movie, Thelma & Louise.
The music world was shocked to lose another icon today: David Bowie. Unbeknownst to many, he had been battling cancer for the past 18 months. The news came upon the heels of his latest release, "Blackstar", which bowed Friday of last week. That Friday also marked his 69th birthday. David Bowie was a prolific and influential songwriter, but is perhaps equally known for his envelope-pushing performances. Never one to stay in one musical place for long, Bowie was constantly changing styles...not adapting to fads, but instead bucking the trends. He's had a long line of hits and awards, earning him a ranking of #140 all-time best artists in Whitburn's 12th Edition of Top Pop Singles. Bowie began his chart career with a reissue of his classic song, "Space Oddity", which hit #15 in 1973 (it originally bubbled under the chart in 1969). His first #1 smash would be "Fame" in 1975. His famous duet with Queen, "Under Pressure", hit #29 in 1981 and ushered in a major comeback that included a second #1 smash with "Let's Dance" in 1983. Quite the departure from his 80s pop, his final charting single was the industrial track, "I'm Afraid of Americans", which hit #66 in 1997. Incredibly, one of Bowie's most well-known songs, "Heroes", never charted. It stands as proof that you must go off the charts to find new musical gems that were criminally ignored for one reason or other. Bowie was a hero to so many...
The music world lost another great on New Years Eve, the wonderful Natalie Cole. Daughter of the legendary Nat "King" Cole, Natalie had well over a dozen chart successes, ranking her at #225 in the top 500 charting artists of all-time (according to 12th edition of Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles). Natalie Cole first appeared on the charts in 1975 with her Grammy-winning classic, "This Will Be", which shot to #6 on the Billboard Top 100. She topped that in 1977 with the #5 hit, "I've Got Love On My Mind". In 1988, she had a big comeback hit by taking her version of "Pink Cadillac" to #5 and "Miss You Like Crazy" to #7. In 1991, technology allowed her to remake "Unforgettable" as a duet with her father, whose vocals were dubbed in from his 1961 version of the song. The tune went to #14 and earned a Grammy for Record & Song of the Year. One of her often overlooked songs is the infectious, upbeat dance number, "Dangerous". The song stalled at #57 in 1985, but here it is in all of its 80s glory!
An icon in the hard rock world passed away this week, 70 year old Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead. The band never had a charting single in the US, but their music has made an indelible impression on the genre and inspired many bands to rock (and party) hard since their formation in 1975. I can't think of a more suitable track that embodies Lemmy than "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)", the lead single from their 1991 album, "1916". Incidentally, "1916" was the band's highest charting album, landing at #142 on the Billboard Top 200.
Scott Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots helped define the music of the 90s. They exploded onto the scene in 1993 with "Plush", which earned them a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, and had a #1 hit record with their sophomore effort, "Purple". After a couple more successful albums, the band split up and Weiland made some solo records and fronted the supergroup Velvet Revolver. STP got back together with Weiland for a few more years, but his continued problems with substance abuse drove the band apart again. Sadly, Weiland has passed away at the age of 48. One of the band's last singles was also one of their best. But the musical landscape had shifted when this came out in 2001, so it failed to chart on the Billboard Top 100.
