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Music Video Links Never Surrender |  Sunglasses at Night |
Artist Biography
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Corey Mitchell Hart (born May 31, 1962) is a Canadian singer, best known for such hit singles "Sunglasses at Night" and "Never Surrender". He has sold over 16 million records worldwide and scored nine consecutive US Billboard Top 40 hits. In Canada Hart has amassed 30 Top 40 hits, including 11 in the Top 10, over the course of his nearly 30 years in the music industry. Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1984, Hart is also a multiple Juno award nominee and winner in Canada. He has also been honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).
Hart was born in Montreal, Quebec on May 31, 1962, the youngest of five children. He grew up in Montreal, Spain, Mexico City and Key Biscayne, Florida as a young boy. He became fluent in three languages (English, Spanish and French) due to his upbringing in these locations. Hart's parents, Mina (Weber) and Bert Hart, separated (and later divorced), when he was 10 years old. He returned to Montreal with his mother and older brother Robbie. He shared an especially close relationship with his mother, to whom Hart's first album was dedicated. Hart's lack of contact and intimacy with his father pained him throughout his life and colored many of his compositions, such as the 1998 song "Reconcile."
Hart's first experience as a performing artist came at age 11, when he sang "Ben" for Tom Jones in Miami. He also recorded songs with Paul Anka in Las Vegas during this time period. In 1980 Hart represented Canada in the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo (along with singer Dan Hill), marking his first public performance of original material. Hart also met Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Christopher Cross at the competition. Back in Canada, Hart reached out to Billy Joel who was on tour in the Montreal area at the time. Joel's backup band contacted him and Hart ended up recording several demos with them in Long Island, New York. Hart worked with several other notable Canadian studio musicians on demos before finally signing to a major label, Aquarius Records (Canada), in 1982 at the age of 20. Several songs on his first album, such as "The World is Fire," reflect the many rejections and tribulations Hart encountered along the path to getting a recording contract.
"Sunglasses At Night" and First Offense[edit]
Hart's debut album, First Offense, was recorded at Revolution Recording Studios in Manchester, England in the spring of 1982. It was produced by Jon Astley (The Who) and Phil Chapman. Released in 1983, First Offense featured the US Billboard Top 10 hit song "Sunglasses at Night" (No. 7) and Top 20 follow-up single "It Ain't Enough" (No. 17). The album went platinum in the United States and quadruple platinum in Canada. First Offense initially received a modest response upon its Canadian release. It was only after garnering US success in the summer of 1984 that he became a superstar in his native Canada, a source of some consternation for Hart.
It was slow going in Canada when my album was first released. It had sold around 12,000 copies. I remember sitting dolefully in the Capitol offices in Toronto with Deane Cameron (then the head of A&R at Capitol Canada) and him making an urgent phone call to EMI in Los Angeles. He was pushing and pleading for a rep of the US label to come see me perform live. At that time, the Canadian industry needed US validation before really giving the homegrown domestic talent their full enthusiastic support. It was frustrating for many Canadian artists who couldn’t land a deal south of the border.
First Offense also featured legendary guitarist Eric Clapton on the record's closing track, "Jenny Fey."
Jon (Astley, producer) felt there was one song Eric Clapton would really like. So just out of the blue he sent him the song, and lo and behold Eric Clapton was on the phone saying he wanted to play on it and asking how I would mind if he did. I didn't. Eric was the classic gentleman. Here I was, this Canadian kid in England with big-time producers doing my first album and Clapton tells me, 'It's such a pretty song, so easy to play. The type of thing I'd write myself'.
The Juno-award winning video for "Sunglasses At Night" (directed by Rob Quartly) which featured a futuristic, Orwellian society suggestive of other notable 1980s pop culture references and images such as "Miami Vice" and The Terminator helped propel the popularity of the track and led to Hart being instantly recognized worldwide.
In retrospect, I was totally unprepared for the fan adulation. I really couldn’t go out anywhere without being mobbed or chased by my fans. The transformation from unknown artist to rock star was surreal and overwhelming. The power of video certainly played a key role. It was the same for many artists of that decade like Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and George Michael to name but a few.
Hart toured the United States and Canada extensively in 1984 and 1985, first as a supporting act for Culture Club, April Wine, Thomas Dolby, Hall & Oates and Rick Springfield, then later as a headline performer. First Offense was nominated for Best Album of the Year at that year's ADISQ Awards in Hart's native Quebec, where the singer was also nominated for Best New Artist. First Offense won the Félix.
"Never Surrender," Boy in the Box and Fields of Fire[edit]
Hart's second album was Boy in the Box, released in June 1985, which reached Diamond status in Canada (one million copies sold) by February 1986. It was only the second album by a Canadian artist ever to do so. The album featured the hit single "Never Surrender" which spent nine consecutive weeks at number No. 1 in Canada and peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Top 40, also earning Hart an ASCAP Award as one of the most played songs of 1985. "Never Surrender" was the No. 2 song in the year-end Canadian charts in 1985, finishing second only to the Northern Lights charity single "Tears Are Not Enough" in which Hart had also participated, alongside veteran Canadian artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and 1980s chart rival Bryan Adams. Subsequent singles all charted in the Canadian and US Top 40 ("Boy in the Box," "Everything in My Heart" and "Eurasian Eyes"). In the US, Boy in the Box peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum.
Boy in the Box gained Hart a raft of accolades, nominations and honors. The album was nominated for a Juno Award as well as an ADISQ Award for Best Album, taking home a Félix for Hart in this category. "Never Surrender" was nominated for (and won) the Juno for Best Selling Single of 1985. Hart was also nominated alongside veteran Canadian musicians for the coveted Composer of the Year award at both the Junos and the ADISQ awards, winning a Félix in this field. He also received nods in the Juno categories of Best Video for "Never Surrender" and Best Male Vocalist of the Year, as well an ADISQ nomination for Concert of the Year. Hart also won the Félix for the Quebec artist achieving the most success outside Quebec in the Anglophone market, along with Best Male Artist. Accolades carried over into the following year's Juno nominations with nods for Composer of the Year and Best Selling Single for "Everything in My Heart".
As in 1984, 1985 saw Hart touring extensively in North America and Japan in support of Boy in the Box. By the end of the year he was filling stadium-sized arenas like the Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, the Budokan in Tokyo, the Boston Orpheum and the Forum in Montreal. His frequent media appearances on such popular TV programs as "Good Rockin' Tonite" (Canada), "Friday Night Videos" and MTV (US), and "Music Life" (Japan), along with promotional tours in Europe and Australasia, garnered Hart an audience of enthusiastic supporters and at one point he was receiving over 1,000 pieces of fan mail per week.
Fields of Fire, Hart's third album release, came out in fall 1986 and promptly went double platinum in Canada and achieved gold status in the US. It featured the US Top 20 hit single "I Am By Your Side," as well as the Canadian No. 1 single "Can't Help Falling in Love", originally performed by Elvis Presley. This was the first recorded cover version of a song Hart had released to date. The song was also a top 10 hit in the Philippines and Japan. Critics generally agreed that Fields of Fire displayed a new, more mature direction in Hart's songwriting.
"With his third album, this young Canadian exhibits a growing maturity...He's come a long way from singing about wearing 'Sunglasses At Night'." (Boston Globe, September 1986)
Fields of Fire earned Hart several nods at the 1987 Juno Awards, in the categories of Best Male Vocalist of the Year, Best Album Graphics (done by Hart's partner Erika Gagnon), and Single of the Year for "Can't Help Falling in Love". The singer was also nominated for Best Male Artist and Album of the Year at that year's ADISQ Awards.
As in previous years Hart launched a world tour in support of the record. He performed sold-out concerts in Japan and made numerous promotional appearances in Europe from fall 1986 through mid-1987. However, Hart's tour had to be halted prematurely in July 1987 after the then 25-year-old singer collapsed backstage from exhaustion after a concert in Canada. The nearly four-year cycle of constant touring and recording had caught up with Hart, forcing him into a period of rest and recuperation.[17]
Young Man Running, Bang! and Attitude & Virtue[edit]
What ensued was a return to songwriting that resulted in the singer's fourth album release, Young Man Running. Featuring the US Top 40 hit "In Your Soul" (which reached No. 2 in Canada), Young Man Running marked a new direction for Hart's songwriting and musicianship. With notable backing musicians like Ruby Turner and largely produced by Hart himself, the album reflected a new level of maturity and ability.
"His lyrics have always been serious-minded, but this time Hart's clever, obtuse artiness has given way to passages where he's actually speaking from the heart and intelligently too." (James Muretich, Calgary Herald, 1988)
Famed photographer Herb Ritts shot the cover and other photographs for the album. The video for "In Your Soul" featured location footage in New Mexico and Moab, Utah and was directed by Meiert Avis (U2, Bruce Springsteen). 1988 saw Hart touring extensively in Japan and the Philippines, as well as Canada's East Coast and in Quebec where he pleased the audience by speaking mostly in French.[18] Hart again sold out the Tokyo Nippon Budokan as well as arenas in other Japanese cities and the Ultra, a 13,000 seat venue outside Manila.[19] Although Young Man Running received an ADISQ nomination for Album of the Year,[20] Hart's record company neglected to send in the necessary credentials for concomitant Juno Awards, shutting the singer out of several categories for which the album would have qualified based on sales and airplay.
Early 1989 saw Hart return to songwriting in preparation for what would be his final album with EMI America, Bang!. Recorded in Los Angeles, the release debuted in early 1990 to positive reviews and renewed attention from media outlets like MTV.
"Hart continues to come into his own and develop his talent and this sturdy helping of pop/rock with a soulful edge is proof. Great multi-format potential." (Billboard, 1990)
Bang! shipped platinum in Canada and hit the Japanese Top 20 just two weeks into its release. The first single, "A Little Love," hit the US Top 40 in early 1990 and featured another trademark video by Meiert Avis. Bang! also reunited Hart with Ruby Turner and featured legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff (John Cougar Mellencamp) on drums and percussion. Despite the success of the first single (a Top 10 hit in Canada) and widespread critical acclaim, Bang! suffered from internal struggles at EMI and management turmoil. Among the more egregious oversights was a repeated failure by EMI to nominate Hart for any Juno Award categories that year. Hart was released from his contract with the company in August 1990.[21] EMI later released a collection of Hart's singles on a compilation album, Singles in 1991. Hart did secure a nomination for Best Male Artist at the 1990 ADISQ awards.[22]
Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein approached Hart at this juncture and eventually signed him to Sire shortly thereafter. What followed was Hart's sole album for the label, Attitude & Virtue, released in 1992. A Top 40 success in Canada, the album scored Hart a Juno nomination for Best Male Vocalist of the Year and featured several notable guest musicians including Jane Siberry, Duff McKagan of Guns 'N Roses, Terence Trent D'Arby and the return of Ruby Turner. Three singles were released from the album: "Baby When I Call Your Name" (released in Canada and the United States), "92 Days of Rain" (released in Canada) and "Always" (released in Canada and the United States). All three singles charted in the Canadian Top 40. "Baby When I Call Your Name" and "92 Days of Rain" were accompanied by videos, the latter helmed by Hart's first director, Rob Quartly. The first song on the album, "Back in the Hand", summed up the prior decade in a celebration of feeling back in control of his musical career. Said the singer of his work:
"I went through what every artist will go through in his career who's worth his salt. Any artist from Elton John to Steve Winwood. There are peaks and valleys in a career. If you delude yourself into thinking that there are only peaks you're a fool. I'm a sensitive individual. I would be dishonest to tell you that there were not moments of great pain. But I am an individual that has a lot of inner strength and believes very strongly, and l write about that in songs, to find your solace and your refuge in yourself. Attitude and Virtue is very much a Corey Hart album. It has my influences of reggae and rock 'n roll and R & B. It's just a hybrid of those songs put to my melodies and my lyrics. I think it's the most cohesive work I've done." (Sire press release, 1992)
Hart fell silent after the album's subsequent success faltered, and he entered a period of self-imposed isolation from writing and touring ("Jane Hawtin Live," 1997). He released just one single, a cover of Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love," in 1994.
Hart presented an award at the Juno Awards of 1993 in Toronto with Julie Masse, a fellow nominee who was rising quickly in the Canadian music scene thanks to her two platinum selling albums in Quebec, Julie Masse and À Contre Jour. Upon seeing them together, Masse's manager suggested that Hart work with her on a new English language album; what followed was the seminal collaboration of their respective careers and later, their personal lives. Hart co-produced and wrote five songs for Masse's gold-selling Circle of One, which was released in Canada in 1994 and marked the first time Hart had written and produced songs for an artist other than himself. This also led to their relationship as husband and wife and parents to four children, daughters India (DOB 07/08/1995), Dante (DOB 12/23/1997) and River (DOB 11/18/1999), and son Rain (DOB 01/19/2004).[23] Hart was previously married to photographer/graphic designer Erika Gagnon from 1990 to 1994, and Masse to cinematographer Sylvain Brault from 1993 to 1994.
Following his work with Masse, Hart found himself inspired by his newfound partner and parenthood. He signed a new contract with Sony Music Canada and in 1996 released a self-titled CD Corey Hart, which led to a career revival. The album was co-produced by Humberto Gatica and contained some of Hart's most introspective work, spurred by his personal life changes. Sparked by the success of "Black Cloud Rain" which reached No. 2 on the Canadian Top 40, Corey Hart went platinum in Canada and reestablished Hart as a fixture in the Canadian music industry. The video for "Black Cloud Rain" was directed by Javier Aguilera, an up-and-coming young Mexican filmmaker. He toured across the country for the first time since the cancelled 1987 Fields of Fire tour, and subsequent singles from the album ("Tell Me," "Third of June" and "Someone") all reached the Canadian Top 40. Corey Hart also earned Hart more award nominations, including Juno nods for Best Male Vocalist of the Year and Best Producer for ""Black Cloud Rain" and "Simplicity," a non-single album track, and Best Anglophone Quebec Artist at the ADISQ Awards.[24]
In 1997, fellow Canadian Celine Dion released her Let's Talk About Love album, which featured the theme from the film Titanic, "My Heart Will Go On." Also on the album were two songs written and co-produced by Hart: the Canadian Top 40 hit "Miles to Go (Before I Sleep)" and "Where Is the Love." As documented in Dion's concert DVD Au cœur du stade, Dion's team reached out to Hart based on his recent success in Canada and asked if he would write and produce for the songstress. He was also nominated for the Juno Award for Best Producer for the Dion tracks. Later in 1999 Hart performed live in the US for the first time since the late 1980s as Dion's special guest in places such as St. Louis, Missouri and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.[25] Hart collaborated with Dion again on "Prayer," from her 2002 CD A New Day Has Come.
In 1998, Hart released a second album on Sony, Jade, featuring a duet with partner Masse on the Jean-Jacques Goldman song "Là-bas". The lead-off single "So Visible (Easy to Miss)" and follow-up release "Break the Chain" both charted in the Canadian Top 40, the singer gained yet another Juno Award nomination (for Best Male Vocalist of the Year) and Hart once again toured Canada in support of the album. After enjoying a comeback in Canada in the late 1990s, Hart again came to a personal crossroads.
"All I had ever wanted or known since I was a boy was to be creating music. But I couldn't continue to record or tour if I aspired to be a 24/7 father to our children. The two worlds simply collide."[26]
At the end of the millennium, Hart once again fell largely silent as he and Masse married and relocated to Nassau, Bahamas to focus on raising their young family.[27] He returned to Montreal in late 2002 for a two-night stand of concerts with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, performing songs from Corey Hart and Jade as well as older hits to the accompaniment of the MSO.[28]
Siena Records and Walk in Beauty[edit]
In 2002 Seymour Stein of Sire Records reconnected with Hart. Stein offered Hart a boutique label with Sire/Warner Music Canada, Siena Records. The label, formed in 2003, went through several years of development while Hart pursued a suitable debut artist. He collaborated sporadically on individual songs with select Quebec artists like Garou and Wilfred LeBouthillier in the mid-2000s, and performed with others including Meggie Lagacé on Quebec television.[29] However his breakthrough came when an associate sent him a demo MP3 by little-known performer Marie-Christine Depestre. The singer, a Montreal native of Haitian descent, became Siena's first official signing.[30]
In May 2011 Marie-Christine released her debut CD, Walk in Beauty, in Canada on Hart's label. Hart executive produced the album and wrote the bulk of the CD's songs[31] Walk In Beauty features a cameo performance by music legend Stevie Wonder on the cover track "Keep on Runnin'" as well as a modern reworking of Hart's own "Sunglasses at Night," reborn as "Girl In Shades" for Marie-Christine. Hart had refrained from granting interpolation rights to the song for over 25 years, despite requests by notable artists like Sean P. Diddy Combs and Nelly Furtado.[32] The CD also features original compositions by Marie-Christine and its debut single, "Totally Random," became a hit in her native Quebec during the summer of 2011. A second single, "Silence," was released in January 2012 to Canadian radio and a third single from the album, "Port Au Prince," debuted in May 2012. Marie-Christine performs regularly on the Montreal club scene and at provincial music festivals in Quebec in support of the CD. To mark the launch she and Hart engaged the media on a short promotional tour of major Canadian markets in May 2011.
Relaunch and Renewal Online[edit]
In mid-2011 Hart established a new online presence with the relaunch of the www.CoreyHart.com Web site. Hart also created an official Facebook page to reach his audience. Spurred by popular demand, his Web site was again redesigned and relaunched again in October 2011 and currently features rare photos, live performance video of two previously unreleased songs (including Hart's 2011 version of "Ben") and blog posts from Hart himself. He continues to interact with fans on his Facebook page and has conducted interviews via video based on questions submitted online.[33]
Also in Fall 2011 he and wife Julie Masse Hart offered the following limited edition merchandise exclusively online:
Custom designed, handcrafted jewelry by Julie Masse Hart
Four original handpainted drawings by Corey Hart, with net proceeds donated to Project Medishare for Haiti. Additional works by Hart were released in December 2011, May 2012 and December 2012.
New t-shirts and sweatshirts
Six previously unreleased songs: "Sail Away," "Eternally," "She's So Good," "Open Up Your Heart," "Ciao Bella" and "Good Good Lovin." Three previously unreleased demo recordings of "In Your Sweater," "Loving Heart," and "Baby Do I" were offered in December 2011.
Marie-Christine's Walk in Beauty CD and MP3 download
A long-time supporter of various health-related and other charitable causes, Hart participated in Movember Canada in November 2011.[34] In September 2012 he and Julie Masse Hart also appeared at the Notte in Bianco [35] cancer benefit in Montreal, marking Masse Hart's first live performance in nearly 16 years in her native Quebec [36] In November 2013, Hart participated in "It's Always Something", the annual Gilda's Club fundraiser at the Sony Theatre in Toronto.[37]
Hart has said he intends to keep his Web site and Facebook page updated with new offerings and video interviews as his schedule allows. He has also indicated the possibility of a tour or new music in the future. However Hart maintains his primary focus of being a hands-on, full-time father. He and his wife now split their time between the Bahamas and Barcelona, Spain where his daughters attend a prestigious tennis academy.[38]
In spring 2012 Hart collaborated with Canadian DJ 1Love on a remix of the song "Truth Will Set You Free" from Young Man Running. The single, "Truth Will Set U Free", was released globally to radio, and on coreyhart.com on June 19, 2012 via Siena Records/Warner Music Canada.[39][40] The song is Hart's first U.S. single in 20 years and Hart reunited with Meiert Avis for the video.[41][42] "Truth" was originally penned for friends in the music business who were born gay, according to Hart, and disseminating the message of the song took on new resonance after 1Love approached him for permission to remix it. Says Hart, "I saw a lot of pain, a lot of crying, a lot of hiding, and it affected me."[43]
With the Canadian Top 40 success of "Truth Will Set You Free" Hart made selected appearances at Pride celebrations in Toronto and London over the summer of 2012. On Sept. 28, 2012 Hart performed a full concert in Toronto for the first time since the release of the Jade CD, at the CHUM FM "Back in the Day Bash" held at the Masonic Temple. Over 1,000 people attended the show, for which tickets sold out within hours of its being announced on the radio station. Hart and his daughter Dante also appeared on CTV's "Marilyn Denis" chat show where the singer performed his hit single "It Ain't Enough" live in the studio.[44]
Hart has most recently co-written and performed on a track from Canadian recording artist K-OS' latest album. The song, "Like a Comet (We Rollin')", is the first time Hart has performed or written in the hip hop genre.[45] He has also reworked his 1984 hit "Sunglasses at Night" into a new interpretation called "Night Visions" with Chicago-based DJ production team Papercha$er. The single is scheduled for release on October 23, 2013.[46]
Corey Hart celebrated his 50th birthday – and the 30th anniversary of his professional debut in the music industry – in 2012. On May 31, 2014 Hart will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of his first single "Sunglasses at Night" at a farewell concert, "One Night: Three Decades of Music" in Montreal, Canada at the Bell Centre.[47]
Hart was briefly considered for the role of Marty McFly in the 1985 film Back to the Future. Producer Steven Spielberg sent Hart a copy of the script with an invitation for a screen test - a flattered Hart declined, preferring to focus on music instead of acting.[48] Fellow Canadian Michael J. Fox eventually starred in the hit film.
"Eurasian Eyes" was featured in the 1986 film 9 1/2 Weeks.
At the height of his mid-1980s success Hart was approached to record several songs for popular films of the era. He declined, preferring to write and record his own material. Among the songs Hart rejected were "Danger Zone" from the soundtrack to the 1986 film Top Gun. A rare exception was the song "Hold On," written for the soundtrack to 1987's Beverly Hills Cop 2. Hart's 1985 single "Eurasian Eyes" (from Boy in the Box) was featured in the film 9 1/2 Weeks and the final track from Fields of Fire, "Blind Faith," was featured in the Jan. 16, 1987 episode of "Miami Vice" entitled "Down for the Count, Pt. 2."[49]
In 2002 "Sunglasses at Night" was featured in the award-winning video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The game went on to sell over 15 million units, making it the fourth highest selling video game ever made for Sony PlayStation 2.
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