Wiki

Richard Marx

Artist / Musician

When he was just five years old, Richard Marx was singing commercial jingles for his father’s advertising company in the early 60s. That was the start of a successful career, having sold over 30-million albums, numerous industry awards, and even some acting roles. Pretty amazing for an artist that, when he did decided to step out on his own, had his demo tape rejected by nearly every record label.

Obviously, the talent was in his genes. His father Dick Marx was a jazz pianist and arranger himself, with his greatest notoriety as a jingle producer creating iconic slogans such as Ken-L-Rations “My dog is better than your dog”; Wrigley’s gum “Double your pleasure, double your fun”; and Dial Soap’s “Aren’t you glad you use Dial”; as well as scoring movies including A League of Their Own, along with Edwards and Hunt.
Growing up in that environment, the Highland Park native started writing his own material when he was just a teenage. When he was 17, a tape of Richard Marx’s songs ended up in the hands of Lionel Richie, who thought he had talent enough to move to Hollywood and pursue a career. After graduating from North Shore Country Day School in 1981, that’s just what Marx did.

In Hollywood, he started out singing backing vocals for various artists and getting some bit acting parts. In 1984 he was working with Kenny Rogers, who was looking for some new material. Marx went to work, writing two songs – “What About Me” and “Crazy”. Rogers recorded the first one with James Ingram and Kim Carnes, and it went to #1 on the adult contemporary charts and #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, “Crazy” went to #1 on the Billboard country charts.

Marx became firmly established as a songwriter, and he continued to do backing vocals, in hopes of reaching the spotlight with his own solo career. Four years after moving to Hollywood, and having his demo tape rejected by practically every record label, he finally signed a contract with EMI/Manhattan Records.
Ironically, his debut single “Don’t Mean Nothing” was about the potential pitfalls of the music business. And it was his first hit, climbing to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In total, four singles off his debut self-titled album reached Top-10 status with “Hold On to the Nights” being his first #1 hit. The album went on to sell four-million copies and Marx was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance. The follow-up album Repeat Offender was even bigger, hitting #1, spawning two #1 hit singles and selling over five-million copies.

Good looks, and promotional videos in the era of MTV helped. And Marx went on to achieve a seven-year string of triumphs that rivals any in pop-rock music history. To this day, he is the only male artist in history to have his first seven singles reach Top-5 on the Billboard charts.

Marx married singer/actress Cynthia Rhodes in 1989, the couple having three children over the next five years. In 1994, Marx moved his family back to Lake Bluff on Chicago’s North Shore. He released the album Paid Vacation, which turned out to be his fourth consecutive platinum album. And in 1999, Marx opened Renegade Recording Studios in Chicago.

Over the years, Marx received a dozen Billboard Music Award nominations as well as Pollstar Concert Industry Award, Kids Choice Awards, American Music Awards, Grammy Awards, and ASCAP Film & TV Awards nominations. In 2004 the song he co-wrote with Luther Vandross “Dance with My Father” won a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

Songwriting still in his blood, Marx continued the other part of his career as a songwriter and producer providing material for Josh Groban, NSYNC, Keith Urban, Jennifer Nettles and others. Across all formats Marx has scored an amazing total of 14 #1 singles.

In 2014, after 25 years of marriage, Richard and Cynthia divorces, with Marx marrying former MTV-VJ Daisy Fuentes the following year and relocating back to California.

Throughout Marx career, he has been very philanthropic. He donated the royalties from his single “Should’ve Known Better” to build a pediatric cancer facility at the NYU Medical Center. His single “Children of the Night” brought attention to the plight of homeless children in the streets and generated $1/2-million for the cause, raising over $4-million with benefit concerts for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He has taken his group overseas to entertain U.S. Troops, and hosts an annual event for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

In his most recent project, Marx has reflected on one of his earlier albums with Repeat Offender Revisited (TourDForce/BMG) that includes both acoustic and live versions of various tracks form the original album.

Richard Marx discography
Richard Marx (Manhattan ST 53049) 1987
Repeat Offender (EMI USA E1-90380) 1989
Rush Street (Capitol CDP 7958742) 1991
Paid Vacation (Capitol CDP 077778123224) 1993
Flesh and Bone (Capitol CDP 724383152827) 1997
Days in Avalon (Signal 21 S21C 10001) 2000
My Own Best Enemy (Manhattan 724359171920) 2004
Emotional Remains (Zanzibar) 2008
Sundown (Zanzibar) 2008
Duo Live – Richard Marx and Matt Scannell (Zanzibar 8088900417) 2010
Stories to Tell (Tour D Force TDF 11001) 2011
A Night Out with Friends (Tour D Force 12001) 2012
Christmas Spirit (Tour D Force TDF 12002) 2012
Beautiful Goodbye (Zanzibar 5060186923277) 2014
Repeat Offender Revisited (BMG) 2019

Richard Marx (Manhattan ST 53049) 1987

Repeat Offender (EMI USA E1-90380) 1989

Rush Street (Capitol CDP 7958742) 1991

Paid Vacation ( Capitol CDP 077778123224) 1993

Flesh and Bone (Capitol CDP 724383152827) 1997

Days in Avalon (Signal 21 S21C 10001) 2000

My Own Best Enemy (Manhattan 724359171920) 2004

Emotional Remains (Zanzibar) 2008

Sundown (Zanzibar) 2008

Duo Live – Richard Marx and Matt Scannell (Zanzibar 8088900417) 2010

Stories to Tell (Tour D Force TDF 11001) 2011

A Night Out with Friends (Tour D Force 12001) 2012