Information AboutHuey Lewis |
Huey Lewis (born '''Hugh Anthony Cregg, III''' on July 5 , 1950 ) is an American Musician and occasional Actor . He sings lead vocals and plays Harmonica for his Band Huey Lewis & The News , a Rock group based in San Francisco , California that was the highest-selling American band of the 1980s by singles. The band is perhaps best remembered in American popular culture by their contribution to the soundtrack of the 1985 feature film '' Back To The Future ''. Huey Lewis also played with the band Clover from 1972 to 1979. BIOGRAPHY Lewis was born in across the country to New York and how he learned to play the harmonica while waiting for rides. He talked about hanging out at the airport for three days until he Stowed Away on a plane to Europe . In Europe, Lewis became an accomplished Blues player and he hitchhiked around and supported himself by Busking with his harmonica. He gave his first concerts in Europe, earning enough money to buy a plane ticket back to the USA. On his return, Lewis entered Cornell University, joining the engineering program. While there, he made friends with Lance and Larry Hoppen, who later played with Orleans and King Harvest . Lewis soon lost interest in college, however. He signed up with a band called Slippery Elm , and in December 1969 , during his junior year, he dropped out of Cornell, moving back to the San Francisco area. His aim was to continue playing music, but along the way he also tried other fields of work including landscaping, carpentry and natural foods. In 1971 , Lewis joined the Bay Area band Clover . Around this time he took the name Huey Lewis. The Lewis is for his mother Magda Cregg's boyfriend, Beat Generation poet Lew(is) Welch, whom he considered his stepfather. Sean Hopper joined the band in 1972 ; other members of the band were John McFee , Alex Call , John Ciambotti , Mitch Howie , Mickey Shine and Marcus David . Lewis played harmonica with the band and only sang lead vocals on a few tunes. Clover's main rival band (which developed into a friendly rivalry) was Soundhole ( Johnny Colla , Mario Cipollina , and Bill Gibson were band members). In 1976 , after playing in the Bay Area with limited success, Clover went to Los Angeles . They had their "big break" in a club there when their act was caught by Nick Lowe , who convinced Clover to travel to Britain with him. However, Clover was not successful in Britain, and the band arrived just as their folk-rock sound (known as Pub Rock in Britain) was being replaced by Punk Rock . They recorded two albums for the British Phonogram label; both albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange , but they both bombed. While Huey went on vacation, the rest of Clover backed Elvis Costello on his debut album '' My Aim Is True .'' The band returned to California, McFee joined the Doobie Brothers , and Clover disbanded. Huey Lewis played harmonica on Thin Lizzy 's 1978 landmark album '' Live And Dangerous ''. That same year, Lewis was playing at Uncle Charlie's, a club in Corte Madera, California , doing the 'Monday Night Live' spot, along with future members of the News. After recording the song "Exo-Disco" (a disco version of the theme from the film '' Exodus ''), Huey landed a 'singles contract' from Phonogram Records, and Bob Brown became his manager. Huey Lewis and the American Express formed in 1979 , with the same line-up as the News. The band played a few gigs (including an opening for Van Morrison ), but on Brown's advice, they changed their name again. Huey Lewis and the News became their moniker. After a failed self-titled debut in 1980, the band finally broke through to Top 40 success with the gold album ''Picture This'' (1982) riding to #13 on the Albums chart thanks to the Mutt Lange-penned "Do You Believe In Love" (#7), which became the band's first hit. The band's third LP, the #1 '' Sports '' (1983), is one of the best-selling pop releases of all time. It has sold ten million copies in the US alone.According to the band's own VH1 special. It was followed up by ''Fore!'' (1986), another #1 multi-platinum smash. Huey Lewis successfully sued Ray Parker, Jr. over similarities between Parker's theme for the 1984 movie '' Ghostbusters '' and Lewis' own " I Want A New Drug ". Lewis produced Nick Lowe's 1985 saw their Top 40 appeal dip for good, yet they have endured as one of America's top drawing live acts and have continued to have the occasional hit on adult contemporary radio. As well as singing lead vocals and playing harmonica with the band, Lewis also writes or co-writes many of the band's songs. Huey Lewis has sung with Umphrey's McGee at several shows beginning with the 2005 Jammys and is featured on two tracks of their album '' Safety In Numbers ''. The band, now in self-proclaimed semi-retirement, still plays 80+ U.S. dates a year, with an occasional European tour. The average fee for Huey Lewis & The News to play a private college-sized show is around US$200,000. On February 13, 2007, Huey was interviewed on the podcast series "Stuck in the 80s," during which he revealed that the band has written several new songs that they plan to record next year, though he states that, given how much the industry has changed since their last album, he's unsure at this point how they will sell the new material. "Stuck in the 80s" podcast 2007-02-13 During a show at the California State Fair on August 21, 2007, Huey was awarded Sacramento 's "Musician of the Year" by the fair's General Manager and presented with a gold statue of the California state bear. Huey has also recorded a duet version of "Workin' For A Livin'" with Garth Brooks, which will be included in Brooks' upcoming box set ''The Ultimate Hits'' in late-2007. Acting Lewis has made appearances in several movies. The first was a Cameo in '' Back To The Future '' (1985), as a judge in the Hill Valley High School band audition. The band also recorded two songs for the soundtrack, including the hit " The Power Of Love ". Huey's second movie appearance was in '' Short Cuts '' (1993), in which Lewis had a much more significant role. Lewis also made an appearance in the music video for Reba McEntire 's 1992 single 'Is There Life Out There' as Reba's husband. In addition, Lewis appeared in the first few minutes of the movie '' Sphere '' (1998) as the helicopter pilot. After that role, he had a large part in '' Shadow Of A Doubt '' (1998) which appeared on Showtime . He had an uncredited role in '' Dead Husbands '' (1998) as the husband killed during the opening credits. He did not appear in '' Die Hard '' (1988), although Dennis Hayden , the actor who plays one of the terrorists (the one who poses as the Nakatomi lobby security guard) bears a striking resemblance to Lewis and is often mistaken for the singer. '' Duets '' (2000) was probably Lewis' largest role in a major Hollywood feature film. In it, he played Gwyneth Paltrow 's father, Ricky Dean, a Karaoke hustler. ''Duets'' led to the smash-hit duet "Cruisin'" (a cover of the Smokey Robinson classic) with Paltrow. Unreleased as a single, the song nevertheless reached the top spot on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart. Next, he appeared in a film, '' .com For Murder '', starring Nastassja Kinski . In 2004, Lewis appeared in a couple episodes of the television show One Tree Hill as Haley James Scott 's father Jimmy James. Most recently Huey made his Broadway debut in the six-time Tony Award -winning musical Chicago , starring as attorney Billy Flynn. PERSONAL LIFE He is divorced and resides in , Baseball , Fishing , owning a Racing Car , and a Harley Davidson . RECORDINGS Albums Huey Lewis and the News has sold over 30 million records worldwide, though the band's official sales figure is only 20 million, since EMI/Chrysalis stopped "officially" counting when the band left the label in 1991.
Singles All told Huey Lewis (mainly with the News) has scored 20 Top Ten hits over Billboard's Hot 100, Adult Contemporary and Mainstream Rock Charts(not counting the groups participation in the #1 "We Are The World" charity Single). Both "Power of Love" and "I Want a New Drug" were million selling singles.
AWARDS
CULTURAL REFERENCES
TRIVIA
REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|