Corey Hart

Corey Mitchell Hart (born May 31, 1962) is a Canadian singer, musician and songwriter known for his hit singles "Sunglasses at Night", "Never Surrender" and "It Ain't Enough". He has sold over 16 million records worldwide and recorded nine US Billboard Top 40 hits. In Canada, 30 of Hart's recordings have been Top 40 hits, including 11 in the Top 10, over the course of over 35 years in the music industry. Nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1984, Hart is an inductee of both Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame, and is also a multiple Juno award nominee and winner, including the Diamond Award for his best-selling album Boy in the Box. He has also been honoured 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 on May 31, 1962, in Montreal, Quebec, the youngest of five children of Mina (née Weber) and Robert Hart, both Montreal natives. His paternal grandfather was a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant, while his mother was from a Romanian Jewish family. Hart's parents separated when he was 10 years old. Hart then lived with his mother and older brother Robbie in Montreal. He had an especially close relationship with his mother, to whom his first album First Offense was dedicated. Hart had little contact with his father, and this is reflected in some 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. 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 Canadian studio musicians on demos before finally signing to the Aquarius Records label in 1982 at the age of 20. Several songs on his first album, including "The World Is Fire", reflect the rejections and difficulties Hart encountered along the path to getting a recording contract.

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, then best known for his work with 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 gold 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 well-known in his native Canada.

First Offense also featured guitarist Eric Clapton on the record's closing track, "Jenny Fey".

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.