Kim Carnes

Kim Carnes (/kɑːrnz/; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter best known for her 1981 hit single, "Bette Davis Eyes". She embarked on a solo career as a songwriter and performer in the early 1970s and also worked for several years as a session background singer with the Waters Sisters, Maxine Waters Willard and Julia Waters Tillman, who were later featured in the 2013 documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. In 1971, Carnes released her debut album, Rest on Me. Released in 1975, Carnes's self-titled second album included her first charting single, "You're a Part of Me", which reached No. 32 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The following year, Carnes released Sailin', which featured "Love Comes from Unexpected Places". The song won the American Song Festival and the award for Best Composition at the Tokyo Song Festival in 1976.

In her breakthrough year, 1980, Carnes and her husband, David Ellingson, were commissioned by Kenny Rogers to co-write the songs for his concept album Gideon. Her duet with Rogers, "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer", hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the duo a Grammy Award nomination. Later that year, Carnes's cover of Smokey Robinson's "More Love", from her fifth album, Romance Dance, hit No. 10. In 1981, Carnes released Mistaken Identity, which featured the chart-topping "Bette Davis Eyes". A worldwide hit, it became the best-selling single of the year in the United States. "Bette Davis Eyes" spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, went Gold, and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Song of the Year. Mistaken Identity reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, was certified Platinum, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Carnes also had success with the singles "Draw of the Cards", "Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)", "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" with Barbra Streisand, "What About Me?" featuring Kenny Rogers and James Ingram, and the Grammy Award-nominated singles "Voyeur" and "Invisible Hands". Her successes as a songwriter include co-writing the No. 1 duet "The Heart Won't Lie" with Donna Weiss; it was recorded by Vince Gill and Reba McEntire and was released on McEntire's 1993 album It's Your Call. Carnes also wrote the 1984 pop duet “Make No Mistake, He’s Mine”, which she sang with Barbra Streisand. The song was later reworked into a duet between Ronnie Milsap and Kenny Rogers, reaching #1 on the country charts. Her most recent studio album is Chasin' Wild Trains (2004).

Kim Carnes was born on July 20, 1945, in Los Angeles. Her father, James Raymond Carnes, was an attorney and her mother was a hospital administrator. Kim Carnes knew she would be a singer and songwriter from the age of three, despite the fact that she was not born into a musical family. "My mother didn't get my career, and my father, who was an attorney, didn't think singing and writing was even a job."

Kim Carnes signed her first publishing deal with producer Jimmy Bowen. During this period, she shared demo-recording time with Bowen's other writers, including Don Henley, Glenn Frey, and JD Souther. Carnes also sang "Nobody Knows", written by Mike Settle, which was featured prominently in the 1971 film Vanishing Point. The film also featured Carnes's first cut as a songwriter, "Sing Out for Jesus", which was recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. After signing with Amos Records, her first solo album Rest on Me was released in 1971. It was produced by Jimmy Bowen.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.