Absolute Radio: Discover real music

Eric Carmen biography

In 2004, Carmen, along with original Raspberries members Jim Bonfanti, Wally Bryson, and Dave Smalley, re-formed the band for a series of sold-out live performances in cities across the United States. On that tour, the Raspberries recorded a live album of their hits at The House of Blues on Sunset Strip, in Hollywood, California. Both the show and album received critical acclaim . Carmen himself has stated that he planned to write new harder-edged songs for the band to perform in the same vein as those that the Raspberries performed in the 1970s.

Solo career

His first two solo singles were chart hits in 1976. Both were built around themes by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The first of these singles, "All By Myself" - which is very similar to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 - hit #2 in the United States, and #12 in the United Kingdom where it was his only charting hit. The follow up single, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" - heavily inspired by the main theme of the the slow movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 - reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and hit #1 on the US Adult Contemporary Chart, as well as #1 on the Cash Box chart. Two years after its 1975 release, this self-titled album was certified Gold in 1977 for sales of more than 500,000 copies. "That's Rock and Roll" was also a #3 hit single for singer Shaun Cassidy.

Carmen's second album, "Boats Against the Current" came out in the summer of 1977 and received strong reviews. It featured such noted backup players as Burton Cummings, Andrew Gold, Bruce Johnston and Nigel Olsson. The album spent 13 weeks in the Billboard Album chart, peaking #45. It also produced the Top 20 single "She Did It," but the title track only managed to scrape the bottom of the chart. A third single taken from the album, "Marathon Man," became his first solo single not to hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Shaun Cassidy again made the Top 10 in 1978 with Carmen's "Hey Deanie." For several weeks in the fall of 1977, Carmen had three compositions charting concurrently on the Billboard Hot 100, Cassidy's two big hits and Carmen's own "She Did It."

Biography from , the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.