Biography

b. 31 May 1962, Montreal, Canada. Corey Hart was one of the biggest-selling Canadian acts of the 80s before his career entered what seemed to be terminal decline at the end of that decade. He had always intended to become a singer from childhood, an ambition hardly qualified by exposure to other musical traditions when his father moved the family to Malaga, Spain, when he was four, then Mexico City when he was nine. While living in Key Biscayne, Florida, his sister introduced him to Tom Jones, who recommended his abilities to Canadian superstar Paul Anka. Anka personally financed the recording of two Hart songs in Las Vegas when the young artist was just 13 years old. Hart eventually made his recording debut with a version of Anka's "Ooh Baby" for United Artists Records in 1974, but it failed to chart and his contract was not renewed. After an abortive attempt to launch a songwriting career in Los Angeles, he returned to Montreal. There he struck a deal with the EMI Records-distributed Aquarius label, making his long-playing debut in 1983 with First Offense. This became a major success both in Canada and the USA when the singles, "Sunglasses At Night" and "It Ain't Enough", both reached the Top 20 of the Billboard charts. After only six warm-up performances, he made his professional performing debut supporting Culture Club in Toronto in 1984. His second album, Boy In The Box, also featured another major hit single, "Never Surrender", a number 1 hit in Canada which peaked at number 3 in the US charts. The single won a Juno Award and Hart was also nominated for a Grammy. However, his commercial bubble burst in 1987 when Fields Of Fire stalled at US number 55. Hart was also exhausted from excessive touring, leading to the cancellation of dates in Canada. His commercial decline continued over the course of two further albums until, in 1991, he made the move to Sire Records. However, Attitude And Virtue failed to resurrect his career, and Hart retired from the music industry. He finally returned in 1996 with a suite of songs written about, among other things, the break-up of his marriage to graphic designer Erika Gagnon, and his relationship with Quebec singer Julie Masse and the birth of their child, India.
DISCOGRAPHY: First Offense (Aquarius 1983)***, Boy In The Box (Aquarius 1985)**, Fields Of Fire (Aquarius 1986)***, Young Man Running (Aquarius 1988)***, Bang! (Aquarius 1990)**, Attitude And Virtue (Sire 1991)***, Corey Hart (Columbia 1996)***, Jade (Columbia 1998)***.
COMPILATIONS: The Singles (EMI 1992)****, Best Of Corey Hart (CEMA 1998)***, Classic Masters (EMI 2002)****.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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