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Richard Marx music biography continued...

audience. The son of a commercial jingle-writing father and a jingle-singing mother, Richard Noel Marx--born September 16, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois--spent the better part of his childhood inside recording studios. He began recording jingles himself at the age of five, and as a teenager Marx wrote his own songs. When he was 18, Marx managed, through a series of acquaintances in the music industry, to get a demo he had recorded to singer Lionel Richie, who was at the time still a member of the Commodores. At Richie's urging, Marx moved to Los Angeles to pursue his singing and songwriting career. Marx's self-titled first album was released in 1987 and met with instant success. Four singles from the Richard Marx album, which ended up at number eight on the album charts, made it to the top of the popular music charts in 1987; one of these singles, the ballad "Hold On to the Nights," was particularly well-liked among pop music fans, and spent several weeks as number one. Other chart-topping songs from Marx's debut album included "Don't Mean Nothing" and "Should Have Known Better." Marx's second album, Repeat Offender, was released in 1989 and quickly reached triple-platinum status, producing the two number one singles "Satisfied" and "Right Here Waiting.".



With the release of Rush Street in 1991, his commercial fortunes started to slip somewhat, and after 1994's Paid Vacation quickly faded from the charts, Marx went into a period of seclusion. He returned to record 1997's Flesh and Bone and became the Grammy in the Schools spokesperson, aiding the fundraising efforts of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) Foundation's campaign to encourage the creative efforts of American students Although critics have not been totally kind to Marx (Billboard's Larry Flick characterized his tunes as "radio-friendly nuggets" and "engaging, rock-etched love poems"), they have lauded his ability to belt out powerful lyrics. Despite any reservations expressed in reviews of his works, Marx attained enormous popular success: his first four albums went multi- platinum, selling more than 20 million copies worldwide.