Richard Marx is an American singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois, born in 1963. He works in pop, pop rock and soft rock, and is best known for adult contemporary songs that become hit singles.

Career

Marx begins writing at the age of five, encouraged by a musical family. His father, Dick Marx, is a Chicago-area jazz musician and also writes jingles for commercials, while his mother, Ruth, is Christian; he grows up in a mixed-faith household. At 17, Marx records a demo that reaches Lionel Richie, who invites him to Hollywood. He then appears as a background singer on Richie’s songs “You Are” and “Running With the Night”, and on Richie’s follow-up album, which includes “All Night Long”.

His self-titled debut album goes multi-platinum and sells nearly 4 million copies. It includes his first number one single, “Hold on to the Nights”, along with other major hits such as “Don’t Mean Nothing” and “Should’ve Known Better”, both of which reach number three, and “Endless Summer Nights”, which reaches number two. Marx is the first solo artist to have his first seven singles reach the top five on the US singles chart.

Repeat Offender reaches number one and produces two more number one singles. On Rush Street, “Hazard” reaches number one. He later releases Paid Vacation, Flesh & Bone, Days in Avalon and My Own Best Enemy. Other songs associated with him include “Right Here Waiting”, “Hold on to the Nights”, “Don’t Mean Nothing”, “Should’ve Known Better”, “Satisfied” and “Wait for the Sunrise”.

Collaborations and songwriting

Marx sings with Donna Lewis on “At the Beginning”, from the Anastasia soundtrack. He also provides background vocals for Madonna on the True Blue album. Alongside his own recording career, he works as a writer and producer for a wide range of artists, including Barry Manilow, Barbra Streisand, Keith Urban, 98 Degrees, Kenny Loggins, Emerson Drive, Luther Vandross, Michael Bolton, *NSYNC, Olivia Newton-John, Sarah Brightman, SheDaisy, John Farnham and Vince Gill.

Personal life and other work

Marx is married to Cynthia Rhodes from 1989, and they have three sons: Brandon, Lucas and Jesse. He later marries Daisy Fuentes in 2015 in Aspen, Colorado. He also writes “Remember When” to mark the 50th anniversary of Disneyland; LeAnn Rimes performs the song and it appears on the park’s official anniversary album and in selected times at the park.

Labels

His labels include Signal 21, TourDForce, Chi-Boy Music and Richard Marx Music.