Eric Carmen, who racked up hits in the early '70s with The Raspberries and a solo number-two with "All By Myself" in 1975, has died at age 74. No cause of death was announced
His wife Amy revealed the news on his website Monday night, saying that Carmen passed away in his sleep over the weekend and that "It brought him great joy to know, that for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy."
- Carmen was born in Cleveland on August 11th, 1949.
- His first band signed to a major label was Cyrus Erie, which released several unsuccessful singles. Carmen was in the band with guitarist Wally Bryson, who was also in The Choir with Jim Bonfanti and Dave Smalley. After both groups split up, the four musicians formed The Raspberries in 1970.
- The Raspberries went on to influence a whole generation of musicians with their power pop sound. They scored a Top 5 hit called "Go All the Way" with their 1972 self-titled debut. They followed that with three other Top 40 hits, including ""Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)," on the three other albums they released in between 1972 and 1974.
- After the group split Carmen launched a solo career in 1975 and his debut single, the ballad "All by Myself," peaked at number-two and went on to be covered by dozens of artists. Carmen had four other Top 40 hits from 1975 to 1978, including "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again."
- He returned to the Top 40 in 1984 when he co-wrote the Ann Wilson and Mike Reno duet "Almost Paradise" with Dean Pitchford for the Footloose soundtrack. In 1985 Carmen re-launched his solo career with the Top 40 hit "I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips."
- That paved the way for a huge comeback in 1987 when he sang "Hungry Eyes" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. That song peaked at number-four. The following year Carmen released "Make Me Lose Control," which peaked at number-three.
- Carmen released his final solo album in 2000, and continued to play concerts over the next two decades.
- Carmen and the original Raspberries lineup reunited in 2004 for a show in Cleveland, which led to a brief reunion tour in 2005.
- Carmen wrote songs for many other artists, including Frankie Valli, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Yvonne Elliman and Shaun Cassidy.