Eric Carmen – best known as the performer of Dirty Dancing hit Hungry Eyes and the writer of pop ballad, All by Myself – has died aged 74, according to a statement from his wife.
Raised as a classically trained pianist, Carmen turned to guitar in the ‘60s, following the British Invasion, and credited a four-month period with the Beatles songbook as giving him his real start as a player.
By the end of the ‘60s, Carmen had been recruited by burgeoning power pop group, The Raspberries. As both frontman and chief songwriter, he was behind all of the bands hits, including the suggestive Go All the Way, which drew the ire of the era’s somewhat buttoned-down authorities. It later featured on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack.
When the band split in 1975, Carmen’s classical roots came in handy as he pursued a solo career that saw two of his biggest hits – All by Myself and Never Gonna Fall in Love Again – both draw on themes from Rachmaninov (Piano Concerto No. 2 and the third movement of Symphony No. 2, respectively).
All by Myself was certified gold by the RIAA in 1976. Carmen’s composition repeated the trick in the hands of Celine Dion just over 20 years later, when the cover became one of the Canadian powerhouse’s most successful US singles.
Moving on musically, Carmen decided to sell an instrument that had proved fruitful in his Raspberries writing days – finding his White Melody Maker an iconic new home in the hands of Joan Jett.
“This is the guitar that he played on Go All the Way and all those [Raspberries] hits,” Jett told Guitar World in 2017.
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“And then I played it on I Love Rock ’n’ Roll, Crimson and Clover, Do You Want to Touch Me, Bad Reputation…all those early records. Then I took it off the road because I got nervous that someone was gonna steal it or break it.
“It’s so beautiful. It’s white, has no stickers on it, and there are cracks in the paint and yellowing from age or club cigarettes. It’s an unbelievable-looking guitar… [and] It’s got a great heritage. It’s a guitar full of hits.”
Carmen, meanwhile, continued to enjoy chart success in his newfound soft rock niche but sales of his solo records tailed off towards the turn of the decade. However, by the 1980s, Carmen found new opportunities in writing original songs for motion pictures and, quite literally, scored some huge successes.
Most notably, Footloose’s Almost Paradise (Love Theme), performed by Mike Reno and Heart’s Ann Wilson became one of three top 10 hits from the Kevin Bacon classic.
Then, a few years later, a cover of Hungry Eyes – which Carmen once admitted he had been reluctant to record – became the standout track from 1987’s surprise word-of-mouth hit Dirty Dancing.
“That worked out rather well,” dead-panned Carmen, in a bio written for his website. “I think just those two soundtracks sold about 30,000,000 records.”
Carmen’s fanbase was vast, with everyone from Courtney Love, to Mötley Crüe, Hank Williams Jr., Tom Petty, Paul Stanley, Axl Rose and Bruce Springsteen hailing the influence of his music in the Raspberries and beyond.
As the millennium rolled around, Carmen received the ultimate compliment for a Beatles fan as he was asked to join Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, alongside Jack Bruce from Cream and guitarist Dave Edmunds.
“As you can imagine, that was a bit unreal,” wrote Carmen of the All-Starr era.
“There were times, I admit, when I had to pinch myself, notably, when we performed on the David Letterman Show, which is taped in the Ed Sullivan Theater, on the stage where The Beatles were the first time I saw them.
“Now, here I am, on that very same stage, playing in a band with a Beatle! Pretty cool…”
Carmen’s passing was announced on his website, with a statement from his wife, Amy – signed with a reference to his 1977 solo album Boats Against The Current.
“It is with tremendous sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Eric Carmen. Our sweet, loving and talented Eric passed away in his sleep, over the weekend.
“It brought him great joy to know, that for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy. Please respect the family’s privacy as we mourn our enormous loss.
“‘Love Is All That Matters… Faithful and Forever’ – Amy Carmen.”
