Richard Marx is one of the most successful record producers of his time. The songwriter is married to Daisy Fuentes, and though he may be getting older, he is still going strong. While much of Marx’s career has been put in the spotlight, there are still some things that many people don’t know about him. With that in mind, here we present our list of 15 things you probably didn’t know about Richard Marx. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
Number Fifteen: He Was Born Into Music. Marx was born to two musically talented parents. While his father was a jazz musician, his mom was also a singer. His dad even founded a jingle company!
Number Fourteen: He Made His Musical Debut When He Was Five Years Old. When Marx was just five years old, he began singing for his father’s jingle company. He sang jingles for companies like Arm & Hammer and Nestle Crunch.
Number Thirteen: He Started Writing Songs as a Teenager. Marx was connected to Lionel Richie when he was 17 years old, and he was able to pass onto Richie some songs that he had written. Marx moved to Los Angeles one year later and began singing background vocals for him.
Number Twelve: He Sang Background Vocals for Many People. While we just mentioned that Marx sang background vocals for Richie, he sang background for many other artists at the time as well, including Madonna, Luther Vandross, and Julio Iglesias.
Number Eleven: He Wrote His First Hit for Kenny Rogers. As a songwriter, Marx hit it big when he wrote “Crazy.” Kenny Rogers recorded “Crazy,” and the song rose quickly to number one on the country charts.
Number Ten: He Holds a Special Record. Marx was the very first male singer and songwriter to have four top three singles from one debut album. His debut album was self-titled, and one of the songs even earned him a Grammy nod in 1988.
Number Nine: He Won His First Grammy Award in 2004. Marx won his first Grammy for a man he had previously sung background vocals for – Luther Vandross. Marx wrote “Dance With My Father” for Vandross, and it earned him the Grammy for Song of the Year.