Patty Smyth | |
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Smyth at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival Vanity Fair party
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Background information | |
Birth name | Patricia Smyth |
Born |
New York City, New York, U.S. |
June 26, 1957
Genres | Rock, pop rock, new wave |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, piano, guitar |
Years active | 1981–present |
Labels | Columbia, MCA |
Associated acts | Scandal, Don Henley, The Hooters |
Patricia "Patty" Smyth (born June 26, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She first came into national attention in the band Scandal. She went on to record and perform on her own. Her distinctive voice and new-wave image gained broad exposure through video recordings aired on cable music video channels such as MTV. Her debut album Never Enough was well received, and generated a pair of Top 40 hits. In the early 1990s she again reached the Top 10 with the hit single "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough", a duet sung with Don Henley. She performed and co-wrote with James Ingram the song "Look What Love Has Done" for the 1994 motion picture, Junior. The work earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Smyth married tennis star John McEnroe in 1997.
After growing up in the Brooklyn neighborhood Gerritsen Beach, Smyth joined Scandal as vocalist in 1981. The band released a self-titled debut album the next year. Featuring the song "Goodbye to You", it went on to become Columbia Records' biggest selling EP. In 1984, they put out their follow-up, The Warrior. Buoyed by MTV airplay, the album peaked at No. 17 on the charts, and the first song off the release, also titled "The Warrior", was a top-ten smash. However, despite their success, internal strife within the group led to their breakup shortly afterwards.