 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Holly Knight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Holly Erlanger |
| Born | New York,New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop,rock |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, singer, musician, producer, author |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards,piano,programming,keytar,guitar,bass,vocals |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Dreamland/RSO,Chrysalis,Columbia |
| Website | www |
Holly Knight born 1956, is an American songwriter, musician, and singer. She was a member of the 1980s pop rock groupsSpider andDevice, and wrote or co-wrote several hit singles for other artists, such as "Rag Doll", "Obsession", "Love Is a Battlefield", "The Best", "Invincible", "Better Be Good to Me", "The Warrior", and "Change".
In 2013, she was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame. She has won thirteenASCAP Awards, and has co-written hits for numerous successful recording artists, includingTina Turner andPat Benatar who each wonGrammy Awards for their recordings of her songs.
Knight was born inNew York City.[1] She started playingclassicalpiano at the age of four, continuing her studies for ten years at theMannes School of Music.[2]
| This section of abiography of a living persondoes notinclude anyreferences or sources. Please help by addingreliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately. Find sources: "Holly Knight" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1980, Knight's first big break came when she played keyboards (uncredited) on Kiss'Unmasked album.[3] In the early 1980s, she helped formSpider (featuringAnton Fig ofLate Show with David Letterman). Managed byBill Aucoin (Kiss andBilly Idol), they signed arecording contract with Dreamland Records, an RSO-distributed label. They released two albums:Spider (self-titled; 1980) andBetween the Lines (1981).
Knight was already planning to leave Spider, when Dreamland president, songwriter andrecord producerMike Chapman urged her to move toLos Angeles to pursue her songwriting career. She signed a publishing deal with his company, eventually signing toEMI Publishing. Knight and Chapman worked together on the top 5 U.S. hit "Better Be Good to Me" (1984) byTina Turner and "Love Is a Battlefield" (1983) byPat Benatar, each of which won aGrammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Knight was replaced on keyboards in Spider, later renamed Shanghai for its eponymous and final album, before her former band folded in 1984.
Knight has written hits for some of the most successful artists in music, both on her own and in collaboration with others. For Pat Benatar, in addition to "Love Is a Battlefield", she wrote "Invincible". "The Best"—first recorded byBonnie Tyler—became an international No. 1 single forTina Turner. Knight wrote songs withHeart,Aerosmith,Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, and many more. Tina Turner has recorded nine of her tunes, including "The Best", "Better Be Good to Me", and "In Your Wildest Dreams" (1996). Holly Knight was voted the Best Songwriter inRolling Stone magazine's 11th annual poll, along withPhil Collins,Paul Simon,Billy Joel, andBruce Springsteen.
In the mid-1980s, Knight had a second band calledDevice, that had a hit single "Hanging on a Heart Attack" from their one album22B3 (1986). Although Spider and Device both hadTop 40 hits, only Device received heavy-rotation onMTV for four consecutive months. In 1988, Holly released a self-titled solo album that featured her own rendition of "Love Is a Battlefield", as well "Heart Don't Fail Me Now", a single with background vocals byDaryl Hall.
Holly Knight's songs have been featured on film soundtracks forWeird Science (1985),Vision Quest (1985),Legend of Billie Jean (1985),Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985),Legal Eagles (1986),The Secret of My Success (1987),Thelma & Louise (1991),Stuart Little 2 (2002),13 Going on 30 (2004),What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004),Hot Tub Time Machine (2010),Anchorman 2 (2013),Dallas Buyers Club (2013),The Other Woman (2014),Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021),80 For Brady (2023), andCocaine Bear (2023); and hit television shows such asAmerican Idol,The Voice,Nip/Tuck,The Singing Bee,The Oprah Winfrey Show,The Simpsons,Family Guy,30 Rock,South Park,Glee,The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,Necessary Roughness, the 40th anniversary ofSaturday Night Live, and the finale episode ofThe Voice (2011), in whichCee Lo Green performed aduet of "Love Is a Battlefield" with one of the final contestants. Most recently, Knight's songs have been featured on the Netflix showGLOW ("The Warrior"- theme song),Stranger Things,Mixed-ish,The Masked Singer, andSchitt's Creek. She wrote and produced thetheme song for the popular TV showsAngel (1999–2004) andStill Standing (2002–2006).
In 1988, Knight was listed in the "Best Songwriter Category/Readers Poll" ofRolling Stone along with Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel.
In the 21st century, Knight has also been active as a record producer. In 2009, she produced ajazzEP calledNatural forAntonia Bennett, daughter ofTony Bennett, and in 2012, an alternative pop record of original songs for her, titledOrdinary Girl. In 2014, she produced a second full-length jazz record for Antonia Bennett of songs from theGreat American Songbook calledEmbrace Me, on Perseverance records. She has also produced tracks forOtep,Fefe Dobson, The Donnas, the Australian band Porcelain,[4] and 2014 Tony Award winnerLena Hall.
Knight has been mentioned in several autobiographies, includingI, Tina by Tina Turner (1986),Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Pat Benatar (2010),Kicking and Screaming byAnn andNancy Wilson of Heart (2013),I'm with The Band byPamela Des Barres (2005),My Love Story by Tina Turner (2018), andAll I Ever Wanted byKathy Valentine (2020).
Holly joined a list of other trailblazing women by contributing her story to the 2017 bookBecause I Was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages, published by Henry Holt and Company.
Her song, "The Best" has appeared in three episodes of the Emmy award-winning Netflix showSchitt's Creek. Season 4, Episode 1 "The Olive Branch": David lip-syncs to the original Tina Turner recording. Season 4, Episode 6 "Open Mic": Patrick performs an acoustic version of the song (arranged by actor Noah Reid). Season 6, Episode 13 (the series finale): the Jazzagals sing a capella at David and Patrick's wedding, causing "The Best" to become a popular wedding song in the LGBTQ community.
Three of Knight's songs, "The Best", "Better Be Good to Me", and "Be Tender with Me Baby," are featured inThe Tina Turner Musical, which began previews at the Aldwych Theatre, in The West End in London, on March 21, 2018, and officially opened on April 17. In November 2019, the musical made its Broadway debut at theLunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York. Tina Turner herself attended both premieres. In March 2019, the show opened at the Stage Operettenhaus inHamburg, and on February 9, 2020 at the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In 2020, the musical received eleven Tony Award nominations.
"The Best" was featured at the end ofJoe Biden's victory speech following his election to the presidency of the United States in 2021.[citation needed]
In November 2022, Knight released her memoir entitled, "I Am The Warrior: My Crazy Life Writing the Hits and Rocking the MTV Eighties." It was offered in a hardcover edition by Permuted Press, a Kindle edition, and an Audible audio book, which she narrated. The latter contains original demos of some of her biggest hits, including, "The Best", "Love Is a Battlefield" and "The Warrior". The book was listed on both Amazon and Audible as the #1 Hot New Release in Popular Music.
In 2023, during the Super Bowl, The Best also appeared in a Pringles commercial
In her spare time, Knight also does fine art photography.
Knight has two grown sons and lives in Los Angeles.
She has been married three times, and datedAnton Fig andPaul Stanley in the 1980s.[3]
Songs in theater productions
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
