Maureen McGovern | |
|---|---|
 Ad for the albumThe Morning After (1973) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Maureen Therese McGovern (1949-07-27)July 27, 1949 (age 76) Youngstown, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | Broadway, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, actress |
| Years active | 1967–2022 (as performer) |
| Labels | 20th Century Fox,Columbia,RCA Victor,Sterling |
Maureen Therese McGovern (born July 27, 1949) is an American singer andBroadway actress, well known for her renditions of the songs "The Morning After" from the 1972 filmThe Poseidon Adventure; "We May Never Love Like This Again" fromThe Towering Inferno in 1974;[1][2] and her No. 1Billboardadult contemporary hit "Different Worlds", the theme song from the television seriesAngie. She performed on Broadway inThe Pirates of Penzance,Nine,The Threepenny Opera, andLittle Women.
McGovern was born inYoungstown, Ohio, United States, on July 27, 1949,[3] the daughter of James Terrence McGovern and Mary Rita (née Welsh). She hasIrish ancestry.[1] As a child, McGovern would listen to her father's singing quartet rehearse in their home. She was told by her elders that she began singing at the age of three, and would sometimes sing herself to sleep with things she heard on the radio. She decided at age eight that she wanted to be a professional singer. Her influences includeBarbra Streisand, Judy Collins, and Joni Mitchell.
After graduating fromBoardman High School in 1967, she worked as a secretary and performed part-time as a singer for a local folk band called Sweet Rain. Her singing caught the attention ofRuss Regan, then head of20th Century Records, subsidiary of20th Century-Fox, in 1972 when he heard ademo record she had recorded. At the time, Regan was searching for a singer to record"The Morning After" (the theme fromThe Poseidon Adventure) for release as a record.[2] He hired McGovern sight unseen to record the song, which resulted in her contracting with 20th Century Records. After it won anOscar forBest Original Song,[2] "The Morning After" scored well on the popular chart, reaching No. 1 during 1973.[1] It sold over one million copies and was awarded agold disc by theR.I.A.A. in August 1973.[4] Following the success of "The Morning After", she received aGrammy Award nomination in 1974 for 'Best New Artist'.
During 1974, she recorded two movie themes: "We May Never Love Like This Again" from the disaster filmThe Towering Inferno,[2] in which she made a short appearance when she is seen singing the song as the evening's entertainment, and "Wherever Love Takes Me" from the British disaster filmGold. The former won anOscar[2] (though it was only a minor pop hit), and the latter received an Oscar nomination.
In 1976, she recorded hercover version of "The Continental", the very first Oscar-winning track for Best Original Song.[2] It proved to be her only hit on theUK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 16.[2]
McGovern's contract with 20th Century ended during 1976. Her career declined and so did her finances.[citation needed] In an interview onBBCWoman's Hour on May 18, 2009, McGovern stated that exorbitant fees charged by her manager (40%) together with her band being on a full-time salary, whether she was performing or not, were the cause of her perilous financial state. Ready to begin her life over again, she moved toMarina del Rey and took a secretarial job under an assumed name, Glenda Schwartz. Nevertheless, she was still in demand occasionally for international live concerts. Her career improved when McGovern was asked to record a version of "Can You Read My Mind", the love theme from 1978'sSuperman, which was not recorded for the film. The single achieved minor success on the pop chart. Toward the end of the decade, McGovern recorded "Different Worlds", the theme from the ABC-TV sitcomAngie. The song, her only other Top 40 pop single aside from "The Morning After", soared to No. 18 on theBillboard Hot 100 during 1979 and hit at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[5] In 1980, McGovern made a brief appearance as Sister Angelina, the singing nun, in the comedy-disaster movieAirplane!
At the beginning of the 1980s, McGovern gave up singing movie themes to begin a career onBroadway (her first foray into acting). During 1981, she made herBroadway debut as Mabel in a revival ofGilbert & Sullivan's musicalThe Pirates of Penzance, taking over from fellow 1970s popular singerLinda Ronstadt. She then performed in two productions with the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera:The Sound of Music (1981; as Maria) andSouth Pacific (1982; as Nellie Forbush). She returned to Broadway in 1982 to replaceKaren Akers inNine starring alongsideRaul Julia. She continued her theatrical career throughout the 1980s and originated the role of Mary in theOff-Broadway production ofBrownstone in 1985. In 2005 she originated the role ofMarmee inLittle Women The Musical.
She slowly returned to music during the mid-1980s, contributing songs to musical soundtracks and recording for various-artist compilations. She also returned to touring and performing in concerts and began establishing herself as a nightclub and cabaret performer. Starting in 1987, she released three albums for CBS in three years:Another Woman in Love (a voice/piano album),State of the Heart (a fully orchestrated album), andNaughty Baby (recorded live on November 20, 1988, Studio A at Clinton Recording Studios, New York City, it features an early first recording of a lost Gershwin song, "A Corner of Heaven With You" (written ca. 1917).Naughty Baby was released in 1989 coinciding with McGovern's Gershwin concert at Carnegie Hall.
From the 1990s into the 21st century, McGovern continued her careers in musical theatre, performing in concerts, and recording albums, and she occasionally made guest appearances on television. Other recordings includeBaby I'm Yours (1992), a collection of her favorite songs from 1955 to 1970, andOut of This World (1996), a collection of songs by Harold Arlen. She was nominated twice for aGrammy, for her albumsThe Music Never Ends (1997), a collection of songs by Alan & Marilyn Bergman, andThe Pleasure of His Company (1998), another voice/piano album. McGovern voiced the character of Rachel in the animated filmJoseph: King of Dreams.
In 2003,Out of This World andThe Music Never Ends were re-released by Fynsworth Alley Records; both albums included bonus tracks, the former two, and the latter three.
In 2005, McGovern returned to the Broadway stage as Marmee oppositeSutton Foster's Jo in the musical adaptation ofLouisa May Alcott'sLittle Women. With negative reviews, it ended quickly, but McGovern reprised her role for the successful subsequent national tour.[1]
She continued to appear in concert as a headliner and as a guest with symphony orchestras around the country.A Long and Winding Road, released on thePS Classics label, covers singer–songwriters of the 1960s includingPaul Simon,Joni Mitchell,Lennon–McCartney, andRandy Newman. She performed a concert act based on this material at the Metropolitan Room in New York City and the Rrazz Room in San Francisco.
McGovern continues her work with theMuscular Dystrophy Association, and appeared regularly onThe Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon through 2014.
She created, along with Philip Himberg, a one-woman biographical musicalCarry It On which premiered atGeva Theatre Center October 12 – November 14, 2010.[6][7]
In 2012, she was listed as a guest star withThe Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at thePlaza Theatre inPalm Springs, California.[8]
McGovern was scheduled to headline the North Coast Men's Chorus 30th Anniversary Concert on March 24, 2018, at theKeyBank State Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 2021, McGovern was diagnosed withposterior cortical atrophy, which is thought to be a form ofAlzheimer's disease.[9] She publicly announced her diagnosis the following year, saying she would no longer perform in concert, but planned to continue working on musical projects for children, and advocating for musical therapy.[10] As of 2022[update], she lives at a retirement community inColumbus, Ohio.[9]
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 [11] | US AC [12] | Canada Pop | Canada AC | Australia [13] | UK [14] | |||
| 1973 | "The Morning After" (Oscar-winning; recorded in 1972) | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | The Morning After |
| "I Won't Last a Day Without You" | 89 | 14 | - | 12 | - | - | ||
| 1974 | "Nice to Be Around" (Oscar-nominated) | 101 | 28 | 88 | 8 | - | - | Nice to Be Around |
| "Give Me a Reason to Be Gone" | 71 | 12 | 50 | 16 | - | - | ||
| "We May Never Love Like This Again" (Oscar-winning) | 83 | 20 | - | - | 5 | - | Academy Award Performance | |
| 1975 | "Even Better Than I Know Myself" | - | - | - | - | 65 | - | |
| "Love Songs Are Getting Harder to Sing" | - | 24 | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1976 | "The Continental" (Oscar-winning in 1934) | - | - | - | - | - | 16 | Academy Award Performance |
| 1978 | "Can You Read My Mind" | 52 | 5 | 68 | 40 | - | - | Maureen McGovern |
| "Very Special Love" | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1979 | "Different Worlds" | 18 | 1 | 48 | 1 | - | - | |
| "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | - | 27 | - | 5 | - | - | ||
| 1980 | "We Could Have It All" | - | 16 | - | 6 | - | - | |
| "Bottom Line " | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 1981 | "Halfway Home" | - | 24 | - | - | - | ||
| 1985 | "A Love Until the End of Time"(withPlacido Domingo) | - | - | - | - | 54 | - | |
| 1987 | "I Could Have Been a Sailor" | - | - | - | - | - | - | Another Woman in Love |
| 1988 | "The Same Moon" | - | - | - | - | - | - | State of the Heart |
| 1992 | "You Belong To Me" | - | - | - | - | - | - | Baby I'm Yours |
| 1996 | "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" | - | - | - | - | - | - | Out of This World |
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