Marilyn Martin is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 1985 hit duet with Phil Collins, "Separate Lives", her only Number 1.
Early life
Marilyn Martin was born on May 4, 1954, in Tennessee but raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She was exposed to different genres of music as a child. Her father was a country and bluegrass fan, her mother liked R&B and her grandmother sang gospel. At age 18 she started singing with different bands, eventually joining one from Akron, Ohio. After five years of gigs in clubs, they had an opportunity to tour with Joe Walsh, who was headlining with Stevie Nicks. Also on the tour were Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs, and Kenny Loggins. After this tour, Martin moved to Los Angeles, California, and gained a prolific career as a backing vocalist for artists including Stevie Nicks, Joe Walsh, Don Henley, Tom Petty and Kenny Loggins.
Career
Martin became a protegee of Doug Morris, the then-head of Atlantic, who had heard her backing vocals on Nicks' album Rock a Little and was impressed enough to ask for a demo. She recorded the Nicks song "Sorcerer" for the Jim Steinman soundtrack of the 1984 filmStreets of Fire. Morris signed Martin to a two album recording contract and connected her with Phil Collins for "Separate Lives," part of the soundtrack for the 1985 film White Nights. The song was a number one hit in the U.S. and a Top 5 hit in the United Kingdom. Martin's self-titled debut album was released in January 1986, reaching number 72 on the Billboard 200, with the single "Night Moves" reaching number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two other singles were also released from the album, "Body and the Beat" and "Move Closer," but neither made the charts. Her second album, This is Serious, was released in 1988, with its lead single "Possessive Love" written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard. A second single, "Love Takes No Prisoners," was released as well, with the haunting ballad "Quiet Desperation" as the B-side. The same year, Martin also recorded a duet with David Foster, "And When She Danced," which was used as the "love theme" for the film Stealing Home. Neither the singles nor the album were commercially successful, and Atlantic dropped her. She continued her career as a backing vocalist into the 1990s. In 1993, Martin moved to Nashville where she recorded a country album, Through His Eyes, for Atlantic in 1994. The album was never released, but is available through Martin's official Website. In 1997 Martin recorded a duet "I Live for Love" with David Hasselhoff, which appears on his album Hooked on a Feeling. On September 14, 2012, Martin released a new album, Trust, Love, Pray, a Christian music album featuring songs written by Martin, including "Every Way and Always" which received a lot of airplay on Christian and Praise and Worship stations. Marilyn reunited with Stevie Nicks in October 2016, singing backup vocals for the 24 Karat Gold Tour and filling in for Lori Nicks, who decided to spend time with her daughter. She continued working with Stevie, touring as a backing vocalist with Fleetwood Mac in 2019.
