Kenny Loggins

Kenneth Clark Loggins was born on January 7, 1948, in Everett, Washington, the youngest of three brothers. His father, Robert George Loggins, was a salesman of English and Irish ancestry, and his mother, Lina, née Massie, was a homemaker of Italian descent from Avezzano. The family lived in Detroit and Seattle before settling in Alhambra, California. At birth, Loggins was named Clark Kent Loggins by his brother Bobby, who had been given the naming rights as part of a Christmas promise their father had made; the first and middle names were later reversed, and Kent was changed to Kenneth. Loggins attended San Gabriel Mission High School, graduating in 1966.

His earliest musical activity included fronting a band called The Second Helping, which released three singles on Viva Records in 1968 and 1969. He briefly played guitar for the New Improved Electric Prunes in 1969 before contributing four songs to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, which appeared on their album Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy. During his early twenties, Loggins was also a member of Gator Creek with Mike Deasy, whose sole album on Mercury Records contained the first recorded version of "Danny's Song," later a No. 7 Hot 100 hit for Anne Murray in 1973.

In 1970, Jim Messina, formerly of Poco and Buffalo Springfield and then working as an independent producer for Columbia Records, was introduced to Loggins, who was signed to ABC-Dunhill. The two began recording Loggins's compositions in Messina's home, and when Columbia signed Loggins to a six-album contract, Messina assembled a full band for what was intended to be a Loggins solo debut. By the time the album was completed, Messina had contributed sufficiently in songwriting, arrangement, instrumentation, and vocals that the project became a duo effort, released as Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin' In. The album found success by fall 1972, particularly on college campuses, and the pair went on to record seven albums together between 1972 and 1977 under the name Loggins and Messina. Over that period they sold 16 million records. Their collaborative work included Lynn Anderson's "Listen to a Country Song," which reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1972, and two songs for Anne Murray — "Danny's Song" and "A Love Song" — which reached No. 7 and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 and 1974 respectively, and both hit No. 1 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. Following the January 1976 release of Native Sons and a final concert in Honolulu on September 25, 1976, the duo parted amicably to pursue solo careers.

Loggins launched his solo career in 1977 with Celebrate Me Home, which included "I Believe in Love," originally sung by Barbra Streisand in A Star Is Born. His 1978 album Nightwatch included the hit "Whenever I Call You Friend," a duet with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, co-written with Melissa Manchester. He followed that with Keep the Fire in 1979 and High Adventure in 1982, the latter containing the rock duet "Don't Fight It" with Journey frontman Steve Perry, which reached No. 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Loggins also co-wrote "What a Fool Believes" with Michael McDonald; the Doobie Brothers' recording of the song reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 and earned Loggins and McDonald the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1980.

Loggins became widely associated with film soundtracks, with contributions dating back to A Star Is Born in 1976, earning him the informal designation "King of the Movie Soundtrack." His song "Footloose" received an Academy Award nomination in 1985. He appeared on Broadway in 1988 in Kenny Loggins on Broadway, and in 1999 received a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Musical Score. In 2013, Loggins released Finally Home, recorded with the group Blue Sky Riders, which he had formed with Gary Burr and Georgia Middleman. Across his career, Loggins has received two Grammy Awards and a Daytime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award.