Taylor Dayne

Taylor Dayne, born Leslie Wunderman on March 7, 1962, in Manhattan, New York City, spent her early childhood briefly in the Bronx before her family relocated to Long Island when she was two years old. She graduated from high school in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York, and began her professional singing career performing with little-known rock bands including Felony and Next. After completing college, she recorded two dance singles under the name "Les Lee" — "I'm The One You Want" in 1985 and "Tell Me Can You Love Me" in 1986 — both released on the New York independent label Mega Bolt.

Signed to Arista Records under the stage name Taylor Dayne, she released her first major single, the dance-pop track "Tell It to My Heart," on July 24, 1987. The song, written by Seth Swirsky, had previously been recorded in early 1987 by Louisa Florio for a Canadian album release before Dayne discovered it by contacting Chappell Music and requesting overlooked demos. Her father loaned her $6,000 to record the demo, which was tracked at Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, Long Island. The single debuted at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100, reached No. 1 in multiple countries, and sold 900,000 copies on 12-inch alone. The performance earned Dayne a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Vocal, Female in 1988. In 2023, Time Out included the song in their list of the 100 Best Party Songs Ever Made, and Rolling Stone ranked it among the 200 Best '80s Songs.

Swirsky also co-wrote Dayne's follow-up single "Prove Your Love," which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, spent eleven weeks in the Top 40, reached No. 1 in Switzerland, and climbed to No. 8 on the UK Singles chart. It became Dayne's first No. 1 on the Dance Club Songs chart on April 23, 1988. Arista released her debut album Tell It to My Heart on January 19, 1988, which produced two additional Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles: "I'll Always Love You," peaking at No. 3, and "Don't Rush Me," reaching No. 2. The album was certified 2× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Dayne received a Grammy nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal for "I'll Always Love You" in 1989, and the song was also nominated that year for Best R&B Song.

Her second studio album, Can't Fight Fate, was released on October 31, 1989, by Arista Records and was likewise certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA. The album generated four Billboard Hot 100 hit singles: "With Every Beat of My Heart" at No. 5, "I'll Be Your Shelter" at No. 4, "Love Will Lead You Back" at No. 1, and "Heart of Stone" at No. 12. "Love Will Lead You Back," composed by Diane Warren, topped both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart in 1990. Across her first two albums, Dayne achieved seven US Top 10 singles and three gold singles, and has sold over 75 million albums and singles worldwide. Both Rolling Stone and Billboard have ranked her among the most successful dance artists of all time, and she has received two Grammy Award nominations, an American Music Award, and multiple New York Music Awards.

Dayne released two additional albums in the 1990s, Soul Dancing in 1993 and Naked Without You in 1998. Soul Dancing included a cover of Barry White's 1974 hit "Can't Get Enough of Your Love," which reached No. 20 in the United States, No. 2 on the ARIA Charts in Australia — where it was the 19th-best-selling single of 1993 and received a Platinum certification — and charted in the Top 20 in Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Together with Arthur Baker and Fred Zarr, Dayne co-wrote "Whatever You Want" for Tina Turner's 1996 album Wildest Dreams, later recording and releasing the song herself as a single from Naked Without You in 1998.

In addition to her recording career, Dayne pursued acting, appearing in the 1997 science-fiction television series Nightman as Carla Day and taking on roles in the independent films Fool's Paradise and Stag, both in 1997, the Warren Beatty-produced 1994 remake of Love Affair, and Jesus the Driver in 2004. She also held a recurring role on the Showtime series Rude Awakening. In 2000, Dayne brought her talents to the Broadway stage, appearing in Elton John's Aida. In 2005, she was featured in the VH1 series Remaking, which documented her return to music after taking time off to start a family, including twins born via surrogate, and premiered her collaboration with Rodney Jerkins, the song "Right Now."