Taylor Dayne, The #97 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Taylor Dayne (real name Leslie Wunderman) graduated from high school in Baldwin, New York and began singing for rock bands such as Felony and Next. After college, she released two dance singles under the name Les Lee before signing with Arista Records in 1987.

From there, it was like magic.   "Tell It To My Heart" started the streak when it peaked in the top five of most major markets worldwide. The song reached #1 in West Germany and #7 in the United States and sold over one million copies. 

 
With that winner under her belt, Dayne released three other singles from her debut album Tell It to My Heart. "Prove Your Love" matched her debut with a #7 showing in the United States.

Dayne followed with "I'll Always Love You", which became one of her biggest hits, peaking at #3, showing up on the Billboard best-seller list for 30 weeks, and selling over one million copies.

 
Another smash hit from Dayne's debut album was "Don't Rush Me", which peaked at #2.

  Dayne's sophomore effort, Can't Fight Fate, proved her initial success was no fluke. She hit #5 with the single "With Every Beat Of My Heart".

 
Dayne landed at #1 on both the popular and Adult Contemporary charts with "Love Will Lead You Back", which became her third gold single.

It had been three years since her debut, and Dayne was still going strong, completing her run of seven consecutive Top 10's with "I'll Be Your Shelter".  Dayne thus became one of The Most Successful Artists out of the Gate*:

Taylor mysteriously wasn't able to hit the Top 10 again.  Dayne has written songs for other artists such as Tina Turner and performed on Broadway in Elton John's Aida in 2001. She has enjoyed 10 hits and sold 4.5 million albums in her career and is still recording.