Juice Newton, The #73 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Newton was born in Lakehurst, New Jersey, and graduated from First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  In the early 1970's, Newton, Otha Young and Tom Kealey formed a group known as Juice Newton and Silver Spur which signed a recording contract with RCA Records.  That group released two albums on RCA before signing with Capitol in 1977.  However, the group split shortly afterwards.

Juice embarked on a solo career with Capitol.  She sang backing vocals for Bob Welch, including his hit "Ebony Eyes".  Newton released her debut album Well Kept Secret in 1978.  The album did not sell, but Capitol believed in her and renewed her contract.  Juice's next album Take Heart received modest airplay on Country stations but that was it.  

Modest airplay would be a thing of the past once the album Juice was released in 1981.  Newton's release of the Merrilee Rush hit "Angel Of The Morning" became an across-the board smash.  Enough time had passed since the hit (1968), and Newton's performance was incredible, taking the song to #4 overall and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.  The song was certified Gold and earned Newton a Grammy nomination for Best Female Vocalist.

The follow-up, "Queen Of Hearts", was even bigger, reaching #2, remaining on the charts for 27 weeks, and also selling over a million copies.

The third smash from the album reached #7 and was a #1 on both the Adult Contemporary and Country charts.  Newton earned a second Grammy nomination for her remake of a Brenda Lee song for Female Country Vocal Performance.

Juice sold over one million copies in the U.S. and helped Juice capture the Billboard Award for Female Album Artist of the Year.  In the spring of the new year, Newton released her fourth solo effort, Quiet Lies, which is just shy of Platinum status as well.  The lead single reached #7 overall and #1 Country.

Juice's remake of Brenda Lee's hit 'Break It To Me Gently" was another outstanding performance.  It was a much underrated #11 overall, but #1 AC and #2 Country.  This time, Newton was the winner of Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the song.

Quiet Lies gave Juice back-to-back Billboard Female Album Artist of the Year awards.  "Heart Of The Night" landed at #25 in 1983 overall, but was a #4 AC smash.

Newton won an Australia award as Top International Country Artist, and Juice toured with Alabama in a double-headliner tour.  

Newton released a sixth album, Dirty Looks, on Capitol before switching to RCA.  In 1984, she released the album Can't Wait All Night.  "A Little Love" reached #7 on the AC chart.

Newton turned back to Country after that, having success with her album Old Flame.  But Juice never enjoyed mainstream success again.  She released The Trouble with Angels and American Girl in the late-1990's.

Newton enjoyed 11 hits, with four in a row going Top 10.  On the Adult Contemporary chart, Juice enjoyed eight hits, with seven reaching the Top 10 and three #1 songs.