Kim Carnes, The #80 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Kim Carnes joined the New Christy Minstrels in 1966 along with Kenny Rogers and Karen Black.  After accumulating many songs she had written, Carnes signed a publishing deal in 1969.  She shared recording time with other writers, including Don Henley, Glenn Frey and J.D. Souther.  Carnes recorded "Nobody Knows" for the movie Vanishing Point in 1971.  Another song on the soundtrack, "Sing Out For Jesus", was written by Carnes and recorded by Big Mama Thornton.  In the early 1970's, Carnes and husband Dave Ellingson co-wrote songs with David Cassidy and toured with him as part of his band.

Carnes signed a recording contract with Amos Records and recorded her debut album, Rest on Me, in 1972.  In 1975, Kim released her self-titled album, which included "You're A Part Of Me".  The song reached #32 on the Adult Contemporary charts, but was a bigger hit three years later (#36 on the Popular chart) when Carnes recorded the song with Gene Cotton.

Carnes released the album Sailin' (sic) in 1976.  One of the tracks, "Love Comes From Unexpected Places", won Best Composition at the 1977 American Song Festival.  

Carnes achieved her breakthrough when former New Christy Minstrel teammate Kenny Rogers recorded a duet with her in 1980.  "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer" became a huge across-the-board smash, hitting #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart, #3 Country, and #4 overall.

Carnes and Ellingson wrote all the material for Kenny's album Gideon.  

Carnes released the album Romance Dance in 1980.  She scored her first big solo hit with her version of the Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' song "More Love", which reached #6 on the AC chart and #10 overall.

Carnes then sang backing vocals for Dionne Warwick on her album No Night So Long.

The following year, Kim recorded "Bette Davis Eyes".  She released it as a single from the album Mistaken Identity.  The song bulleted up to #1, where it spent nine weeks at the top.  It was a big worldwide hit, reaching #1 in Australia and helping the album go to #1 for four weeks.  "Bette Davis Eyes" was the #1 song of the year, and is one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era*.

Carnes scored a Grammy for Record of the Year (the song also won for Song of the Year for songwriters Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss) and Kim also earned nominations for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Album of the Year.  Two follow-up singles were released, but both failed to capitalize on the huge success of "Bette Davis Eyes".  

In 1983, Kim released the album Voyeur, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.  She earned another nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Invisible Hands".

Carnes recorded "I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is" for the "Flashdance" Soundtrack, which won the Grammy for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture.  Carnes and James Ingram combined with Kenny Rogers for the song "What About Me", which rose to #1 on the AC chart and #15 overall.

In 1984, Carnes scored a #9 AC song with "I Pretend".

Kim teamed with Barbra Streisand to record "Make No Mistake, He's Mine".  The song reached #8 on the AC chart.

Carnes would go 10 releases before she found the Top 20 again on the Popular chart, landing at #15 with "Crazy In The Night" from her 1985 album Barking at Airplanes.

  She was also honored to be one of the stars invited to perform on USA for Africa's single "We Are The World", which raised millions for famine victims in Africa.

Carnes' 1988 album View from the House contained Kim's next hit, which reached #12 on the all-important AC chart.

Carnes continues to write and record.  She's achieved five Top 10 Adult Contemporary songs and three Top 10 songs overall.