Sheena Easton, The #49 Female Artist of the Rock Era

Sheena Orr was born in Bellshill, Scotland.  Her father died when she was 10 and her mother supported the family.  Sheena had not considered becoming a singer until she heard Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" from the movie of the same name.  Sheena excelled in school, earning a scholarship at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.  She trained as a speech and drama teacher by day and sang with a band called "Something Else" at local clubs at night.

In 1979, Sheena married Sandi Easton, and kept her surname when they divorced eight months later.  She drew attention when she was the subject of the British television show The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to land a recording contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.

Sheena released her self-titled album in 1981.  Easton's first single, "Modern Girl", was released in the U.K. before the airing of the show and reached #56.  But after The Big Time aired, her second single, "9 To 5" (titled "Morning Train" in the U.S. to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton's song "9 To 5"), hit #3 in the U.K. and "Morning Train" was a #1 song on both the Popular and Adult Contemporary charts in the U.S.  It also was #1 in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

"Modern Girl" re-entered the chart and jumped inside the Top 10, making Sheena the first female in history to have two Top 10 songs at the same time in the U.K.

Easton released the album You Could Have Been With Me later in the year.  "When He Shines" was her next big hit, an underrated #30 in the U.S., but it did reach #9 in Ireland.

Sheena struck gold when she was selected to record the title theme to the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only.  It was an across-the-board smash, landing at #1 in Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands, #3 in Austria and Sweden, #4 in the U.S. and New Zealand, and Top 10 in every major musical country except Ireland and Japan.  The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards and helped Easton win the Best New Artist Grammy Award.  She was also nominated at the Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the song.

Easton went on her first tour of the United States.  Her performance in Los Angeles was videotaped and broadcast on HBO.  Sheena released the title song from her second album and it shot up to #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Easton had exploded onto the scene, and there's no better testimony of that when a star of Kenny Rogers' magnitude agrees to do a duet with her.  It was a cover of the great Bob Seger song "We've Got Tonight", and it did not stop until it hit #1 on the Country chart, #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #6 overall, #2 in Canada and #10 in Norway.

In 1983, Easton released the album Best Kept Secret.  "Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)" became another big hit, jumping to #8 in Canada, and #9 in the United States and Norway.

Sheena headlined a one-hour variety special on NBC (Act One).  She continued the roll with her next single, "Almost Over You".  It peaked at #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

In 1983, Easton recorded the song "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" ("I Like You Just The Way You Are"), a duet with Mexican star Luis Miguel.  It earned her another Grammy, this time for Best Mexican-American Performance.

The following year, Easton transformed her image, and came up with the biggest-selling album of her career, A Private Heaven.  "Strut" hit #7 in the United States, and #8 in Canada and New Zealand.  Easton was nominated for Best Female Pop/Rock Vocal Performance at the Grammys.

Her next single ("Sugar Walls") may have hit #9, but it probably cost her most of the fans that had fallen in love with her music.  It was written for her by Prince, and that's all that needs to be said about that.  Despite that, she teamed again with the Purple One in 1987 for the #2 song "U (sic) Got The Look".

Easton landed one more big hit the next year, "The Lover In Me".

Easton has won two Grammy Awards and sold 20 million records worldwide. She has no less than 15 Top 40 hits in the United States and 25 Top 40 hits around the world. She is the only artist in the history of the charts to have a Top 5 hit on each of the major charts: Popular, Adult Contemporary, Dance, Country and R&B.