Long a staple of light rock stations, Kenny Loggins is a singer-songwriter in the tradition of James Taylor and Paul Simon.
Loggins got his first big break at the age of 22 when The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded several of his songs. From there, he was “discovered” by Jim Messina, formerly of Poco. Loggins and Messina formed a duo that generated multiple hits in its relatively short life.
Kenny Loggins became a singles artist after he split with Messina, but it was his affinity for two unrelated areas, the movies and the Doobies, that brought him the most fame.
Writing hit songs for movies became as big a part of Kenny Loggins’ career as it did for Bryan Adams a decade later. His title track from Footloose became his only solo #1 song. Other big movie hits included Danger Zone from the movie Top Gun, which charted as high as #2 and I’m Alright from Caddyshack which went to #7.
Loggins has won two Grammys in his solo career, thanks to his friendship with The Doobie Brothers. The first came in 1979 for writing The Doobies’ hit What A Fool Believes. Loggins was back in front of the podium just a year later winning Best Male Pop Vocal for This Is It, his duet with Doobies lead singer Michael McDonald.
Hits became more sparse as Loggins aged, and his career has evolved into an adult format whose releases rarely see major Billboard chart success. Loggins has plumbed his whole catalogue several times, notably releasing Return To Pooh Corner and More Songs From Pooh Corner to popular success.
–G. Bounacos