Kim's Career History

1945

Kim Carnes was born on July 20 in Pasadena, California, the only child of an attorney and a hospital administrator.

1966/67

In July 1966, Kim (lower right) joins the New Christy Minstrels, where she would meet Kenny Rogers (top photo, upper right) and future husband and songwriting partner Dave Ellingson (lower left), both of whom joined shortly afterward. Kim, Dave and Kenny joined the group in time to tour behind the "New Kick!" album, although none were members at the time the album was recorded. Apparently, the three lip-synched to some of the songs during several television appearances, thus fostering the rumor that they participated in the album's recording. Details are a bit sketchy, but it's likely that the only NCM recording on which Kim appears is a one-off single called "Beautiful, Beautiful World," which was recorded in August 1966 and which also features Rogers. Kim left the group after a few grueling months on the road. Kenny and Dave stayed a while longer and participated in a handful of the group's subsequent recording sessions.

1967

Aspiring actress Kim appears as Melinda in "C'mon, Let's Live a Little," a low-budget musical drama about a backwoods folk singer who receives a scholarship to a small college and proceeds to become radicalized. Jackie DeShannon and Bobby Vee are the only other cast members to have gone on to bigger and better things.

1971

With Dave Ellingson having also departed the New Christy Minstrels, Kim & Dave record "Nobody Knows," the theme song from the movie "Vanishing Point."

In November, Kim provides the singing voice of "Honey Bear" on a children's album by the Sugar Bears, a group of animated singing bears made popular by a Saturday morning television show and cereal commercials.

In December, Kim's first solo album, "Rest On Me," is released on Amos Records.

1974

Much in demand as a background singer for other artists' records, Kim contibutes notable -- and noticeable -- vocals to Jim Stafford's top 10 hit, "Spiders and Snakes."

1975

LP "Kim Carnes" is released.

1977

Kim and Dave's composition "Love Comes From Unexpected Places" wins the American Song Festival and the Tokyo Song Festival. Barbra Streisand covers the song, intending for it to be used in the film "Looking for Mr. Goodbar," but director Richard Brooks chooses another song for the picture's closing theme. Streisand's version appears on her LP, "Streisand Superman."

Kim's third LP is released. Entitled "Sailin'," it contains her version of "Love Comes From Unexpected Places." It also begins Kim's habit of dropping the "g" from the gerunds in her song (and in this case, album, too) titles.

1978

Kim makes the US Top 40 for the first time as a credited artist when "You're a Part of Me," her self-penned duet with Gene Cotton, makes #36 pop, #99 country.

1979

Kim becomes the first artist signed to new label, EMI America.

The single "It Hurts So Bad" peaks at #56 pop.

Kenny Rogers LP "Gideon," featuring songs written by Kim and Dave, reaches #12 on the Billboard album chart.

1980

Kim's duet with Rogers, "Don't Fall in Love With a Dreamer," peaks at #4 pop, #3 country and #2 adult contemporary. The two also record a Spanish version of the song, "No Te Enamores De Un Loco (No Te Enamores De un Soñador)," for release in Latin America.

Cover version of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles' "More Love" reaches #10 pop, #6 adult contemporary.

LP "Romance Dance" tops out at #57.

Another cover version, this one of the Box Tops' "Cry Like a Baby," peaks at #44 pop.

1981

Kim's cover version of Jackie DeShannon's "Bette Davis Eyes" tops the Billboard singles chart for nine weeks, earning Kim her first RIAA gold record. The song also peaks at #15 on the adult contemporary chart.

LP "Mistaken Identity" tops the US chart for four weeks, earning platinum status from the RIAA for more than one million units sold.

Follow-up singles "Draw of the Cards" and "Mistaken Identity" peak, respectively, at #28 and #60.

Kim appears on "The King Biscuit Flour Hour," performing a full concert on the the popular nationwide radio show.

"Bette Davis Eyes" is Billboard's #2 single of 1981, behind Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," which had a then-record 10-week run at the top.

1982

"Bette Davis Eyes" wins Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards. Other nominations included "Mistaken Identity" for Album of the Year, "Bette Davis Eyes" for Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female) and Val Garay for Producer of the Year (non-classical).

A&M Records issues "The Best of You" to capitalize on Kim's success with "Mistaken Identity." This collection contains 10 tracks from her mid-'70s albums "Kim Carnes" and "Sailin'."

LP "Voyeur" reaches #49 as the extracted title cut peaks at #29 pop.

1983

"Does It Make You Remember" reaches #36 pop.

For the second year in a row, Kim is nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female) Grammy, for "Voyeur."

"Invisible Hands" makes #40 pop, as parent album "Cafe Racers" tops out at #97.

1984

"You Make My Heart Beat Faster (And That's All That Matters)" peaks at #54 pop.

For the third consecutive year, Kim is nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Performance (Female) Grammy, for "Invisible Hands."

"I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is," from "Cafe Racers," is included on the soundtrack to the movie "Flashdance," which wins Best Album Of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture at 26th Annual Grammy Awards. "Flashdance" was also nominated for Album of the Year.

"I Pretend," also from "Cafe Racers," climbs to #9 on the adult contemporary chart and reaches #74 pop.

The single "What About Me?" with Kenny Rogers and James Ingram, taken from Rogers' album of the same title, reaches #1 on the adult contemporary chart, #15 pop and #70 country.

1985

Kim duets with Barbra Streisand on "Make No Mistake, He's Mine," from Streisand's "Emotion" album. The single, which Kim co-wrote, peaks at #51 pop, but it will top the country charts two years later in a version by Ronnie Milsap and Kenny Rogers.

Kim reaches #68 with "Invitation to Dance," the theme song from the MGM documentary "That's Dancing!" The innovative video for the song features Kim cavorting with the stars of several MGM musicals.

With "What About Me?" "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" and "Invitation to Dance" all firmly ensconced on the singles chart, Kim becomes the only artist in history to simultaneously appear on Billboard's Hot 100 as a solo artist, in a duet and as part of a trio.

Kim participates in the USA for Africa session to record the chart-topping "We Are The World." In the succession of soloists, Kim follows Cyndi Lauper and sings the line "When we stand together as one."

Dolly Parton's cover version of Kim's "Don't Call It Love" reaches #3 on the Billboard Country Singles chart.

"Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)" peaks at #15 pop and is her last song to date to reach the US Top 20.

LP "Barking at Airplanes" flies as high as #48.

"Abadabadango" reaches #67 pop.

1986

"Divided Hearts" peaks at #79 pop, while underrated parent LP "Light House" makes #116.

1988

Country-oriented CD "A View from the House" is released and becomes a mid-chart hit on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart. Extracted singles "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" and "Crazy in Love" respectively peak at #70 and #68 on the country singles chart. Two years later, Conway Twitty's cover of "Crazy in Love" will peak at #2 on the country singles chart.

1991

Kim sings theme song for short-lived CBS television series "Sunday Dinner."

CD "Checkin' Out the Ghosts" is released in Japan only.

1993

EMI America belatedly issues "Gypsy Honeymoon: The Best of Kim Carnes," a retrospective featuring nine previous hits, three popular album tracks and three new songs: "Chain Letter," "Gypsy Honeymoon" and "Don't Cry Now."

"The Heart Won't Lie," written by Kim and Donna Weiss, is a major Country hit for Reba McEntire and Vince Gill. The song is included on McEntire's album, "It's Your Call."

1997

Kim adds backing vocals on several projects, among them Bad Company's "Stories Told and Untold," Kenny Rogers' "Across My Heart," Matraca Berg's "Sunday Morning to Saturday Night" and Lila McCann's "Lila." She also earns sonwriter credits on the latter two releases.

In what some of us consider a case of divine retribution for not having issued Kim's catalog on compact disc, EMI America goes out of business. Kim's EMI catalogue reverts to Capitol Records in the US.

Kim contributes "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" to "Jim Croce: A Nashville Tribute."

EMI UK releases a hi-NRG dance version of "Bette Davis Eyes."

New Kim Carnes hits compilations are issued in Australia ("The Best of Kim Carnes"), Brazil ("Meus Momentos") and Holland ("Bette Davis Eyes").

1998

EMI-Capitol and K-Tel issue "Back-to-Back: Kim Carnes and Juice Newton," a mid-line CD featuring five cuts apiece from the two country-leaning pop singers.

1999

Razor & Tie reissues "Mistaken Identity" with six bonus tracks as "The Mistaken Identity Collection."

Kim's songwriting skills continue to earn her notoriety, with Tim McGraw, Mindy McCready and Trisha Yearwood all recording songs that she has co-written.

Kim is among the first singer-songwriters to appear on the Turner South television series, "Live From the Bluebird Cafe." VH1 also features Kim on two of its' popular series, "Where Are They Now?" and "Before They Were Rock Stars."