Richard Marx

Marx's self-titled debut album, released in June 1987, yielded four hit singles and went triple platinum.[4][5] The debut single, "Don't Mean Nothing," about the potential pitfalls of the music business, had been released the previous month, and it climbed to No. 3 on the U.S. (magazine) Hot 100 as well as No. 1 on Billboard'​s Album Rock chart. Marx became the first new artist played on 117 radio stations nationwide during his initial week on the charts. The next two singles, "Should've Known Better" and "Endless Summer Nights", reached No. 3 and No. 2, respectively. The fourth single released from the album, "Hold On to the Nights," earned Marx his first No. 1 hit.[6] The latter three of the albums singles were also hits on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, beginning a long string of hits on that chart.

With the success of his self-titled album, Marx embarked on his first world tour, initially opening for REO Speedwagon, but quickly began headlining his own shows. His first tour kept him on the road for 14 months.

In 1988, Marx was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance – Solo for "Don't Mean Nothing."[13]

Repeat Offender, Marx's second album, was released in May 1989. It rose to No. 1 on Billboard's album chart. It went triple platinum within a few months and eventually sold over 5 million copies in the United States alone. The first two singles, "Satisfied" and the platinum-selling "Right Here Waiting," both reached #1.

"Right Here Waiting" was Marx's first No. 1 hit on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart as well as his first big hit outside of North America, reaching No. 1 in several European countries and giving Marx his first top ten hit in the UK. It has been covered numerous times, most notably by Monica and 112 in a 1998 duet. Another single from the album, "Children of the Night," was written and composed in support of a Van Nuys-based organization for runaways. It became the sixth single from Repeat Offender.

Marx performed the Beatles’ "Help" at the Berlin Wall in late 1989. Marx also received his second Grammy nomination in 1990 for "Best Pop Vocal Performance – Male" for "Right Here Waiting."[14]

In 1991, Marx released his third consecutive platinum album, Rush Street. This album saw artists such as Luther Vandross and Billy Joel appear as backing vocalists and guest pianists. The disc's first single, "Keep Coming Back", went to No. 12 on the Hot 100 and its second single, "Hazard", made it to No. 9. Both songs hit No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart for four weeks and one week respectively. "Hazard" became Marx's second UK top ten, reaching #3.

In early 1994, as he and his family permanently left Los Angeles behind and returned to Chicago, Marx released Paid Vacation, and scored his fourth consecutive platinum album. The acoustic ballad "Now and Forever" peaked at No. 7 on the Hot 100, his final top ten hit on that chart.

The year 1997 saw the release of Flesh and Bone, Marx's final studio album on the Capitol imprint. The disc's first single, "Until I Find You Again", hit No. 3 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart and No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Marx's Greatest Hits compilation was released in November 1997. The 16-track album includes a variety of hit singles from his first five albums plus "Angel's Lullaby," a song written about his children originally appearing on For Our Children, Too, a compilation CD released in 1996 to benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Greatest Hits was released in Asia in November 1998 and included two new songs, "Slipping Away" and "Thanks To You", a tribute to his mother. The album was certified Gold in the U.S.

In 2000, Marx debuted his sixth studio album, titled Days in Avalon. This disc was released on the Signal 21 Records label founded by Marx and former Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer and record producer Bobby Colomby.

Marx in 2005.

After signing a new deal with his former label, Manhattan Records, Marx released the 2004 album My Own Best Enemy.

In 2008, Marx released Duo, on which he collaborated with Vertical Horizon's lead singer, Matt Scannell.

On June 12, 2008, Marx was part of a PBS television series called Songwriters in the Round Presents: Legends & Lyrics. In Episode 102 of the first season, Marx appeared along with Kenny Loggins, Nathan Lee, and rock band Three Doors Down. This episode also featured an interview with singer-songwriter Diane Warren.[15][16][17]

On October 31, 2008, "Emotional Remains" and "Sundown" were released, as digital downloads, on Marx's official site.

On December 6, 2008, Marx headlined a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis research, "Newsapalooza," sponsored by WLS-AM's Roe Conn program, in which Marx both performed several of his hits with his band and accompanied Chicago broadcast news reporters and anchors covering rock hits.[18]

In an interview published in Rolling Stone on June 26, 2009, Marx said he was "ashamed" of having been linked to a $1.92 million fine against single mother Jammie Thomas-Rasset by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Rasset had shared 24 songs on the file-sharing website Kazaa in 2005, and Marx's "Now and Forever" was one of them.[19]

Marx played piano on the song "Here" and produced Matt Scannell's vocals on two tracks for Vertical Horizon's 2009 album, entitled Burning the Days.[20]

In March 2010, Stories To Tell was released during Marx's solo acoustic concerts. It was the first fully acoustic album he ever recorded or released, and it featured several songs from several of his previous albums. In November 2010, Stories to Tell album was released in Europe in support of Marx's European tour. The European release featured all the songs from the March release and new studio recordings of songs that Marx had written and or composed with, or for Josh Groban and Keith Urban.

On May 3, 2011, Marx was invited onto stage at the Curran Theater, San Francisco, by Hugh Jackman. It was opening night of Hugh Jackman in Performance. When introducing the mystery guest, Jackman said that the person was instrumental in helping him put the show together and rehearse, and that he had been on at least 4 occasions in this person's living room practicing. The mystery guest was revealed to be Marx. They then sang "Right Here Waiting" together with Marx changing the lyrics on the last chorus to "Right here waiting for Hugh."

Also on May 3, 2011, the reissue of Stories to Tell was released in the United States as a three-disc set exclusively through Walmart. The set included a "best of" disc, an acoustic disc of tracks, and a DVD of a live concert performance at the Shepherd's Bush venue in England. The album was also made available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon, but without the bonus DVD and album booklet. "Everybody" was released as a single in Europe and "When You Loved Me" was released in the US, peaking in the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart.[21]

In the summer of 2011, Marx collaborated with the internet comedy duo Rhett and Link, producing a celebrity endorsement for a colon-cleansing spa in Sacramento, CA. The ad spot and its "making of" was featured on an episode of Rhett and Link's Commercial Kings television series on IFC.[22]

On November 1, 2011, Marx released The Christmas EP, a five-song collection of Christmas songs. "Christmas Spirit," written and composed jointly by Marx and Fee Waybill, was the first single released for radio airplay. In October 2012, Marx followed up The Christmas EP with a full album of holiday tracks that he called Christmas Spirit.

On July 8, 2014, Marx released his eleventh studio album, Beautiful Goodbye, through Kobalt Label Services. The album included three songs ("Suddenly," "Have A Little Faith," and "To My Senses") that had all previously appeared on Sundown in 2008.

"Whatever We Started" was released as a digital single in May 2014. It peaked at No. 29 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart.

Marx's next album, Limitless, was released on February 7, 2020.[23][24] Its lead-off single, "Another One Down", hit No. 14 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, giving Marx a span of 32 years at the format.

• Richard Marx (1987)
• Repeat Offender (1989)
• Rush Street (1991)
• Paid Vacation (1994)
• Flesh and Bone (1997)
• Days in Avalon (2000)
• My Own Best Enemy (2004)
• Emotional Remains (2008)
• Sundown (2008)
• Christmas Spirit (2012)
• Beautiful Goodbye (2014)
• Limitless (2020)