Richard Marx

Marx was born to musically inclined parents; his mother was a singer and his father a jazz musician who also founded a jingle company. When Marx was only 5 years old, he made his debut in music by singing jingles for his father's company. Some of the products Marx advertised were for Nestlé Crunch and Arm & Hammer.

Marx began writing songs as a teenager. At the age of 17, he was connected to Lionel Richie, to whom Marx gave a copy of recorded songs he had written. A year later Marx moved to Los Angeles and met with Richie. After a promising start by working with Richie singing background vocals on his albums, Richard continued to sing background vocals for a number of artists including Madonna, Julio Iglesias, and Luther Vandross.

After three years of singing as a background vocalist for well-known artists, Marx got his first big break in songwriting. In 1984 two songs Marx had written, "Crazy" and "What About Me?," were recorded by Kenny Rogers. "Crazy" hit #1 on the Country chart, while "What About Me?" reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Marx' career as a songwriter had taken off.