American rock musician born May 12, 1950, in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. First gained attention with bands Piper and the Sidewinders before launching a solo career. Distinguished by guitar-driven hard-rock production that bridged late-1970s arena rock with early-1980s MTV aesthetics.
Nine solo studio albums between The Tale of the Tape (1980) and Happy Blue (1998). Commercial peak: Don't Say No (1981, featuring "The Stroke" and "Lonely Is the Night") and Emotions in Motion (1982). The 1984 "Rock Me Tonite" music video — widely mocked at the time — is sometimes credited as derailing his commercial momentum.
