Kim Carnes

United States • b. 1945-07-20

Biography

Kimberly Carnes Ellingson (; born July 20, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter best known for her 1981 hit single, "Bette Davis Eyes". She embarked on a solo career as a songwriter and performer in the early 1970s and also worked for several years as a session background singer with the Waters Sisters, Maxine Waters Willard and Julia Waters Tillman, who were later featured in the 2013 documentary 20 Feet from Stardom. In 1971, Carnes released her debut album, Rest on Me. Released in 1975, Carnes's self-titled second album included her first charting single, "You're a Part of Me", which reached No. 32 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. The following year, Carnes released Sailin', which featured "Love Comes from Unexpected Places". The song won the American Song Festival and the award for Best Composition at the Tokyo Song Festival in 1976. In her breakthrough year, 1980, Carnes and her husband, David Ellingson, were commissioned by Kenny Rogers to co-write the songs for his concept album Gideon. Her duet with Rogers, "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer", hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned the duo a Grammy Award nomination. Later that year, Carnes's cover of Smokey Robinson's "More Love", from her fifth album, Romance Dance, hit No. 10. In 1981, Carnes released Mistaken Identity, which featured the chart-topping "Bette Davis Eyes". A worldwide hit, it became the best-selling single of the year in the United States. "Bette Davis Eyes" spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, went Gold, and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the Song of the Year. Mistaken Identity reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, was certified Platinum, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Carnes also had success with the singles "Draw of the Cards", "Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)", "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" with Barbra Streisand, "What About Me?" featuring Kenny Rogers and James Ingram, and the Grammy Award-nomi

Bio from Wikipedia