American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Michael Andrew Sembello was born 70 years ago in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Michael’s music career started during his teens as a session musician. By the time he was 17 years old, he worked professionally, playing the acoustic and electric guitars, with famous singer Stevie Wonder in a couple of his albums.
In 1981 and 1982, Sembello penned songs for Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, and the following year, his debut album ‘Bossa Nova Hotel’ was released. It included the number one US hit ‘Maniac’, which was co-written by himself and his keyboardist, and featured in the 1983 famous movie ‘Flashdance’ soundtrack. He also received a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for this song. Three years later, he released his second album.
During that same decade, Michael’s songs were used for films like ‘Cocoon’, ‘Gremlins’, ‘The Monster Squad’ and ‘Independence Day’ amongst others. In the 90s, Michael continued with his career, mainly as record producer and collaborated with other artists in the issuance of their albums, whilst personally releasing 2 more albums.
From the year 2000 to date, 2 albums came out, and in 2009, he created the trio ‘Bossa Nova Hotel’ plus recording another album together. As solo artist, Michael also had 10 singles.
*Image: no infringement intended. Source: Steve Scalise