Quick Facts
| Net Worth | Not Known |
| Salary | Not Known |
| Height | Not Known |
| Date of Birth | Not Known |
| Profession | Musicians |
In a land of music, art and culture like America, men like Huey Lewis get a chance to make something of themselves without participating in the drone-like culture of corporate America. Embracing the expression of creativity and its material compensations encourage the growth of creativity amongst men and women. This philosophy is what has made America a leading country in film, technology, music, and art. Born in one of America’s art cities, Huey Lewis and carved a part of the American Dream for himself. Read below to learn more.
Huey Lewis’ Biography
Harmonica playing singer and songwriter, Huey Lewis was born in New York City on the 5th of July 1950. The American is the son of an Irish-American and a Polish woman. Although he was born in New York City, Huey was raised in a small town in California, Marin County. He began his formal education at Strawberry Point Elementary school, before moving to Edna Maguire Junior High School. He finished his high school education at Lawrenceville School.
When Huey Lewis was 13 years old, he suffered the disappointment of his parents’ divorce. Nevertheless, he did not let the emotional toll derail his life, he achieved perfect grades in his high school and ended up going to Cornell University in New York.
Before he ended up at Cornell however, Lewis had fallen in love with the harmonica. After high school, he learned the harmonica and went on an adventure-filled backpack trip across Europe. As he got better at the harmonica, he ended up playing his first concert in Madrid and used the proceeds to get a plane ticket back to America after an adventurous trip. He immediately resumed at Cornell after and met Lance and Larry Hoppen in the engineering program. Lewis’ interest in college waned as time went by and he eventually dropped out in his junior year to focus on music.
His fairytale return to music and concert gigs did not happen after college, having relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. To support himself, he took on jobs in landscaping, carpentry, wedding, and event planning. Lewis moved to San Francisco in 1969 and in 1971, he joined a band, Clover. He played with the band for 5 years, using the stage name, Hughie Louis. He didn’t find much success during his first five years with Clover.
The band, who played in the Bay Area during its first five years with Lewis moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and found their big break while they played at a club. Watched and impressed, Nick Lowe, a music producer convinced the band to move to Great Britain. While the move helped Clover produce two albums, they were unsuccessful as the music scene in Britain had moved towards punk rock, away from the pub rock Clover was known for. The band soon disbanded and Lewis, this time playing under the stage name, Bluesy Huey Lewis played harmonica on Live and Dangerous, Thin Lizzy’s 1978 album.
The remaining members of Clover started a band called Huey Lewis and the American Express. The band got a few gigs and released its first album, Picture This, which was successful. The band’s third album, Sports which it is iconic for, was released in 1983. It is regarded as one of the best selling pop albums of all time. The band released the album under the name Huey Lewis and The News.
Huey is the lead writer of most of the band’s songs and the band has released nine albums since its debut. The band is also known for its contribution to the soundtrack of the classic film, Back to the Future.
Interesting Things You Must Know About Huey
1. He was inspired by his mother’s lover to take up songwriting
His mother’s extramarital affair may have broken his parents’ marriage but it wasn’t all bad news for the harmonica player. The affair, which was with Lew Welch of the Beat Generation-inspired him as a teenager to pick up music.
2. Huey Lewis was initially going to be an engineer
Surely, engineering has its own creative outlet and we can thank the professionals for the invention of a series of machines that make our lives easier, but nothing beats the soothing sound of Huey Lewis harmonica and we wouldn’t have had that had Lewis chosen not to drop out of the Cornell University engineering program.
3. He is a divorcee
Huey Lewis found love in his manager’s secretary, Sidney Conroy and married her. The love, however, lasted for six years before it went out the door. The short-lived fairytale produced two beautiful children, Kelly and Austin.
4. He is also an actor
Sure, it is not his primary profession, but having appeared in Back to the Future, Short Cuts and Duets, with television appearances in shows like The King of Queens, One Tree Hill, Huey Lewis can confidently be said to be an actor with a substantial filmography.
5. Lewis has Meniere’s Disease
Huey Lewis suffers from Meniere’s Disease – a disorder of the inner ear characterized by tinnitus. The disease is also capable of causing hearing loss which has happened in the case of Huey Lewis.
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