Person

Carmen, Eric

1949-

The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, singer/songwriter Eric Carmen was born in Cleveland; he had a musical upbringing in Ohio with piano lessons and classical training in violin from his aunt who played in the Cleveland Orchestra. He started guitar lessons at 15 but soon quit and proceeded to teach himself. He attended John Carroll University and started a band, Cyrus Erie, with some friends. When it broke up at the end of the 1960s, he and some others started the rock ‘n roll group “Raspberries” with Carmen as lead singer and co-writer of many of their songs. After the Raspberries dispersed in 1975, Carmen began a solo career. In 1976, he scored a couple of hits based on Rachmaninoff works. He had several minor successes over the next decade and in 1987-1988 had a few top ten hits, including “Hungry Eyes,” composed for the film “Dirty Dancing,” and “Make me Lose Control.” In 2000, he toured with Ringo Starr and his band. The Raspberries reunited in 2005 for a show a the House of Blues in Los Angeles