Huey Lewis and the News is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980’s and early 1990’s….and eventually achieving 19 top ten singles across the Billboard Hot 100….Adult Contemporary….and Mainstream Rock charts.
Their most successful album, Sports, was released in 1983. The album, along with its videos being featured on MTV….which catapulted the group to worldwide fame. That expanded when the song “The Power of Love” was featured in the hit film Back to the Future. “The Power of Love” was nominated for an Academy Award and reached # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
The News combined a rock backing with soul and doo-wop harmony vocals and Lewis’ distinctive voice.
In 1980, the band released their first studio album, a self-titled LP, Huey Lewis and the News….which went largely unnoticed…..but in 1982, the band released their 2nd studio album….the self-produced Picture This…..which turned gold….as it was fueled by the breakout success of the hit single “Do You Believe in Love”. Largely because of the single, the album remained on the Billboard 200 album chart for 35 weeks and peaked at # 13. The follow-up singles from Picture This….including “Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do” and “Workin’ for a Livin'” followed, with limited success.
Due to record label delays on the release of their 3rd studio album, Sports, Huey Lewis and the News was back to square one in late 1983….while touring small clubs in a bus to promote the record. The new album initially hit # 6 in the U.S….when first released….however, Sports slowly became a # 1 hit in 1984….and went multi-platinum in 1985….mainly thanks to the band’s frequent touring and a series of videos that received heavy MTV airplay…..as four singles from the album reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100….with “Heart and Soul” reaching # 8….while “I Want a New Drug,” “The Heart of Rock & Roll“ and “If This Is It“ all reached # 6….as the album has sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.
At the beginning of 1985, the band participated in the all-star charity single “We Are the World” with Lewis taking a solo vocal. The song topped music charts throughout the world and became the fastest-selling American pop single in history.
Their song, “The Power of Love” was a # 1 U.S. hit and featured in the 1985 film Back to the Future, for which they also recorded the song, “Back in Time.” Lewis has a cameo appearance in the film as a faculty member who rejects Marty McFly’s band’s audition for the school’s “Battle of the Bands” contest. As an inside joke, the piece the band plays is an instrumental heavy metal version of “The Power of Love”….with Lewis’s response being….“Hold it, fellas … I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud”.
“The Power of Love” was nominated for an Academy Award.
Following the success of “The Power of Love” and Back to the Future, Huey Lewis and the News released their 4th studio album, Fore!, in 1986….which followed the success of Sports and reached # 1 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned the # 1 singles, “Stuck with You” and “Jacob’s Ladder”…. as well as the mainstream rock hit “Hip to Be Square”….for in all, the album had five top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified triple platinum.
In this video herewith, Huey Lewis and The News perform the Star Spangled Banner at Game 3 of the 1987 World Series featuring the Twins verses the Cardinals.
