Richard Marx

As the first solo artist to send his first seven singles into the U.S. Top 5, Richard Marx was one of the most successful pop stars of the late ’80s, a fact mostly overshadowed these days by his unfortunate name (Dick Marks?) and even more unfortunate mega-mullet (which he shed years ago). When Marx’s star began to fade in the early ’90s, his inherently cheesy image was already set in stone, making a return to the charts unlikely. But you can’t keep a strong Dick down, and Marx soon re-emerged as a sought-after writer and producer for boy bands like ’N Sync and 98 Degrees and pop-country artists like Keith Urban, SheDaisy, and Vince Gill.

Updated 12/08/2010