Kim Carnes

Singer/songwriter Kim Carnes recorded the top-selling single of 1981, "Bette Davis Eyes." Carnes grew up in suburban L.A. By her early 20s, she was working the city's nightclubs, singing mainly ballads; she was also a member of the New Christy Minstrels. Ballads composed the bulk of several of her albums (including Sailin', produced by Jerry Wexler) from the '70s. Her songs, some of which were cowritten with her husband, Dave Ellingson (who is also a member of her backup band), have been covered by Frank Sinatra, Rita Coolidge, Anne Murray, and Barbra Streisand. The couple's biggest break came when Kenny Rogers recorded their songs on 1980's Gideon. That same year Carnes duetted with Rogers on his hit “Don’t Fall in Love With a Dreamer.”

In 1978 she signed with Rogers’ label, EMI, and gradually began recording rock-oriented material. She had a #10 hit in 1980 with a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “More Love.” But album sales remained sluggish until 1981’s Mistaken Identity and its single, a Donna Weiss/Jackie DeShannon composition, “Bette Davis Eyes” (#1, 1981), which won a Grammy for Record of the Year. Later hits include “Draw of the Cards” (#28, 1981), “Voyeur” (#29, 1982), “What About Me?” (#15, 1984) with Kenny Rogers and James Ingram, and “Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)” (#15, 1985). Carnes has since become a Nashville-based songwriter, whose work has been covered by various country artists.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)