Taylor Dayne (born Leslie Wunderman; March 7, 1962) is an American pop vocalist, song-writer, dance artist, and actress. Dayne's first seven singles hit the U.S. top ten and she has topped the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart three times. Overall, she has 17 individual Top Ten's on Billboard Charts, including the recent Billboard Dance #1 "Beautiful" in May 2008. She remains a pop favorite in the U.S. and abroad.
Career
Taylor Dayne began singing professionally after graduating from high school in Baldwin, Nassau County, New York, singing in little-known rock bands such as Felony and Next. She began singing solo after finishing college, and released the dance single "I'm The One You Want" under the name Les Lee in 1985.
Signed to Arista Records, her first song to crack the top ten was the dance-pop hit "Tell It to My Heart" in 1987. The song was an instant smash worldwide, peaking in the top five of most major markets worldwide, and achieving a peak of number one in many countries, including Germany. The song has many freestyle music influences, and it was marketed as "Hi-NRG" in Europe. Hits that followed included "Prove Your Love", "I'll Always Love You", "Don't Rush Me", "With Every Beat of My Heart", "Love Will Lead You Back", "I'll Be Your Shelter", "Heart of Stone", "Send Me a Lover", "Naked Without You", and "Whatever You Want".
In the United States, she achieved three gold singles, with "Tell It to My Heart", "I'll Always Love You", and "Love Will Lead You Back". "I'll Always Love You", a change-of-pace ballad compared to Dayne's earlier releases, was her breakout hit on the Adult Contemporary charts in 1988 and paved the way for future uptempo dance tracks such as "Don't Rush Me" and "With Every Beat Of My Heart" to gain acceptance at AC radio (whereas Dayne's first two hits had not) until about a decade later.
In 1990, "Love Will Lead You Back", a Diane Warren composition, peaked at #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.
As an actress, Dayne performed on Broadway in Elton John's Aida in 2001. She has had roles in independent films such as Fool's Paradise (1997), Stag (also in 1997) and Jesus the Driver (2004), as well as the Warren Beatty-produced 1994 remake of Love Affair. Dayne also had a recurring role on the Showtime series Rude Awakening.
Taylor Dayne was featured in the VH1 series Remaking, which featured her close friend, Leah Remini. The series documents Dayne's return to music after taking time off to have a family, (she has twins, Levi and Astaria via a surrogate mother[1]), and premiered her newest song, "Right Now", a result of her collaboration with Rodney Jerkins.
In April 2006, she was Elton John's choice to perform at the Nile Rodgers We Are Family Foundation tribute to Elton John.
Dayne was a contestant on the third season of the reality television series Gone Country, which premiered January 2009.
On December 11, 2007, Dayne released the first single, "Beautiful", from her studio album Satisfied. The song is written by Taylor Dayne and Hitesh Ceon of production-team 3Elementz. Dayne has been promoting the single on many radio stations, including top markets including New York's WKTU. "Beautiful" went to #1 on the Billboard Dance Charts. She also appeared on The Today Show, Chelsea Lately, Wake Up With Whoopi and VH1. The music video for the single and Satisfied album cover were shot by Tony Duran, who has also shot album covers for Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lopez.
She released her fifth album in February 2008 to positive reviews - her first recording studio album for over eight years. Producers on this record include Rick Nowels and Greg Alexander. The album includes both new material and recreations of some of her favorite contemporary songs.
Dayne appeared in the CMT series Gone Country during its 3rd season. Gone Country season 3, aired on the CMT network January 24, 2009 and is finale aired on March 7, 2009. The chosen winner was Sheila E. [2]
Dayne is currently working on remastering her Greatest Hits album.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year |
Album |
Peak chart positions |
Certifications
(sales threshold) |
| US |
US
R&B |
UK |
NOR |
AUT |
SWE |
| 1988 |
Tell It to My Heart
|
21 |
27 |
24 |
17 |
19 |
4 |
Worldwide sales: n/a
RIAA certification: 2× Multi-Platinum
IFPI certification: n/a |
| 1989 |
Can't Fight Fate
|
25 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
24 |
Worldwide sales: n/a
RIAA certification: 3× Multi-Platinum
IFPI certification: n/a |
| 1993 |
Soul Dancing
|
51 |
— |
— |
— |
39 |
31 |
Worldwide sales: n/a
RIAA certification: Gold
IFPI certification: n/a |
| 1998 |
Naked Without You
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Worldwide sales: n/a
RIAA certification: n/a
IFPI certification: n/a |
| 2008 |
Satisfied
|
179 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Worldwide sales: n/a
RIAA certification: n/a
IFPI certification: n/a |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart or not released |
Compilations
| Year |
Album |
| 1995 |
Greatest Hits |
| 1999 |
Performance |
| Master Hits: Taylor Dayne |
| 2002 |
The Best of Taylor Dayne |
| 2003 |
Platinum & Gold Collection: Taylor Dayne |
| 2005 |
Whatever You Want/Naked Without You |
| Dance Diva: Remixes & Rarities |
| 2006 |
Can't Get Enough of Your Love |
Soundtrack & compilation appearances
Singles
Music videos
| Year |
Video |
Director |
| 1987 |
"Tell It to My Heart" |
Scott Kalvert & S.A. Baron |
| 1988 |
"Prove Your Love" |
Peter Lippman |
| "I'll Always Love You" |
Peter Israelson |
| 1989 |
"Don't Rush Me" |
David Hogan |
| "With Every Beat of My Heart" |
David Kellogg |
| 1990 |
"Love Will Lead You Back" |
Nigel Dick |
| "I'll Be Your Shelter" |
Dominic Sena |
| "Heart of Stone" |
Scott Kalvert |
| 1993 |
"Can't Get Enough of Your Love" |
Randee St. Nicholas |
| "Send Me A Lover" |
|
| 1994 |
"I'll Wait" |
| "Original Sin" |
Russell Mulchany |
| 2007 |
"Beautiful" |
|
See also
References
External links
Audio sample