Billy Squier

Rocker Billy Squier enjoyed a virtual lock on the rock and pop charts through the first half of the 1980s, releasing eight top-selling albums and landing twelve songs on the Hot 100. Looking to the bombastic rock of early Led Zeppelin for inspiration, Squier’s sophomore release ‘Don’t Say No’ became a monster hit on the strength of “The Stroke” as well as such other rock staples as “In The Dark,” “My Kinda Lover,” and “Lonely Is The Night,” all of which enjoyed heavy rotation on the newly-launched MTV, helping him expand his audience even further.

Squier’s hit parade continued with his next release, which propelled the title track “Emotions In Motion” as well as “Everybody Wants You” and “She’s A Runner,” to the higher reaches of the charts. The Jim Steinman-produced ‘Signs Of Life’ album featured Squier’s biggest hit yet, “Rock Me Tonite,” as well as other hits “All Night Long” and “Eye On You.” Around this time he also penned “Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You,” one of a very few original rock and roll holiday songs to chart (Top 10 in 1984) and become a perennial holiday favorite.

Spirit has fully revitalized Squier’s catalog in recent years, landing a sample of his “The Big Beat” in Jay Z’s “99 Problems”; another sample of “The Stroke” in “Fix Up, Look Sharp,” the globally-hailed debut single by UK rap sensation, Dizzee Rascal; and placing a version of “Everybody Wants You” (re-mixed with dance/electronica act Fisherspooner’s “Emerge”) on the soundtrack CD for popular Showtime series ‘Queer Eye For The Straight Guy.’ Most recently, a Spirit-produced cover of Billy’s “Everybody Wants You” by Boston band Damone was placed as the branding campaign song for the launch of the new CW Network.

Billy continues to write actively and has returned to the live stage, joining the last two Ringo Starr tours.