2009 Kenny Loggins

If you visit Pooh Corner, you might see Kenny Loggins sitting on the forest floor, singing and strumming his guitar. He's permanently welcome there by all who love the light and airy sounds of his voice and melodies. Judging by CD and concert ticket sales, that amounts to millions of fans.

Born in 1948 in Everett, Washington, Kenny Loggins moved with his family to L.A. as a teenager. He began writing for a music publisher, but soon formed the partnership that was to bring him fame as half a duo. The other half was Jim Messina, member of the still-active country-rock group Poco and former member of Buffalo Springfield. As a duo, Loggins and Messina were enormously successful from the start. Their first album in 1972, Sittin’ In, yielded two #1 hits: “Danny's Song” and “House at Pooh Corner.” This was followed the same year by Loggins and Messina, with the mega-single “Your Mama Don't Dance.” In the years that followed, seven more successful albums were co-created until the duo split around 1977, after a meteoric blaze across the sky. Kenny Loggins embarked on a solo career, a huge risk for any singer-songwriter identified with a superstar group.

In this case, it paid off: Kenny Loggins became an even bigger star on his own. His first two albums went platinum quickly, 1977's Celebrate Me Home with its #1 single by the same name, and 1978's Nightwater, known for the beautiful ballad “Whenever I Call You Friend” with Stevie Nicks. In 1979, Keep the Fire duplicated the success of its predecessors, and this time, a selection called “This Is It” won a Grammy.

During the next decade Kenny Loggins was dubbed 'King of the '80s Soundtracks' by Rolling Stone. He became a phenomenon with Footloose and its signature title track; Caddy Shack (1 and 2) with the theme “Nobody's Fool”; Top Gun with its hit “Danger Zone”; all leading up to an Oscar nomination for “For the First Time” from One Fine Day. But while all this was happening, Kenny's personal life was crumbling. He took time off to attend to his family, and eventually remarried. An album (and book by the same name), The Unimaginable Life: Lessons Learned on the Path of Love, was inspired by his new wife and by the couple's unconventional commitment to hide nothing from each other or the public. Symbolically, their wedding party was entirely nude.

Kenny recorded five albums in the nineties, and tickets to his concerts always sold out in record time. His music continually evolves, and has included children’s music and even a reunion with old friend Messina. Thanks to long-term activism in wildlife conservation, he played live music for dolphins - part of a first-ever research study - to gauge their interest in human sound. When Kenny 'locked eyes' with the dolphins swimming close, he had no doubt that they were listening intently and responding. Though they could not understand the trademark poetry and positive message of the lyrics, it was clear that they found Kenny Loggins' music lovely and inspiring to listen to. So do his fans around the world.