John Stephen Parr (born 18 November 1952) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, best known for his 1985 single "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)", charting at number one in the US and number six in the UK, and for his 1984 US number-six rock single "Naughty Naughty". He has written and performed ten major motion-picture theme songs, including Three Men and a Baby and The Running Man. Parr has sold over 10 million albums and was nominated for a Grammy award for "St. Elmo's Fire" in 1985.
Biography
Parr was born in Worksop, England, in 1952. He first entered the music scene when he was 12 years old and formed a band with two fellow schoolmates, which they named The Silence. The band had achieved some success. They eventually became professional and started to tour Europe. He then joined a band named Bitter Suite, who were a success in the working men's clubs in Yorkshire, he then formed a supergroup with musicians from other working men's club bands, and named the band Ponders End, a band that set a new precedent for the bands in the north.
Work with Meat Loaf
Parr secured a publishing deal with Carlin America in 1983 and in the same year Meat Loaf asked him to write some songs for his new album. It led to a fateful meeting with John Wolff, who was tour manager for the Who. Foreseeing the initial demise of the Who, Wolff was looking for a new venture and considered Parr to be a suitable partner. Parr first visited America in 1984 and worked with Meat Loaf on Bad Attitude. Meanwhile, Wolff secured Parr's solo Atlantic recording deal with Ahmet Ertegun in New York.
Solo and 'The Business'
"Naughty Naughty" was Parr's first U.S. top-40 hit record, reaching No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985. In 1985, Parr toured with his band "The Business" supporting Toto, his first show with Toto at Carowinds Paladium (Charlotte, North Carolina), and playing 10,000-seat venues across America. By the end of the tour, David Foster asked Parr to record a song for the film St. Elmo's Fire. Parr and Foster wrote "St. Elmo's Fire" in honour of wheelchair athlete and activist Rick Hansen; it became the theme to St. Elmo's Fire (a "Brat Pack" film unrelated to Hansen's life or achievements). The song became a No. 1 hit for Parr around the world and garnered many awards, including a Grammy Award nomination. The song was tipped to take the Academy Award for best original song, but was not allowed onto the short list as, with Parr saying the song was written about Hansen and not the movie, it did not meet the Academy's criteria. Parr went on to tour with Tina Turner on the Private Dancer Tour and also with Heart and the Beach Boys. In his charity work with the David Foster foundation, Parr has shared the stage and the sports field with stars including John Travolta, Michael J. Fox, Celine Dion, Paul Anka, and Rob Lowe.
Parr later wrote "Under a Raging Moon" with Julia Downes for Roger Daltrey, a song that paid tribute to Keith Moon and told the story of the Who. The album became Daltrey's biggest solo success in America. Parr's last concert in the U.S. was a duet of the song with Daltrey at Madison Square Garden: joining them on stage were Yoko Ono, Julian Lennon, John Entwistle and Zak Starkey. John Entwistle had wanted to include the song in the set at Live Aid but was outvoted by the band. He went on to record the song himself.
Parr was soon singing with Marilyn Martin on the song "Through the Night", from the Quicksilver soundtrack (1986). Parr wrote and produced further tracks for Martin's debut album, including the hit "Night Moves". A year after, he wrote and sang the title songs "The Minute I Saw You", from Three Men and a Baby soundtrack, and the power ballad "Restless Heart" (a.k.a. "Running Away With You (Restless Heart)"), from The Running Man soundtrack (this song was re-released on the Man with a Vision album). After the success of Meat Loaf's album, Parr contributed to the next album with the hit duet "Rock 'n' Roll Mercenaries". From there, he began work with Albert Magnoli (director of Purple Rain) on the film American Anthem, for which he wrote and performed the main theme "Two Hearts". Parr's other film credits include "Naughty Naughty" from the cult horror film Near Dark and "Love Grammar" from the Karen Black movie Flight of the Spruce Goose. He has also written songs for Tom Jones, the Monkees, Tygers of Pan Tang, Romeo's Daughter, David Essex and Bucks Fizz.