American singer-songwriter Ray Erskine Parker Jr was born 70 years ago in Detroit, Michigan, is married and has 4 sons. Ray is also a musician, record producer an actor.
When he was in elementary school, his music teacher encouraged him to learn the clarinet and become a musician. He also learnt the guitar and in the late 60s, he joined a nightclub’s house band. He made a very good impression with his music skills, so much so that he toured with the band. Then, at age 16, he wrote and recorded his very first songs with singer Marvin Gaye. Two years later, he wrote more songs for famous groups and singers like Tina Turner, Diana Ross, The Carpenters, The Supremes and Chaka Khan, amongst others.
In 1972 and 1973, he performed as a guitarist for Stevie Wonder and Barry White and 4 years later, he formed the band Raydio. They had two consecutive top ten hits named ‘Jack and Jill’ and ‘You Can’t change That’, which positioned in no 8 and no 9 respectively in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1980, the band’s name changed to Ray Parker Jr and Raydio and released 2 more albums. They had a number one hit on the R&B chart called ‘A Woman needs love (just like you do)’.
Ray became a solo artist in 1981, after his group split. Since then, he had 6 solo albums, 8 compilation and numerous singles. His most famous song is undoubtedly ‘Ghostbusters’, released in 1984 as the soundtrack for the movie bearing the same name, and was a number one hit worldwide and even won him a Grammy Award. In 2014, Parker also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Ray also performed in music videos, starred in several TV series, appeared in TV shows and even acted in some movies. His latest TV appearance was when he competed in the talent show ‘The Masked Singer’ in 2022.
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