Kim Carnes - Later Career

Later Career

Carnes' later Hot 100 hits included the top 15 charter "Crazy in the Night" (from Barking at Airplanes) and "What About Me?" with Kenny Rogers and James Ingram. Carnes reached the AC Top 10 four times after "Bette Davis Eyes" with "I Pretend" (No. 9), "What About Me?" (No. 1), "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" with Barbra Streisand (No. 8) (co-produced by Carnes with Bill Cuomo) and "Crazy in Love" (No. 10). On January 19, 1985, Carnes had the distinction of being on the Billboard Hot 100 with three singles simultaneously, "What About Me", "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" and "Invitation to Dance", from the soundtrack to the film, That's Dancing! This meant she was on the chart as a solo artist in addition to being part of a duo and a trio.

Carnes was nominated for two more Grammys – Best Pop Female for Voyeur, and Best Rock Female for "Invisible Hands". In 1983, Kim's song, "I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is", was included on the Flashdance soundtrack which received a Grammy for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture. Carnes was one of the singers invited to perform on USA for Africa's 1985 famine relief fundraising single "We Are the World" and can be seen in the music video and heard singing the last line of the song's bridge with Huey Lewis and Cyndi Lauper. In 1987 she sang the song "My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own" in a duet with Jeffrey Osborne for the soundtrack to the movie Spaceballs. She also sang a duet of the Johnny Cash classic, "Ring of Fire", with Jeff Bridges, for the film The Contender.

Several of Carnes songs, including "Voyeur", "I'll Be Here Where the Heart Is" and "Gypsy Honeymoon" were hits for her in countries throughout Europe and South America. As a songwriter, she has had two No. 1 country singles. Her duet with Barbra Streisand was re-recorded as "Make No Mistake, She's Mine" by Ronnie Milsap and Kenny Rogers which was a No. 1 Country and No. 42 AC hit in 1987. She also wrote "The Heart Won't Lie", a No. 1 duet for Reba McEntire and Vince Gill in 1993. Co-writing with others, Carnes has had songs covered by such country stars as Deana Carter, Kevin Sharp, Matraca Berg, Carolyn Dawn Johnson. Sawyer Brown, Suzy Bogguss, Collin Raye, Pam Tillis, Tim McGraw, Conway Twitty and Tanya Tucker.

In 2004, Carnes released the album Chasin' Wild Trains. An extensive European tour followed with the album achieving success in the Americana format. She continues to tour throughout the U.S., Europe and South America, and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee with husband Dave Ellingson. She has two sons, Collin and Ry. Her son Ry is named after musician Ry Cooder, who guests on the song "Rough Edges" from her Barking at Airplanes album. Son Collin is also featured on that album at the beginning of the song "Crazy in the Night".