Biography
Huey Lewis & the News started out as a bar band that found mainstream success. Their unadorned, energetic rock & roll propelled the San Francisco outfit to the front ranks of American pop/rock acts during the middle of the 1980s. Drawing equally from British pub rock and the R&B and rock & roll sounds of the 1960s, the group projected a lively, celebratory energy that turned tracks such as “Workin’ for a Livin’,” “I Want a New Drug,” “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” “Hip to Be Square,” and “The Power of Love” into major hits. At heart a working ensemble, the musicians understood how to speak to their listeners through anthems celebrating everyday employment and athletics. As the decade advanced they refined their approach, and by the mid-1990s they stepped away from the studio for a while. Even so, they stayed a reliable live attraction, essentially preserving the bar-band tradition while surfacing occasionally with strong records such as the 2001 release Plan B and the 2010 Stax Records homage Soulsville. After a 2018 statement disclosed that Lewis was experiencing significant hearing impairment caused by Ménière’s disease, the group’s prospects appeared unclear, yet they returned in 2020 with their tenth album, Weather.
The origins of Huey Lewis & the News trace back to Clover, a country-rock outfit from San Francisco in the early 1970s that included Lewis on vocals and harmonica along with keyboardist Sean Hopper. In 1976, at the suggestion of Nick Lowe, Clover relocated to England hoping to join the U.K. pub-rock circuit. Within a brief period the band developed a modest local following. Lowe oversaw their initial single, “Chicken Funk,” which featured lead vocals by Lewis; the next year the group, without Lewis, backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim Is True. Polygram issued two Clover LPs that failed to reach listeners, and after leader John McFee departed to join the Doobie Brothers the remaining members disbanded and headed back to California. Before leaving Britain, Lewis contributed harmonica to Lowe’s Labour of Lust and Dave Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary, the latter also containing Lewis’s composition “Bad Is Bad.”
Once back in the United States, Lewis and Hopper began playing informal sessions at the Marin County venue Uncle Charlie’s, where they assembled American Express alongside bassist Mario Cipollina, saxophonist and guitarist Johnny Colla, and drummer Bill Gibson—all three formerly of Soundhole, a late-1970s backing unit for Van Morrison. The new group cut a disco rendition of “Theme from Exodus” titled “Exodisco.” Mercury put out the single, which attracted little notice. In 1980 the lineup added lead guitarist Chris Hayes and received an offer from Chrysalis, provided the band adopt a new name. They settled on Huey Lewis & the News, and their self-titled debut appeared later that year.
Picture This, the second album, arrived early in 1982 and succeeded thanks to the Top Ten single “Do You Believe in Love,” penned by former Clover producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange. Additional modest hits “Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do” and “Workin’ for a Livin’” followed, while constant touring helped the band cultivate a loyal audience. Their breakthrough third album, Sports, came out in the autumn of 1983 and over the ensuing months became a huge multi-platinum seller, aided by inventive and humorous videos that received extensive MTV rotation. Powered by Top Ten singles including “Heart and Soul,” “I Want a New Drug,” and “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” Sports reached number one in 1984 and ultimately sold more than seven million copies. Late in 1984 Lewis initiated legal action against Ray Parker, Jr., alleging that “Ghostbusters” copied “I Want a New Drug”; the matter was resolved privately. The following year the News scored their first unequivocal chart-topper with “The Power of Love,” featured in the blockbuster Michael J. Fox film Back to the Future.
Capitalizing on their momentum, the band delivered its fourth album, Fore!, in 1986. The record quickly hit number one, buoyed by five Top Ten singles: “Stuck with You,” “Hip to Be Square,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “I Know What I Like,” and “Doing It All for My Baby.” At the peak of their chart success the musicians broadened their palette on 1988’s Small World, lightly exploring assorted American roots styles. Although it yielded the Top Ten hit “Perfect World,” the album underperformed compared with its two predecessors, peaking at number 11 and achieving only platinum status.
Three years passed before Hard at Play appeared on the band’s new label, EMI. That album failed to reach the Top 20 and produced just one hit, “Couple Days Off.” Sensing that their commercial peak had largely passed, the group eased their schedule through the rest of the 1990s, playing occasional concerts and issuing the covers collection Four Chords & Several Years Ago in 1994. Their first Elektra release, the album generated one adult-contemporary radio success with “But It’s Alright.” A 1996 greatest-hits package titled Time Flies contained several new tracks, yet five more years elapsed before the next studio effort, 2001’s Plan B, surfaced on Silvertone Records.
The band continued as a steady touring presence throughout the 2000s and marked their 25th anniversary with the 2004 live album Live at 25. By then bassist Cipollina had already been absent nearly a decade, replaced by John Pierce; lead guitarist Chris Hayes had likewise moved on, while the central quartet of Lewis, Hopper, Colla, and Gibson stayed together. After contributing the theme to the 2008 Seth Rogen comedy Pineapple Express, the News issued the Stax Records/Memphis soul tribute Soulsville in 2010, which reached number 121 on the Billboard charts. While preparing new original material, they marked the 30th anniversary of Sports! in 2013 with a deluxe two-disc edition and supported the reissue through touring and extensive promotion. In 2018 the group canceled all forthcoming performances after it was announced that Lewis had sustained severe hearing loss from the inner-ear condition Ménière’s disease. Despite this development, the band signed with BMG Rights Management and released their tenth album, Weather, in early 2020, drawing on recordings completed before Lewis’s diagnosis.
The origins of Huey Lewis & the News trace back to Clover, a country-rock outfit from San Francisco in the early 1970s that included Lewis on vocals and harmonica along with keyboardist Sean Hopper. In 1976, at the suggestion of Nick Lowe, Clover relocated to England hoping to join the U.K. pub-rock circuit. Within a brief period the band developed a modest local following. Lowe oversaw their initial single, “Chicken Funk,” which featured lead vocals by Lewis; the next year the group, without Lewis, backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim Is True. Polygram issued two Clover LPs that failed to reach listeners, and after leader John McFee departed to join the Doobie Brothers the remaining members disbanded and headed back to California. Before leaving Britain, Lewis contributed harmonica to Lowe’s Labour of Lust and Dave Edmunds’ Repeat When Necessary, the latter also containing Lewis’s composition “Bad Is Bad.”
Once back in the United States, Lewis and Hopper began playing informal sessions at the Marin County venue Uncle Charlie’s, where they assembled American Express alongside bassist Mario Cipollina, saxophonist and guitarist Johnny Colla, and drummer Bill Gibson—all three formerly of Soundhole, a late-1970s backing unit for Van Morrison. The new group cut a disco rendition of “Theme from Exodus” titled “Exodisco.” Mercury put out the single, which attracted little notice. In 1980 the lineup added lead guitarist Chris Hayes and received an offer from Chrysalis, provided the band adopt a new name. They settled on Huey Lewis & the News, and their self-titled debut appeared later that year.
Picture This, the second album, arrived early in 1982 and succeeded thanks to the Top Ten single “Do You Believe in Love,” penned by former Clover producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange. Additional modest hits “Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do” and “Workin’ for a Livin’” followed, while constant touring helped the band cultivate a loyal audience. Their breakthrough third album, Sports, came out in the autumn of 1983 and over the ensuing months became a huge multi-platinum seller, aided by inventive and humorous videos that received extensive MTV rotation. Powered by Top Ten singles including “Heart and Soul,” “I Want a New Drug,” and “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” Sports reached number one in 1984 and ultimately sold more than seven million copies. Late in 1984 Lewis initiated legal action against Ray Parker, Jr., alleging that “Ghostbusters” copied “I Want a New Drug”; the matter was resolved privately. The following year the News scored their first unequivocal chart-topper with “The Power of Love,” featured in the blockbuster Michael J. Fox film Back to the Future.
Capitalizing on their momentum, the band delivered its fourth album, Fore!, in 1986. The record quickly hit number one, buoyed by five Top Ten singles: “Stuck with You,” “Hip to Be Square,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “I Know What I Like,” and “Doing It All for My Baby.” At the peak of their chart success the musicians broadened their palette on 1988’s Small World, lightly exploring assorted American roots styles. Although it yielded the Top Ten hit “Perfect World,” the album underperformed compared with its two predecessors, peaking at number 11 and achieving only platinum status.
Three years passed before Hard at Play appeared on the band’s new label, EMI. That album failed to reach the Top 20 and produced just one hit, “Couple Days Off.” Sensing that their commercial peak had largely passed, the group eased their schedule through the rest of the 1990s, playing occasional concerts and issuing the covers collection Four Chords & Several Years Ago in 1994. Their first Elektra release, the album generated one adult-contemporary radio success with “But It’s Alright.” A 1996 greatest-hits package titled Time Flies contained several new tracks, yet five more years elapsed before the next studio effort, 2001’s Plan B, surfaced on Silvertone Records.
The band continued as a steady touring presence throughout the 2000s and marked their 25th anniversary with the 2004 live album Live at 25. By then bassist Cipollina had already been absent nearly a decade, replaced by John Pierce; lead guitarist Chris Hayes had likewise moved on, while the central quartet of Lewis, Hopper, Colla, and Gibson stayed together. After contributing the theme to the 2008 Seth Rogen comedy Pineapple Express, the News issued the Stax Records/Memphis soul tribute Soulsville in 2010, which reached number 121 on the Billboard charts. While preparing new original material, they marked the 30th anniversary of Sports! in 2013 with a deluxe two-disc edition and supported the reissue through touring and extensive promotion. In 2018 the group canceled all forthcoming performances after it was announced that Lewis had sustained severe hearing loss from the inner-ear condition Ménière’s disease. Despite this development, the band signed with BMG Rights Management and released their tenth album, Weather, in early 2020, drawing on recordings completed before Lewis’s diagnosis.
Albums
The Power of Love - Best of Huey Lewis and the News
2023
Weather
2020
Soulsville
2010
Greatest Hits: Huey Lewis And The News
2006
Plan B
2001
The Only One
1998
Hard At Play
1991
Small World
1988
Fore!
1986
Sports (30th Anniversary Edition)
1983
Sports
1983
Picture This
1982
Huey Lewis & The News
1980
Singles
Live
