John Charles Waite is an English musician. As a solo artist, he has released ten studio albums and is best known for the 1984 hit single "Missing You", which reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the top ten on the UK Singles Chart. He was also the lead vocalist for the successful rock bands The Babys and Bad English.
Career
Waite was born in Lancaster, Lancashire, and was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Lancaster Art College. As a performer, Waite first came to attention as the lead singer and bassist of The Babys, a British rock band that had moderate chart success. The band achieved two pop hits that both coincidentally peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Isn't It Time" and "Everytime I Think of You", and a solid following of their concert tours. Over the course of five years, the band produced five albums ending with the final album On the Edge in October 1980, after which the group disbanded. Waite subsequently launched his solo career with his 1982 debut album Ignition, which produced the hit single "Change". The Chrysalis 45 failed to chart on Billboard's Hot 100 during its initial release but was a top track on AOR radio stations, as well as a very popular music video on MTV as the 'new' cable channel celebrated its first full year of operation. The song was originally recorded in 1981 by the American rock band Spider and in 1985 was included on the platinum-selling Vision Quest soundtrack. When the single was reissued, it reached the Top 50 on the Hot 100. "Going to the Top" was released as the original follow-up single to "Change". His next album, No Brakes, resulted in international success. It was a Top 10 Billboard album in the US due to the smash hit "Missing You" which went to No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It knocked Tina Turner's "What's Love Got To Do With It?" out of No. 1. For that very reason, Turner later recorded and released Waite's smash song herself. "Missing You" also hit No. 1 on Billboards Album Rock Tracks as well as the Top 10 of Billboards Adult Contemporary chart. No Brakes sold over a million and a half US copies yet has never been certified above the RIAA Gold standard. Two more singles from No Brakes followed, including "Tears" which was a Top 10 hit on the BillboardMainstream Rock charts. The next album Mask of Smiles followed in 1985 featuring the hit single "Every Step of the Way". Another single, "If Anybody Had a Heart", was released from the soundtrack of the 1986 film About Last Night.... In 1987, Rover's Return was released with the single "These Times Are Hard For Lovers". Waite would have another soundtrack appearance in 1990 from Days of Thunder with "Deal for Life". In 1988, Waite joined former Babys bandmates Jonathan Cain and Ricky Phillips, along with Neal Schon from Journey and drummer Deen Castronovo, to form the supergroup Bad English. In 1989, the Bad English ballad "When I See You Smile" went to No. 1 on Billboards Hot 100 and earned a Gold-certified single. Its parent album reached Billboards Top Five and sold nearly two million copies in the United States alone. Bad English released two albums before tensions amongst the members led to the band's dissolution by 1992. Waite then returned to solo work. He released the albumRough And Tumble. He has continued to tour, such as in 2003 with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. In 2006, "Missing You" was released as a duet with Alison Krauss and reached the Top 40 on the Country Charts in the United States. Waite appeared with Krauss on The Tonight Show on 5 February 2007 to perform the song. Waite's songs have reappeared in other media as well: 2013 saw "Missing You" featured heavily in the movie Warm Bodies, and "Change" is on the soundtrack of the US movie . In 2008, he recorded a guest vocal on the track "In God's Shadow" from the Keith Reid Project's The Common Thread. Waite appears as himself and performs two songs in the 2010 feature film New Day, from L'Oiseau Blanc Films. In 2011 the title track from his tenth solo album Rough and Tumble went number one on Classic Rock radio.
On 5 February 2019, Waite and Joe Ely filed a class-action lawsuit against Universal Music Group claiming the company is violating their right to terminate grants of copyright after 35 years in accordance with copyright law of the United States by ignoring Notices of Termination. On 3 May 2019, UMG filed a motion to dismiss the case, stating the Notices of Termination were not valid because the songs were not grants of copyright but works for hire.
