Bobby Caldwell

Singer-songwriter Bobby Caldwell – born in New York City, New York on August 15, 1951 - had a successful career in the music business spanning more than five decades. He toured internationally for many years and had a devoted fan base worldwide, being particularly popular in Japan and throughout Asia. Coming from a musical family background, his parents were presenters of one of the first TV variety shows Suppertime. The family moved from New York to Miami, Florida when Bobby Caldwell was young. He was exposed to a wide variety of music while living in Miami, which influenced his output as a songwriter and his versatile style as a singer. He began his professional music career in 1968 but didn’t get a break until he was hired as a guitarist for Little Richard in the early 1970s. After leaving that band, he eventually signed a recording contract with TK Records and released his self-titled solo album in 1978. The album featured his breakthrough hit “What You Won't Do for Love,” which became an R&B classic and has been sampled and recorded by many other artists. His second album, Cat in the Hat, was released in 1980, and was followed by Carry On in 1982. 1983, Bobby Caldwell released the album August Moon, which was first only issued in Japan but would be released in the US a decade later. That album was followed by Heart of Mine (1989), Stuck On You (1992), and Where Is Love (1993). In addition to his own studio albums, Bobby Caldwell wrote songs for many other artists including Chicago, Boz Scaggs, Peter Cetera and Amy Grant, Neil Diamond, and Al Jarreau. He also composed for TV and film, including “The Girl I Dream About” for Hillary Duff's film The Perfect Man. His performance of “Beyond the Sea” was included as the opening theme in the film Lakeboat in 2002 and worked so well that director Joe Mantegna asked Cal to write the original song “(Oh Boy!) You've Got It Made” for the closing theme. Bobby Caldwell released five studio albums between 1995 and 2005, all of which were popular in the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Between 1999 and 2001, he performed the part of Frank Sinatra in the stage musical The Rat Pack Is Back in Las Vegas, Nevada. He continued to release albums including House of Cards (2012) and Cool Uncle (2015). Bobby Caldwell died on March 14, 2023, at the age of 71.