马克·科恩

Marc Craig Cohn (; born July 5, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known for the song "Walking in Memphis", which was a top 40 hit from his 1991 album Marc Cohn and was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards. His other charting singles include "Silver Thunderbird" (1991), "True Companion" (1991), and "Walk Through the World" (1993). Cohn won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1992.

In 2019, the Observer-Dispatch wrote the following about Cohn: "Deeply rooted in American rhythm and blues, soul and gospel, gifted with a storyteller's eye and ear, and possessing one of the most expressive and soulful voices in modern music, Cohn draws from real-life to evoke common human feelings of love, hope, faith, joy and heartbreak".

Early life

Cohn was born on July 5, 1959, in Cleveland, Ohio. He is Jewish. Cohn's mother, Sarane Cohn (née Meisel), died when he was two years old at the age of 44. His father, Harry A. Cohn, died when he was 13 at the age of 72. Following the deaths of his parents, Cohn was raised by his stepmother, Ruth H. Cohn (1914–2009). Cohn's older brothers are Alan, Warren, and Steven Samuel Cohn; Steven Samuel Cohn died in 2014 at the age of 66.

As a child, Cohn became "obsessed" with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and the Band. He learned to play guitar and started writing songs when he was in junior high school, playing and singing with a local band called Doanbrook Hotel. In 1977, Cohn graduated from Beachwood High School in Beachwood, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. While attending Oberlin College, he taught himself to play the piano.

Career

Cohn transferred to UCLA and began to perform in Los Angeles-area coffeehouses. His early career featured work as a songwriter, as a session musician, and in a cover band called the Supreme Court. He played at Caroline Kennedy's wedding in 1986. Cohn played piano on Tracy Chapman's second album, Crossroads, and this experience led to him signing a contract with Atlantic Records.

Cohn released his debut solo album, Marc Cohn, in February 1991. The album was successful due to the hit single "Walking in Memphis". Cohn has said that "Walking in Memphis" is "100 percent autobiographical" and based on actual events that happened during his vacation to Memphis, Tennessee, which he hoped would help overcome a bout of writer's block. He has described it as a song about "a Jewish gospel-music-lover", and added that "the song is about more than just a place; it's about a kind of spiritual awakening, one of those trips where you're different when you leave." He was inspired to write "Walking in Memphis" by a 1985 visit to the Memphis, Tennessee, area. At the time, he was working as a session singer in New York City while pursuing a recording contract. "Walking in Memphis" was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards and reached number 13 in 1991 on the Billboard Hot 100. As of 2016, it remains Cohn's only Top 40 hit.

Marc Cohn was certified gold by the RIAA in February 1992 and was certified platinum in 1996. The album featured two other charting singles: "Silver Thunderbird" and "True Companion". Cohn won the 1992 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

In May 1993, Cohn released his second studio album, The Rainy Season, which included notable guest appearances by David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Bonnie Raitt. "Walk Through the World" (1993), the first song from that album, reached the Top 30 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Cohn released his third solo effort, Burning the Daze, in 1998. The compilation The Very Best of Marc Cohn was released in June 2006.

Cohn's track "Dance Back from the Grave", from the album Join the Parade (October 2007), relates to the events of Hurricane Katrina and to the post-traumatic stress Cohn suffered after being shot in the head in an attempted carjacking in August 2005.

In 2010, Cohn returned with Listening Booth: 1970, a collection of covers of songs originally released during the titular year. The album peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200 album chart. In addition to crossing genres from rock to soul to folk and pop, it featured vocal performances from India.Arie, Jim Lauderdale, Aimee Mann, and Kristina Train. As of September 2018, Listening Booth: 1970--which peaked at number 28--was Cohn's highest-charting album.