Billy Steinberg, a Hall of Fame songwriter who co-wrote Madonna‘s smash “Like a Virgin” and four other U.S. No. 1 singles including Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional” and The Bangles’ “Eternal Flame,” died Monday of cancer in Brentwood. He was 75. His attorney confirmed the news to The Los Angeles Times.
Steinberg also was a producer and performer, but his greatest success came as a songwriter. With his writing partner Tom Kelly, he co-penned five singles that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the 1980s. Along with “Like a Virgin,” “So Emotional” and “Eternal Flame,” he wrote chart toppers for Cyndi Lauper (“True Colors”) and Heart (“Alone”).
Among their other hits songs are Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself,” which reached the Top 5 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Modern Rock chart in 1990 and was No. 1 in the band’s native Australia, and The Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You,” which went Top 10 in four countries and hit No. 16 in the U.S. The duo wrote five other songs for The Pretenders’ 1994 album Last of the Independents.
Steinberg and Kelly also wrote Lauper’s 1989 international hit “I Drove All Night,” which first was recorded by Roy Orbison in 1987 and appeared on his posthumous 1992 album King of Hearts. The Bangles’ “In Your Room,” which made the U.S. Top 5 in early 1989, was another Steinberg-Kelly hit.
The pair also co-wrote songs for the likes of Tina Turner, Chicago, REO Speedwagon and Little River Band.
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