Ruben Armand "Benny" Mardones (November 9, 1946 – June 29, 2020) was an American pop/rock singer and songwriter who was best known for his hit single " Into the Night", which hit the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart twice, in 1980 (#11) and again in 1989 (#20).

Early life and career

Benny Mardones was born on November 9, 1946, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio. His father, Ruben Sr., who was originally from

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Chile, left the family when Benny was an infant and returned to Chile. Mardones had a sister, two half-brothers, and two half-sisters who live in Chile. Mardones grew up in

Savage, Maryland Savage is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in Howard County, Maryland, United States, approximately south of Baltimore and north of Washington, D.C. It is situated close to the city of Laurel and to the planned co ...

, and graduated from

Howard High School Howard High School may refer to: * David T. Howard High School, a former high school in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. * Howard High School of Technology Howard High School of Technology is a vocational-technical high school in Wilmington, Delaware and is ...

Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...

in 1964. He joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

after high school and served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. After his discharge, he moved to New York City to pursue his singing and songwriting career, and composed several songs with writing partner Alan Miles. Mardones began his career as a songwriter, writing songs for people like

Brenda Lee Brenda Mae Tarpley (born December 11, 1944), known professionally as Brenda Lee, is an American singer. Performing rockabilly, pop and country music, she had 47 US chart hits during the 1960s and is ranked fourth in that decade, surpassed only ...

and

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...

. He demoed the songs he wrote, and

Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...

suggested that he record his own songs; from that point he wrote and recorded over 100 songs. Mardones's band was called the Hurricanes.

Into the Night

Mardones co-wrote the 1980

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

hit "Into the Night" with

Robert Tepper Robert Tepper (born May 30, 1950) is an American songwriter, recording artist and singer, best known for his chart-topper, hit song "No Easy Way Out" from the ''Rocky IV'' motion picture Rocky IV (soundtrack), soundtrack. He is also known for co- ...

. The track was featured on his second album '' Never Run, Never Hide'', and peaked at #11 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and went platinum. Its success catapulted Mardones into the limelight, but he spiraled into substance abuse that resulted in his being dropped by his label

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. Though he eventually overcame his addiction, Mardones produced no other hits during his career. In a TV interview on

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

a while before his death, Mardones recalled how the song was inspired by a conversation between him and co-author Robert Tepper, after seeing a 16-year-old neighbour take Benny's dog for a walk. In the real life scene, there was no romantic link.
YouTube video
"Into the Night" charted a second time in 1989 when

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

radio station KZZP ran a segment titled "Where Are They Now?", and

Scott Shannon Michael Scott Shannon (born July 25, 1947) is an American radio disc jockey who hosted the morning show for WCBS-FM in New York City from 2014 to 2022 as well as ''Scott Shannon Presents America's Greatest Hits'' which is syndicated nationally wi ...

, then-program director for

Pirate Radio Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...

in Los Angeles, added "Into the Night" to its playlist. Other stations across the country followed suit and "Into the Night" was a hit once more, peaking at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Curb Records Curb Records (also known as Asylum-Curb and formerly known as MCG Curb) is an American record label started by Mike Curb, originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963. From 1969 to 1973, Curb merged with MGM Records where Curb served as President of ...

signed Mardones and he recorded "Into the Night '89", The track appeared on his self-titled release that year.

Personal life and death

On October 4, 2011, Mardones married his third wife, Jane Braemer, who was originally from Denmark. Together, they resided in

Menifee, California Menifee is a city in Riverside County, California, Riverside County, California, United States, and part of the Greater Los Angeles Area, Los Angeles Combined Statistical Area. The city is centrally located in Southern California in the Menifee ...

. Mardones had a son, Michael (born 1985), from a previous marriage. Mardones was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 2000, but continued to tour and perform until the mid-2010s. In July 2018, he underwent

deep brain stimulation Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical procedure involving the placement of a medical device called a neurostimulator, which sends electrical impulses, through implanted electrodes, to specific targets in the brain (the brain nucleu ...

to reduce his motor symptoms, but complications from multiple surgeries resulted in coordination issues that led to repeated falls and hip injuries. He died at age 73 from complications of the disease on June 29, 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

*1978: '' Thank God for Girls'' *1980: '' Never Run, Never Hide'' *1981: '' Too Much to Lose'' *1985: ''Unauthorized'' *1986: ''American Dreams (Benny Mardones & the Hurricanes)'' *1989: ''

Benny Mardones Ruben Armand "Benny" Mardones (November 9, 1946 – June 29, 2020) was an American pop/rock singer and songwriter who was best known for his hit single " Into the Night", which hit the top 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart twice, in 1980 ( ...

'' *1993: ''The Lost Tapes'' *1996: ''Stand By Your Man'' *1998: ''

Bless a Brand New Angel ''Bless a Brand New Angel'' is the sixth studio album from American singer Benny Mardones, released by Crave Records, Crave in 1998. Background Both ''Bless a Brand New Angel'' and its title track (which was released as a single) failed to genera ...

'' *2002: '' A Journey Through Time'' *2006: '' Let's Hear It for Love'' *2015: ''Timeless (Benny Mardones & the Hurricanes)''

Live albums

*2007: ''Turning Stone Live 2006'' *2008: ''Extended Versions (Live)'' *2008: ''Turning Stone Live 2007'' *2009: ''Turning Stone Live 2008'' *2010: ''Turning Stone Live 2009''

Extended plays

*1980: ''Live Sides'' *1985: ''Unauthorized'' *2013: ''The Lost Tapes''

Singles

References

External links

* *

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

br>Official MySpace siteFan siteHIM Online Magazine Interview
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mardones, Benny 1946 births 2020 deaths American pop rock singers Songwriters from Ohio Musicians from Syracuse, New York People from Savage, Maryland Musicians from Cleveland American people of Chilean descent Songwriters from Maryland Songwriters from New York (state) Singers from Maryland Hispanic and Latino American musicians 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers Neurological disease deaths in California Deaths from Parkinson's disease Polydor Records artists Curb Records artists