Robert Dupuis (born December 23, 1946), known professionally as Robbie Dupree, is an American singer best known for his hit songs " Steal Away" (No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100) and "

Hot Rod Hearts "Hot Rod Hearts" is a song by American singer Robbie Dupree, from his 1980 debut album ''Robbie Dupree''. Released as the second single from the album, it reached No. 15 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 24 on the Adult Contemporary ch ...

" (No. 15).

Early life

Robbie Dupree was born on December 23, 1946 in Brooklyn, as Robert Dupuis. While growing up, his biggest musical influences included R&B musicians

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown (music style), Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player ...

and Sam Cooke.

Career

In 1981, he received a Grammy nomination as

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

, losing to

Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's ...

. Dupree's final single to make the ''Billboard'' chart, "Brooklyn Girls", peaked at No. 54 in June 1981. In 1987, Dupree contributed the song "Girls in Cars" to '' Piledriver - The Wrestling Album 2'', a collection of

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at s ...

s for

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

(then known as the World Wrestling Federation). The tag team Strike Force (

Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is a retired American professional wrestler and middle school teacher. Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with ...

and

Rick Martel Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association, th ...

) used an instrumental version of "Girls in Cars" as their entrance music from 1987 to 1989. In 2010, Dupree signed with Spectra Records and released the album ''Time and Tide'' featuring former

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

keyboards player

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. On May 21, 2010, Dupree performed on ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

'' as part of Jimmy's ongoing tribute to

yacht rock Yacht rock (originally known as the West Coast soundThat ' ...

, the smooth West Coast sound of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 2011, Dupree toured as part of the All Star Rock concert series. The tour featured

John Cafferty John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band is an American rock band from Rhode Island which began its career in 1972, and achieved mainstream success in the 1980s. Originally known as simply Beaver Brown, they got their name from a paint can. The c ...

, Orleans, David Pack ( Ambrosia),

John Ford Coley John Ford Coley (born October 13, 1948) is an American singer, classically trained pianist, guitarist, actor, and author most known for his partnership in the musical duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. Early life Coley was born John Edward Col ...

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Wet Willie Wet Willie is an American band from Mobile, Alabama. Their best-known song, " Keep On Smilin'", reached No. 10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in August 1974. Several other of the group's songs also appeared on the singles charts in th ...

Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Deep Purple. During his career, Turner fronted and played guitar with pop ro ...

, and

Joe Bouchard Joseph J. Bouchard (; born November 9, 1948) is an American musician. He was the bassist and one of the lead singers of the hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult during their most successful period. He is the younger brother of original Blue Öyster ...

. In 2012, Dupree released a new album of covers entitled ''Arc of a Romance''. In 2013, Dupree toured throughout the United States and Canada over the summer as part of the Sail Rock 2013 with

Player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

Gary Wright Gary Malcolm Wright (born April 26, 1943) is an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs " Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive", and for his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and po ...

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, Orleans,

Firefall Firefall is an American country rock band that formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1974. It was founded by Rick Roberts, former member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Jock Bartley, who had been Tommy Bolin's replacement in Zephyr. The band ...

, and

. In the summer of 2018, he and

appeared on the Rock the Yacht 2018 tour alongside Ambrosia, Peter Beckett (of Player), and Stephen Bishop. In the summer of 2019, Dupree appeared on the

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

"A Bunch of Malarkey" to discuss his career and recent work.

Discography

Albums

*1980: ''Robbie Dupree'' – US No. 51, AUS No. 83 *1981: ''Street Corner Heroes'' – US No. 169 *1989: ''Carried Away'' *1993: ''Walking on Water'' *1995: ''Smoke and Mirrors'' *1997: ''Vintage Volume 1'' (compilation) *1998: ''Live All Night Long'' *2001: ''Vintage Volume 2'' (compilation) *2003: ''Robbie Dupree with David Sancious'' *2010: ''Time and Tide'' *2012: ''Arc of a Romance''

Singles

*1980: " Steal Away" – US No. 6, R&B #85; Canada No. 14, AUS No. 24 *1980: "

" – US No. 15, AUS No. 58 *1980: "Nadie Mas" *1981: "Brooklyn Girls" – US No. 54 *1981: "Saturday Night" *1981: "Are You Ready for Love" *1987: "Girls in Cars" *1988: "This Is Life" *1993: "Walking on Water" *1993: "Goodbye LA" *1995: "Smoke and Mirrors" *1997: "Make It Easy on Yourself" *1997: "Live All Night Long" *2007: "The Critics Are Never Kind" *2008: "Fly Away" *2010: "Lucky" *2011: "Satisfied"

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupree, Robbie 1946 births Living people Musicians from Brooklyn American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters American rock singers American soft rock musicians Elektra Records artists Singer-songwriters from New York (state)