Kim Carnes NUDE

Kim Carnes (born July 20, 1945 in Pasadena, California) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter. She is noted for her distinctive, raspy voice which she attributes to many hours spent singing in smoky bars and clubs.

Carnes was a member of The New Christy Minstrels in 1967. During this time, Carnes met and married Dave Ellingson with whom she would write most of her songs. For a short while in the early 1970s, she and Ellingson formed the unsuccessful folk duo Kim and Dave. Their song, "Nobody Knows", was the song played during the credits for the movie Vanishing Point.

She began releasing albums during the early 1970s. Her self-titled album in 1975 contained her first charted hit, "You're A Part Of Me" (No. 32 AC). This album was followed in 1976 with Sailin'. One track, "Love Comes from Unexpected Places", won best song at the 1977 American Song Festival and gained some additional notice after it was recorded by Barbra Streisand on her 1977 album Streisand Superman. Carnes' Top 40 breakthrough occurred in 1978 when she was recruited by Gene Cotton to record a duet version of "You're a Part of Me" which reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1980, her duet with fellow ex-New Christy Minstrel Kenny Rogers, "Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer", became a major hit on the Pop (No. 4), Country (No. 3) and AC (No. 2) charts. The song was culled from Rogers' concept album, Gideon, which was written entirely by Carnes and Ellingson. Later that year, her cover version of the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles song "More Love" became her first solo Top 10 hit single (No. 10 Pop, No. 6 AC).