[Music] foreign
she had big hair big lips and a big voice she used all of those attributes to get her foot
in the door of the music industry in the 80s and went on to become one of the Decades most
popular icons her Talent also helped her escape a difficult upbringing and allowed her to create
the life of her dreams Leslie Joy Wonderman professionally known as Taylor Dayne was born
in Manhattan New York and lived for a short time in the Bronx until her family moved to Long Island
to set up more permanent Roots when she was a toddler she grew up the middle child of three
and the only girl in a tumultuous environment the results of that experience brought on bouts
of panic attacks agoraphobia and bulimia her anxiety also became so intense that it would
cause her to build an emotional prison around herself by the time Taylor turned 17 she'd been
served a life's worth of lessons and curveballs and there was already a lot of internal work that
she would later need to do to be healthy our home wasn't often filled with joy and laughter we were
tiptoeing around my father's moods my father tore through our home daily yelling screaming shoving
and hitting the anger and tension that was in the home even led a very young tailor to develop some
serious physical issues with her bladder and kidneys as a result she would end up undergoing
ureteral reimplantation surgery when she was just five years old Taylor says her father wasn't an
alcoholic or drug addict he was a rageaholic addicted to anger and unable to control his
emotions one positive thing her father did do was gift her a transistor radio she turned it on and
there was Stevie Wonder playing once she began to sing along she knew that music would be her
refuge and that she wanted to pursue a career in the field when she grew up she would begin
her career by singing in small New York venues ranging from prestigious spots like The Bitter
End to the much less Herald russian-american nightclub she was steadily employed at for years
shortly before the release of her first official single she decided that a name
age was at order so she came up with Taylor Dayne spelled d-a-n-e only problem was she found out
that there was an adult entertainment actor on the scene with that same name
throwing in an extra y seemed to be the perfect fix she released her debut album titled Tell It
To My Heart in early 1988 on Arista records the lead single and Taylor's debut would be
the title track it was an instant smash worldwide peaking in the top 10 of most
major markets including the US and reaching number one in many countries [Music] [Applause]
three other singles were also released prove your love which went to number one on the dance chart
as well as I'll always love you and don't rush me both of those tracks made it into the top
five on the billboard hot 100. little May fans know though Taylor didn't record her debut hit
song for Arista she and her producer brought the already finished single to the label it
then made a big splash on the club circuit before becoming a pop hit that's when Arista signed her
and put a rush on getting a full album out even in the short time frame six weeks to be exact her
label was adamant about the project not being categorized as a dance album Arista head Clive
Davis reiterated as much in a 1988 interview with the LA times we didn't want her to be categorized
right away we wanted to present a diversified picture of this artist just because she had
one dance hit she's not a Dance artist she can sing ballads and in different tempos she's not
one-dimensional remarkably Taylor herself rarely listened to dance music and preferred rock or r
b me several years before her big break she recalls what she says was a quote frustrating
period end quote recording the latter genre for an independent label I was trying to sing
r b but it wasn't working I'd go out trying to push an r b single I'd recorded and as soon as
the station saw this white face it was all over radio stations wouldn't play me it's hard for a
white person singing r b i got so discouraged I had to stop I saw I wasn't going to get a major
deal as an R B singer the best alternative she thought was to do what she ultimately went on to
achieve all her success doing singing Pop with an r b style Clive with all his years of experience
also knew exactly how to Market Taylor hence the decision to not put a photo of her on the cover
of her debut single so it would have a fighting chance of getting airplay on black radio stations
around this time Taylor's Talent caught the attention of Michael Jackson who tapped her
to appear as the opening act for the European leg of his Bad Tour from the very beginning of
her career Taylor says sexual harassment was something she was forced to deal with
constantly one blaring piece of proof can be found in a November 1989 interview she did
with Spin Magazine of all questions the journalist who was surprisingly a woman
could have asked her she chose to stick to inquiring about what part of her body
Taylor likes the most how she gets such deep cleavage and how often she thinks about sex
Taylor's second album can't fight fate dropped in the fall of 1989. four singles
were released and all did very well on the pop chart especially Love Will Lead You Back which
went all the way to number one on both the pop and adult contemporary charts [Music]
four years later Taylor's third album Soul dancing was released three singles dropped
two of which can't get enough of your love and I'll wait both became top five dances naked
without you her fourth effort was released in 1998. it didn't make a dent on any album chart
but two of the singles whatever you want and the title track did make it to number six and
number three respectively on the dance chart despite the many obstacles standing in her way
most notably the lack of a partner Taylor was willing to overcome any challenge in order to
fulfill her dream of becoming a mother following several relationships where nothing stuck she at
one point turned her attention toward adoption in hopes of starting a family however At The Mention
Of a surrogate she found herself headed down a new path that would eventually lead her to
Motherhood in 2002 Taylor became the mother of twins a boy and a girl she released her fifth
album satisfied in 2008 after a decade-long Hiatus it includes both new material and Recreations of
some of her favorite contemporary songs she experienced yet another number one dance hit
with the lead single beautiful in 2018 Taylor celebrated the 30th year anniversary of her
debut album offering her fans a deluxe edition Greatest Hits release with additional mixes and
two new songs her autobiography fittingly titled Tell It To My Heart how I lost my [ __ ] conquered
my fear and found my voice was released in 2019. in July 2022 she made the shocking announcement
that she'd been diagnosed with colon cancer she underwent a procedure to remove 10 inches of her
colon and is adamant that routine colonoscopies and early detection saved her life today she is
cancer free today Taylor Dayne has sold over 75 million albums and singles and earned several
Grammy nominations her stage presence and world tours continue to take her musical
message of love and passion straight to the heart of her fans and audiences worldwide
[Music]