Singer/songwriter and Maryland native Benny Mardones made a huge splash with his '80s hit "Into the Night." The song made the Top Ten twice, a first for a solo artist. Originally from the 1980 album Never Run, Never Hide, the track was also included on his self-titled 1989 release. (The song would become a hit again in 2019, when a dance remix of the track rose to number 35 on the Dance Club Songs chart.) Though his subsequent releases like 1996's Most Requested Songs and 1999's Angel didn't have quite the same chart impact as his breakthrough single, Mardones earned a strong, devoted following for his raspy voice and down-to-earth songwriting.

Mardones reciprocated this affection, often visiting and performing for terminally ill fans. Indeed, his song "Bless a Brand New Angel" was written for a young fan who succumbed to cancer; this emotional, spiritual quality imbued Mardones' later work like Angel with a new resonance. In 2002, the singer issued Journey Through Time, a collective of new recordings of originals and covers that were important to him in his career and were intended to be a soundtrack to a film about his life. In 2006, after nearly a seven-year break from new material, Let's Hear It for Love was released on Warrior Records. By that time, Mardones had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but he continued to perform as he fought for his health. He announced his retirement during a concert in New York City in 2017, and he died on June 29, 2020, at the age of 73. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi