With her deep, raspy voice, Kim Carnes certainly commands attention. Carnes catapulted to the top of the charts in the 1980s with her smash hit "Bette Davis Eyes," which won her admiration among both fans and critics. Her music brings back poignant, wistful thoughts of times past and invokes feelings of mellowness among all of her listeners. No one can confuse the playful and bittersweet sounds of Kim Carnes every time that her voice permeates through the radio airwaves. She stands as a romantic figure, bringing an intimate feel to all of her live shows, and even today she draws in both new and old fans who are eager to catch a glimpse and an earful of this powerful performer who really helped to define the seventies and the eighties.

Born in Los Angeles in 1945, Carnes always had an interest in music, and during the 1960s she began writing songs for other artists and sought to found her own voice among an emerging influx of folk musicians. In 1966, she joined the folk group the New Christy Minstrels and later went on to form the successful duo Kim and Dave. The decade of the 1970s saw a lot of Carnes when Kim and Dave came out with the hit song "Nobody Knows." Immediately following that success, Carnes recorded her first album called Rest on Me in 1972. It was a dud in the industry, and frustrated with the lack of attention, she released her self-titled label debut in 1975, which produced the chart hit "You're a Part of Me." She followed it up with Sailin' and St Vincent's Court, and both records produced singles for the artist and helped to set the stage for more successes.

More success came with the release of her next album called Mistaken Identity, which really rocketed her to stardom. The song "Bette Davis Eyes" stayed at the top of the charts for nine weeks and became the biggest hit of the year. She went on to win Grammys for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Although her follow up records and singles could not quite match the fame of "Bette Davis Eyes," Kim Carnes had certainly carved out a place for herself in the music industry and continued to make waves throughout the 1980s.