He first came to prominence as frontman for The Babys, a British group that generated a pair of top 20 hits in the late 70s, but as the new decade dawned, their fortunes waned and the group broke up.
That’s when John Waite decided to bet on himself as a solo artist, and it didn’t take long for the record-buying public to justify that decision. By his second album, 1984’s No Brakes, he had co-written and recorded one of the decade’s truly classic ballads.
The song finds Waite exploring the denial stage of grief after a bad breakup with a vocal yearning that evokes Don Henley’s most emotional output.
His first solo pop hit in America, it would far surpass any of his previous group success, taking him all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first of two career chart-toppers he would voice.
Don’t believe what you’ve heard. John Waite ain’t “Missing You” at #53.