I Am the Warrior: My Crazy Life Writing the Hits and Rocking the MTV Eighties

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This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living people that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately. As to why, of all her famous songs, Holly chose I Am the Warrior as the title of her book, she says that when she first wrote this song, she didn’t know that it would be a big hit, nor did she know that it would “serve as a kind of theme song for the rest of my life. It didn’t feel autobiographical when I wrote it, but as I’ve learned, sometimes we don’t write songs – the songs write us.” Asked by an interviewer once why so many of her songs are about fighting or going into battle, Holly, realizing he was right, reflected: “…my songs were more about fighting for something, rather than with someone.” I wanted to be a songwriter," Knight said. "And here I am on the road with Tina Turner and she's teasing my hair because I told her I liked her hair.”

I Am the Warrior | Book by Holly Knight | Official Publisher

So I thought I would give it a shot," she said. "And as it turns out, it came very naturally to me, like it was oozing out of every pore.” Knight learned of the legend’s abuse at the hands of Ike Turner while reading “I, Tina,” the memoir that became the basis for the biopic “What's Love Got to Do With It.” And Knight never discussed the abuse she endured at the hands of her own mother with Turner. Some memoirs dwell too long on unnecessary parts of the subject's lives but Holly never meanders too long in any section of her life. She gets right to the point about her youth, her difficult relationship with her mother which must have played a part in forging the force she would become and all of the personal relationships that she had too. I enjoyed reading about her personal life and escapades as a woman as well, because I think it's critical to understanding the mind and heart of the composer of the most powerful and anthemic songs of empowerment and independence for women. Songs such as The Warrior (title of her book), Invincible, Better Be Good to Me, (Simply) The Best, Never, and so many others! I personally enjoyed seeing this side of the artist. She is, after all, human.

Tina Turner - " The Best"; " Better Be Good to Me"; " One of the Living"; "You Can't Stop Me Loving You"; " Be Tender with Me Baby"; "Ask Me How I Feel"; " Love Thing"; " In Your Wildest Dreams"; "Do Something" In 1988, Knight was listed in the "Best Songwriter Category/Readers Poll" of Rolling Stone along with Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel. In 1980, Knight's first big break came when she played keyboards (uncredited) on Kiss' Unmasked album. [3] In the early 1980s, she helped form Spider (featuring Anton Fig of Late Show with David Letterman). Managed by Bill Aucoin ( Kiss and Billy Idol), they signed a recording contract with Dreamland Records, an RSO-distributed label. They released two albums: Spider (self-titled; 1980) and Between the Lines (1981).

Holly Knight on songwriting for Tina Turner, Pat Benatar Holly Knight on songwriting for Tina Turner, Pat Benatar

I continued following Holly through the years through "Raise Your Glasses" on KISS' Psycho Circus album and "You're the One" from Rev Theory. She's a master of melody and pop song structure. She's in my top 5 favorite songwriters. I just adore her talent and career. I mean, the '80s was great for everybody,” she said. "But some of the things that I experienced were like, 'How did I get here?'"Spider - " Better Be Good to Me"; "New Romance (It's a Mystery)"; "Change"; "Everything Is Alright"; "Little Darlin"; "Go and Run"; "It Didn't Take Long"; "Can't Live This Way Anymore" This is the story of a young girl with a dream and the story of the music scene of an iconic decade. Holly dedicates the book “to anyone who ever had a dream and was told ‘No’.” Writing songs for Turner “always came from a place of strength and being fierce and just true to oneself." Holly joined a list of other trailblazing women by contributing her story to the 2017 book Because I Was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages, published by Henry Holt and Company.

I Am the Warrior: My Crazy Life Writing the Hits and Rocking

Knight was “floored” by Turner’s words, she recalls in advance of a July 13 book event at Changing Hands in Tempe. Holly’s story is inspiring. She went from a 14-year-old girl working at a Sam Ash Music Store to one of songwriting’s elite – in a time when being a woman in the industry was a true anomaly. She has written some of the most recognizable hit songs and has worked with well-known artists, such as Pat Benatar, Heart, Rod Stewart, KISS, Bon Jovi, Steven Tyler and Tina Turner, just to name a few. In her story, you get a behind-the-scenes look at the music scene of the 1980s and some of the world’s biggest stars. Defiant, purposeful, and ultimately triumphant, her work with Tina Turner, Pat Benatar, and Heart, among others, also helped pave the way for the next generation of defining female musical masters including Amy Winehouse, Adele, and Lady Gaga. It was the music and words she wrote. But it was also the visual representations on MTV that helped define Holly's work for the masses. She was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2013, standing side by side with the likes of Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Foreigner.Full of sex and drugs and so much fun name-dropping, this is a breezy, readable look at an era that simultaneously seems distant and not that long ago. The name dropping isn't terribly gratuitous, in that there really were so many connections among people in the industry, and she clearly explains her relationships to them and each other. Her relationship to three members of KISS was of particular note!

I Am the Warrior: My Crazy Life Writing the Hits and Ro…

She wrote “Love Is a Battlefield” for Pat Benatar, “The Warrior” for Scandal featuring Patty Smyth and several Tina Turner classics, from "Better Be Good to Me" to "The Best."

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The Best" was featured at the end of Joe Biden's victory speech following his election to the presidency of the United States in 2021. [ citation needed]