Despite a successful recording and touring career spanning almost four decades, during which the band sold an estimated 30 million records, Huey Lewis and the News recorded a moderate nine studio albums. Formed in 1979 in California, the band initially started out as Huey Lewis & The American Express but the band's record company, Chrysalis, became fearful of a potential law suit from AMEX and persuaded the group to change its name and they became Huey Lewis and the News.
Their 1980 self-titled debut album barely raised a ripple in the charts but the 1982 follow-up 'Picture This', featuring the single 'Do You Believe in Love', went gold, staying in the album charts for 35 weeks. Their third studio album, 'Sports' (1983), reached the top of the Billboard 200 in 1984 and featured the hit singles 'Heart & Soul', 'I Want a New Drug' and 'If This Is It'. The following year Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr. when the latter hit the charts with the 'Ghostbusters' (1984) theme, citing similarities to 'I Want a New Drug'. After a lengthy legal wrangle, Parker's lawyers made an out-of-court settlement to Lewis. The band returned to the top of the charts with their 1985 single 'The Power of Love', which was written for the film 'Back to the Future' and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Original Song. Continuing their run of success, their fourth studio album, 'Fore!' (1986), went platinum and featured the singles 'Stuck With You', 'Jacob's Ladder' and 'Hip to Be Square'
The band's unambiguous pop-influenced rock has ensured they remained one of America's most popular and enduring live acts still regularly performing throughout the US. Despite Lewis being diagnosed with Ménière's disease in 2018, the band returned with their tenth studio album, 'Weather', in 2020.
