Corey Hart reflects on 'Sunglasses at Night,' the song that changed his life
The song celebrated its 35th anniversary last year.
Last week, it was announced that Montreal singer-songwriter Corey Hart will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at this year's Juno Awards.
To reflect on his decades of success, we wanted to go all the way back and discuss his very first hit single, "Sunglasses at Night," a song that Hart says changed his life. (The song celebrated its 35th anniversary last year.)
In the video above, Hart describes the rainy U.K. recording experience that led him to coming up with the phrase "sunglasses at night," something that has since taken on a life of its own, whether as an homage or a joke.
The song itself has become a Canadian classic, and was named one of CBC Music's 50 best Canadian songs of the '80s. While it only reached number 24 on Canadian charts, it peaked at number 7 on the U.S. Billboard charts. It also helped set Hart up for his sophomore release, Boy in the Box, which earned diamond status in Canada faster than any other artist in history.
Hart also looks back on the 1984 Juno Awards, where the "Sunglasses at Night" video, directed by Rob Quartly, won the first-ever best video award. "I think I borrowed a suit of Rick Springfield's and it was too big for me," he recalls. "I made a fashion error."