People may think of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey as top women singers of the 1980s and ’90s with top-notch vocal prowess—but Taylor Dayne certainly belongs with them. Dayne had seven top-10 hits in the United States, including “Tell It to My Heart,” the very first song she released. (Other hits include the ballad “Love Will Lead You Back” and the captivating mid-tempo tune “I’ll Be Your Shelter.”)
During a recent talk with Windy City Times, Dayne talked about everything from her large queer following to dream collaborators.
Note: This conversation was edited for clarity and length.
Windy City Times: You gave a TED talk a few years ago. At one point—referring to your childhood—you said, “The music became the loving arms I so needed.” What led you to say that?
Taylor Dayne: When you gravitate to something when you’re so young—and I was good at it—I really believed it could save me, and it did. All of those emotions always grabbed onto music, and the songs and melodies could always take me to that place where I could open my heart when it was very closed at times. I’m glad I’m able to speak my truth through singing.
Music is such a language and universal tool. There were particular songs that spoke to me in the ‘70s, when I was young—song like Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me.” Certain songs I just needed to hear. I just sat by my radio and it became like church; everything about music was so religious to me. It raised my vibrational frequency.
WCT: The radio that your father gave you?
TD: Well, it was this little Sony box; it was cool. It was contemporary-looking for the time, you know. [Laughs] It was a cool little box.
But my mom would be across the street at the luncheonette. I’d put money in there and I’d hear “Build Me Up, Buttercup” or something like that.
WCT: Your voice is pretty soulful. Did R&B music play a role in shaping your voice and, if so, how much?
TD: The ‘70s was a really interesting time for music. I grew up in New York and you could ask for The Ohio Players and get Karen Carpenter [starts singing “Top of the World”]. When I started hearing the Marvin Gaye and Al Green songs—oh my God! You started hearing the funkier stuff and, again, Bill Withers really resonated with me. All of those artists were Top 40 radio in 1972. Linda Ronstadt had a string of hits in the ‘70s—what a huge voice. But I gravitated a little bit more toward the funky. I would just sit and wait for [Withers’] “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
WCT: Social media has changed our lives so much. Do you ever think about what social media would’ve been like [had it existed] when you initially came on the music scene?
TD: Any tool like that seems like it would’ve been inundated, but speaking to your fans is never a bad thing. It’s freeing and you can make your own career now with it—and you can finance yourself now with it, and it’s a much cheaper way than the old system that I went through. You had to wait to get seen, meaning you had to submit music to the big machine—but even then I couldn’t cut through, so I made my own record, “Tell It to My Heart.”
WCT: I didn’t know that’s how you came on the scene.
TD: Yeah! [Producer] Ric Wake and I had already started in the 12-inch business. That’s how I came to be, with a guy I went to high school with. I wasn’t waiting around. And with all the clubs in New York… Our 22 wasn’t like [being] 22 now. I had been in bands since I was 16, 17; I was in the clubs with regional bands and I was learning a lot of technique.
WCT: So, by 22, you had lived a life.
TD: Well, I had lived a New York life. There was a club on every corner. You had CBGB and a million other clubs. With two different bands by the time I was 22, I decided that I wanted to do my own thing. There was only one paper for that: The Village Voice, which had a music section. That’s how I was looking into finding a pseudo-record label or single. And then [radio station] 92 WKTU burst onto the scene, and it was Black urban radio; that’s where I heard Anita Baker, Sade, Gwen Guthrie, Jocelyn Brown and other artists.
And then I would go to Paradise Garage after one of my shows. You’d just immerse yourself in the scene; it was tribal and something to behold. You could legally drink at 18 so we were out in the clubs at, like, 15 or 16—and learning. And then my older brother was a lighting designer and my younger brother was the first to work at [the video nightclub] Private Eyes—and then you had Limelight up the street. And my brother also designed lighting at the Playboy Club. You had the club scene in the late ‘70s, with Studio 54, and things started to morph into MTV; there was this visual component that people were hungry for. Madonna kinda showed us what was going on in that area; by the time “Tell It to My Heart” was released in 1988, that pleather/vinyl [laughs] was very indicative of what was happening.
WCT: When was the first time you knew you had a large queer following?
TD: So, they broke “Tell It to My Heart” in Europe first, so I was in places like London and Germany. So I went to [queer] clubs—and I had the best time of my life in some of them. In Europe, there were tons of paparazzi; as I broke first with [this song], it was pretty evident that I was becoming something, especially with the look I had. And the LGBTQ+ community was an extension of something fun that I loved when I was in Europe. The community totally embraced me and the first artists I worked with in makeup and hair; those queer artists, who were so creative, were responsible for my look then—the crimped hair and the red lips.
But, yes, I felt very comfortable with queer crowds. That was my freedom; they showed me what freedom was about—letting go of preconceived notions. It’s about taking that leap of faith.
WCT: Everyone talks about “Tell It to My Heart” but I have to tell you that “I’ll Be Your Shelter” resonates with me—something about someone being there for you.
TD: Yeah—that was a huge hit for me. Diane Warren wrote that hit. She was begging to get this to me; everyone about her is true. But, wow, what a song! It’s one of my favorites, even though I have this catalog of songs. I would say you’re right on the money with that one. Then, [Warren] came and hit me back with “Love Will Lead You Back.”
WCT: Everything is so politically charged these days. As you know, Carrie Underwood got blowback for singing at President Trump’s inauguration. Are you someone who’s politically inclined now or do you think that performing at, say, a Pride festival is enough of a political statement? [NOTE: Dayne received criticism for performing at Trump’s home, Mar-a-Lago, in 2021 but she has also performed at festivals like Chicago’s Pride in the Park.]
TD: Well, it’s land mines now. The reality is that where we are—this is our president. I live in Miami and L.A., which is wiped out with the fires; so many of my people were affected and I had to evacuate my son. Natural disasters—this is where I politically get into things. I try to stay away from politics because there is no win-win on anything. People are so charged, unfortunately, and social media has given everyone a voice. I think you just have to know yourself; instead of commenting on 10,000 peoples’ posts, go within and then see what works for you. Doing that is politically, emotionally, spiritually and physically nurturing.
Things are so left, so right. The people have spoken, whatever that is. And this is a global thing; it’s not confined to the United States. The person I am is that I take care of [me], especially after I battled cancer. My truth—whether it’s an audience of 400 people or 5,000 people—is that I serve them but to also raise the vibration so maybe they leave with a little more love in their hearts. Music is a tool—and it’s one of the strongest we have, like dance.
WCT: My last question is hopefully a fun one. Who would you love to collaborate with, living or dead?
TD: There are certain producers like Jack Antonoff, who’s working with artists like Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo—the newer people on the pop-rock scene. I also like Mark Ronson and Pharrell [Williams]. I need the collaborative process. I’m not a singer-songwriter; I don’t go up in my room and come out with a song and play it.
But I can also see myself doing title tracks for movies, like Disney ones—songs with the right melodies and messages. I can see a lot of my energy going there.
Taylor Dayne will be performing Friday, Feb. 14, at Skokie’s North Shore Center for the Performing Arts. Purchase tickets here.