Billy Steinberg, ‘Like a Virgin,’ ‘True Colors’ co-writer, dies at 75

Billy Steinberg: The prolific songwriter, who co-wrote five No. 1 songs during the 1980s including "Like a Virgin" and "True Colors," died on Feb. 16. He was 75. (Alexandra Wyman/WireImage)

Billy Steinberg, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter who co-wrote the lyrics to five chart-topping U.S. singles during the 1980s -- including Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” and Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” — died Monday at his Los Angeles home. He was 75.

Steinberg’s attorney, Laurie Soriano, confirmed his death to the Los Angeles Times. The cause was cancer, she told the newspaper.

Other No. 1 hits Steinberg co-wrote included “Alone” for Heart, “Eternal Flame” for the Bangles and “So Emotional” for Whitney Houston.

He won a Grammy Award for his work on the title track of Celine Dion’s 1996 album, “Falling Into You.”

Steinberg co-wrote his biggest hits with Tom Kelly, including “Like a Virgin,” which spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1984 and early 1985, Deadline reported. According to Billboard, it was the Material Girl’s biggest hit.

“The idea for that song came from personal experience,” Steinberg said in an interview with the Times. “I wasn’t just trying to somehow get that racy word virgin in a lyric.

“I was saying that I may not really be a virgin — I’ve been battered romantically and emotionally like many people — but I’m starting a new relationship and it just feels so good it’s healing all the wounds and making me feel like I’ve never done this before, because it’s so much deeper and more profound than anything I’ve ever felt.”

“True Colors” held the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 list for two weeks in October 1986, and “Alone” spent three weeks at No. 1 in July 1987, Billboard reported. “So Emotional” was on top of the Hot 100 for one week in 1988.

“I’m so sorry to hear of Billy Steinberg’s passing.” Lauper said in a statement to Billboard. “He was a great lyricist and a wonderful collaborator. He and Tom had such a way of capturing the range within an emotion, from the subtlety to urgency.

“When I think back across ‘True Colors,’ ‘Unconditional Love,’ ‘I Drove All Night,’ ‘My First Night Without You,’ and ‘Heading West,’ I’m wowed. I mean, come on, ‘I’m like a letter with no address.’ Pure genius. For ‘True Colors,’ there was a lot of back and forth which I know was hard for him. In the end, he said that I had really invented my own ‘very exquisitely beautiful version’ of the song. That really meant a lot to me. It is a special song.”

“Eternal Flame,” which Steinberg co-wrote with Kelly and the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, went to No. 1 in April 1989, according to Billboard.

Steinberg also wrote or co-wrote songs for Linda Ronstadt, JoJo, Demi Lovato, Divinyls, the Pretenders, Katharine McPhee and Ace of Base, Billboard reported.

Born on Feb. 26, 1950, in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, Steinberg grew up in Palm Springs, California, and attended Bard College in upstate New York.

He formed the band Billy Thermal in 1979 and signed with Planet Records, Deadline reported. The group recorded an album in 1980 that was not released until 2014, but Ronstadt took the song “How Do I Make You” and turned it into a top-10 smash on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1980.

Steinberg and Kelly were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.

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