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Pop legend unrecognisable 39 years after hit movie song and reality TV shock

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Pop legend unrecognisable 39 years after hit movie song and reality TV shock
Pop legend unrecognisable 39 years after hit movie song and reality TV shock

HE shot to fame after he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1980s movie, Ghostbusters.

Who You Gonna Call? singer Ray Parker Jr looks very different today than he did when the iconic song launched him onto the Oscars stage back in 1985.

Ray Parker Jr in 2022 performing on US talk show, The Talk eiqekidqxiquxprw
Ray Parker Jr in 2022 performing on US talk show, The TalkCredit: Getty
Ray back in the 80s at the height of his fame
Ray back in the 80s at the height of his fameCredit: WireImage - Getty

The track topped the US charts for three weeks at the time, and was also performed at the legendary Radio City music hall to close out the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards.

Ray first found fame before Ghostbusters, however, in his band Raydio back in the 70s.

Whey they split in the early 80s, he released five albums between 1981 and 1991.

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These spawned several top ten hits including  “Jack and Jill”, “You Can’t Change That”, and “A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do).

He has also written songs for the likes of Chaka Khan, the Supremes, Tina Turner, The Carpenters and The Temptations.

Since then, however, Ray has been largely absent from the music scene as a solo star apart from another album in 2006.

In 2014, he was honoured with a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Fans in the States were also thrilled when Ray made an unexpected return to the spotlight last year when he appeared on The Masked Singer USA.

Ray was unmasked as Sir Bug A Boo, and performed the Ghostbusters theme on the hit series.

Eagle-eyed UK fans might also remember he appeared in a 2009 advert for directory enquiries service 118 118, where he performed a re-worked version of his hit Ghostbusters theme.

Earlier this year, he summed up in the secret to his successful songwriting.

In an interview with Pop Matters, he said: "All of my songs, including 'Ghostbusters' and 'Jack and Jill', are simple songs. Three chords, four chords. Verse, chorus, clever lyric, and that’s it."

He appeared on The Masked Singer USA last year
He appeared on The Masked Singer USA last yearCredit: instagram/@rayparkerjr
Ray got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 2014
Ray got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 2014Credit: Rex
Ray sang the iconic theme song to Ghostbusters, which topped the US charts
Ray sang the iconic theme song to Ghostbusters, which topped the US chartsCredit: Rex

Oliver Grady

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