In 2013, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She has won thirteen ASCAP Awards, and has co-written hits for numerous successful recording artists, including Tina Turner and Pat Benatar who each won Grammy Awards for their recordings of her songs.
In 1980, Knight's first big break came when she played keyboards (uncredited) on Kiss' Unmasked album.[3] In the early 1980s, she helped form Spider (featuring Anton Fig of Late Show with David Letterman). Managed by Bill Aucoin (Kiss and Billy Idol), they signed a recording contract with Dreamland Records, an RSO-distributed label. They released two albums: Spider (self-titled; 1980) and Between the Lines (1981).
Knight has written hits for some of the most successful artists in music, both on her own and in collaboration with others. For Pat Benatar, in addition to "Love Is a Battlefield", she wrote "Invincible". "The Best"—first recorded by Bonnie Tyler—became an international No. 1 single for Tina Turner. Knight wrote songs with Heart, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, and many more. Tina Turner has recorded nine of her tunes, including "The Best", "Better Be Good to Me", and "In Your Wildest Dreams" (1996). Holly Knight was voted the Best Songwriter in Rolling Stone magazine's 11th annual poll, along with Phil Collins, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, and Bruce Springsteen.
In the mid-1980s, Knight had a second band called Device, that had a hit single "Hanging on a Heart Attack" from their one album 22B3 (1986). Although Spider and Device both had Top 40 hits, only Device received heavy-rotation on MTV for four consecutive months. In 1988, Holly released a self-titled solo album that featured her own rendition of "Love Is a Battlefield", as well "Heart Don't Fail Me Now", a single with background vocals by Daryl Hall.
In 1988, Knight was listed in the "Best Songwriter Category/Readers Poll" of Rolling Stone along with Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, Paul Simon, and Billy Joel.
In the 21st century, Knight has also been active as a record producer. In 2009, she produced a jazzEP called Natural for Antonia Bennett, daughter of Tony Bennett, and in 2012, an alternative pop record of original songs for her, titled Ordinary Girl. In 2014, she produced a second full-length jazz record for Antonia Bennett of songs from the Great American Songbook called Embrace Me, on Perseverance records. She has also produced tracks for Otep, Fefe Dobson, The Donnas, the Australian band Porcelain,[4] and 2014 Tony Award winner Lena Hall.
Knight has been mentioned in several autobiographies, including I, Tina by Tina Turner (1986), Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Pat Benatar (2010), Kicking and Screaming by Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart (2013), I'm with The Band by Pamela Des Barres (2005), My Love Story by Tina Turner (2018), and All I Ever Wanted by Kathy Valentine (2020).
Holly joined a list of other trailblazing women by contributing her story to the 2017 book Because I Was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages, published by Henry Holt and Company.
Her song, "The Best" has appeared in three episodes of the Emmy award-winning Netflix show Schitt's Creek. Season 4, Episode 1 "The Olive Branch": David lip-syncs to the original Tina Turner recording. Season 4, Episode 6 "Open Mic": Patrick performs an acoustic version of the song (arranged by actor Noah Reid). Season 6, Episode 13 (the series finale): the Jazzagals sing a capella at David and Patrick's wedding, causing "The Best" to become a popular wedding song in the LGBTQ community.
Three of Knight's songs, "The Best", "Better Be Good to Me", and "Be Tender with Me Baby," are featured in The Tina Turner Musical, which began previews at the Aldwych Theatre, in The West End in London, on March 21, 2018, and officially opened on April 17. In November 2019, the musical made its Broadway debut at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York. Tina Turner herself attended both premieres. In March 2019, the show opened at the Stage Operettenhaus in Hamburg, and on February 9, 2020 at the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht, the Netherlands. In 2020, the musical received eleven Tony Award nominations.
"The Best" was featured at the end of Joe Biden's victory speech following his election to the presidency of the United States in 2021.[citation needed]
In November 2022, Knight released her memoir entitled, "I Am The Warrior: My Crazy Life Writing the Hits and Rocking the MTV Eighties." It was offered in a hardcover edition by Permuted Press, a Kindle edition, and an Audible audio book, which she narrated. The latter contains original demos of some of her biggest hits, including, "The Best", "Love Is a Battlefield" and "The Warrior". The book was listed on both Amazon and Audible as the #1 Hot New Release in Popular Music.
In 2023, during the Super Bowl, The Best also appeared in a Pringles commercial
In her spare time, Knight also does fine art photography.
Personal life
Knight has two grown sons and lives in Los Angeles.
Darling Violetta - "My Sanctuary" (theme to TV show Angel)
Device - "Hanging on a Heart Attack"; "Who Says"; "Didn't I Read You Right"; "Sand Stone Cobwebs and Dust"; "Who's on the Line"; "Tough and Tender"; "Pieces on the Ground"; "Fall Apart Golden Heart"; "When Love Is Good"
Kiss - "Hide Your Heart"; "I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock & Roll"; "Raise Your Glasses"
Holly Knight - "Heart Don't Fail Me Now"; "Howling at the Moon"; "Love Is a Battlefield"; "Sexy Boy"; "Nature of the Beast" "Palace of Pleasure"; "Howling At The Moon"; "It's Only Me"; "Why Don't You Love Me Like You Used To"
Spider - "Better Be Good to Me"; "New Romance (It's a Mystery)"; "Change"; "Everything Is Alright"; "Little Darlin"; "Go and Run"; "It Didn't Take Long"; "Can't Live This Way Anymore"
