Steve Forbert (born December 13, 1955, Meridian, Mississippi) is an American pop music singer-songwriter. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980.
Even though it states that "Romeo's Tune" is "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard" on the sleeve of the album Jackrabbit Slim (1979), the song is not really about the Supremes singer who died in 1976. The song was actually written a...
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Steve Forbert (born December 13, 1955, Meridian, Mississippi) is an American pop music singer-songwriter. He is best known for his song "Romeo's Tune", which reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980.
Even though it states that "Romeo's Tune" is "dedicated to the memory of Florence Ballard" on the sleeve of the album Jackrabbit Slim (1979), the song is not really about the Supremes singer who died in 1976. The song was actually written about a girl from his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, but was dedicated to Ballard because, as Forbert explains, "That seemed like such bad news to me and such sad news. She wasn't really taken care of by the music business, which is not a new story." (see).
Critics hailed him at the time as "The new Bob Dylan" because of a similar vocal timbre and thoughtful songwriting. The front cover of his second album, Jackrabbit Slim, encourages such comparisons with its simplicity: a black and white photo of Forbert playing a well-worn Martin...
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