Credit: Courtesy of Jensen Communications
After rock/pop singer Kenny Loggins performed with the locally based 100-piece Contemporary Youth Orchestra at Severance Hall earlier this year, Dan Rather sat down with Loggins for a lengthy interview. That episode will finally air at 9 p.m. on AXS TV on Rather’s program The Big Interview.

In the interview, Loggins talks about how the songs he wrote for films such as Caddyshack, Top Gun and Footloose helped his career.

“The movie thing is an interesting synergy, because the movie lifts the song, the song lifts the movie,” Loggins explains in the interview. “Back then, it hadn’t been done. Pop music and movies were not necessarily symbiotic. And all the sudden it was working. A lot of acts were getting eliminated by the disco musical movement. The movie thing just took my career to another level. It’s incredible luck.”

Loggins also discusses some of his most notable collaborations and reveals what really went on behind the scenes of “We Are the World,” including the reason for Prince’s surprise departure from the recording session.

“Dan Rather pulled out a level of conversation I haven’t had the opportunity to experience in my entire career,” says Loggins in a press release about the interview. “I’m very proud to have had such a real and honest interview with a true TV icon.”

This article appears in Dec 5-11, 2018.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.