Billy Steinberg, who wrote the lyrics to some of the biggest pop hits of the 1980s — including Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” and Heart’s “Alone” — died Monday at his home in Brentwood. He was 74.
His death was confirmed by his lawyer, Laurie Soriano, who said the cause was cancer.
A Palm Springs native who grew up working for his father’s table grape business, Steinberg got into music first as a performer with the groups Billy Thermal and i-Ten, the latter of which he formed with a fellow songwriter, Tom Kelly. Together the duo wrote “Like a Virgin,” which spent six weeks atop Billboard’s Hot 100 in late 1984 and early 1985.
With Kelly, Steinberg scored four more No. 1s on the Hot 100: “True Colors,” Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional,” the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” and “Alone.”
Steinberg’s other hits include the Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You,” the Divinyls’ “I Touch Myself” and “I Drove All Night,” which was recorded by both Lauper and Roy Orbison.
Steinberg won a Grammy Award in 1997 for his work on Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You,” which was named album of the year. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011. His survivors include his wife, Trina, and his sons Ezra and Max.
