BrianWilkins.org
May 12, 2023
Kathy Troccoli, like Amy Grant, was a Christian singer who briefly crossed over to pop music. And interestingly, 42 years ago this week, on May 9, 1981, Ms. Troccoli moved from Long Island to Nashville to live with Dan Harrell, who was Amy Grant’s brother-in-law at the time.
Her Christian rock career launched with the 1982 album Stubborn Love.
She released two more albums before taking a five-year hiatus from music, beginning in 1986, and moved back to New York. Troccoli became a studio singer for Mariah Carey and Taylor Dayne in 1991.
The song “Everything Changes” was written by Diane Warren, who is known for writing several top hits including “Rhythm of the Night” by DeBarge (1985) and “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith (1998). “Everything Changes” was written and composed for Taylor Dayne, but she declined to sing it. The song was then offered to Troccoli, who was reluctant at first to take it. But ultimately she said, “I knew I could own it.”
“Everything Changes” was the first single released from Troccoli’s October 29, 1991 semi-secular album Pure Attraction. The song peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 25, 1992, a little over 31 years ago. It stayed on the charts for 20 total weeks. “Everything Changes” reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary Chart that spring as well.
The album Pure Attraction peaked at #9 on the Billboard Christian Chart on May 2, 1992; and had two singles – “Love Was Never Meant to Die” and “Help Myself to You” reach #1 on the Christ Community Music (CCM) Adult Contemporary Charts in late 1991 and early 1992. Troccoli had several more studio albums and Christian hits thereafter. But she never had lightning-in-a-bottle pop success like 1992 again.
“Everything Changes” just sounds so, well, Taylor Dayne. The video is classic 80s-cheesy in the early 90s (Kathy sure loves her hair in said video). But it’s one of those songs that, for whatever reason, hits my heart and soul in a very powerful way. “Everything changes when you love someone.” Perhaps it’s because that one line is so incredibly true.
Thank you, Ms. Troccoli, for making this song memorable.