Sheena Easton's Billboard Record: After 40 Years, Pop Stars Still Can't Touch It
Iconic hitmaker Sheena Easton turns 67 on April 27. She's been given the same birthday present she's received for the past four decades: Easton remains the only artist in history to hit the top five on five different Billboard charts: not five songs, five genres. Pop, Country, R&B, Dance, and Adult Contemporary. And she did it all starting from a rainy corner of Bellshill, Scotland.
Before the Grammys and the Bond themes, Sheena was the face of one of the first-ever reality music show. The Big Time caught her in 1980, a singer trying to convince EMI executives she was worth the ink on a contract. They weren't sure. Then she released "9 to 5" (renamed "Morning Train" for us in the States so Dolly Parton wouldn't sue).
It went to number one and it stayed there.
Yet she wasn't a one-hit wonder. The star was a genre-breaking hitmaker. Easton jumped from the girl-next-door vibes of the early eighties straight into the arms of the purple revolution. Prince met her and wrote "Sugar Walls" for her under the pseudonym Alexander Nevermind. It was so risque by the standards of the time that it landed on the "Filthy Fifteen" list created by the Parents Music Resource Center.
Music standards advocate Tipper Gore hated it. Which meant every teenager in America bought it. The publicity made the song unstoppable, and the resulting sales earned Easton her place in music history.
The chemistry on their collab wasn't forced. When Easton walked into the recording studio to sing "U Got the Look" with Prince, she found a different version of the artist than what the public perception was at the time. "His talent was breathtaking, his heart was kind, and all of us have been blessed to have had a glimpse into this sweet and magical soul," Easton said after the star's death.
Before Rihanna had Fenty or Gaga had a jazz album, Easton was jumping from a James Bond theme (For Your Eyes Only) to a Spanish-language Grammy-winning duet with Luis Miguel.
And today, as she celebrates another year, the industry is still trying to figure out how she pulled it off. It could very well be the legendary Scottish work ethic that says if you're given a microphone, you better not stop singing until they cut the power.
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This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 7:24 AM.