Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Eddie Money, known for his hit songs “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Take Me Home Tonight” and “Baby Hold On,” passed away on September 13, 2019, following a battle with stage 4 esophageal cancer. He was 70 years old.
“It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our loving husband and father. We cannot imagine our world without him. We are grateful that he will live on forever through his music,” reads part of the Money’s family statement.
Born Edward Joseph Mahoney in 1949, Money grew up in a family full of members of the New York City Police Department. He briefly served as an NYPD trainee before moving to California to pursue his music career. He secured a recording contract with Columbia Records and spent the late 1970s on the top of the charts with his singles “Baby Hold On” and “Two Tickets to Paradise.” Taking advantage of the MTV music video craze, Money continued his success with his humorous narrative videos for “Think I’m In Love” and “Shakin.”
After a struggle with drug addiction, Money made a comeback in 1986 with his certified platinum album Can’t Hold Back. This album featured his duet with Ronnie Spector, “Take Me Home Tonight,” which reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and received a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. Additional hits off Can’t Hold Back included “I Wanna Go Back” and “Endless Nights.” He followed this album with Nothing to Lose, featuring Top 10 hit “Walk on Water” and Top 40 hit “The Love in Your Eyes.”
Since 1992, Money has traditionally opened the summer concert season for DTE Energy Music Theatre in Michigan. Throughout that time he also wrote and performed original songs for the films Americathon, Over the Top, Back to the Beach, Kuffs and the television series Hardball. He made television appearances on The King of Queens and appeared in a Geico insurance commercial in which he sings “Two Tickets to Paradise.” More recently, he performed a medley of his hit singles during the halftime performance at the 2010 Liberty Bowl. He was planning a summer tour for July 2019 but had to cancel due to health problems.
Money is survived by his wife of more than 30 years, Laurie, and five children: Zachary, Jessica, Joseph, Julian, and Desmond.
