Holly Knight is an American songwriter, musician and singer. Classically trained on piano from the age of four, Knight left home at sixteen and formed the hard rock band Spider in 1977. During this time, she began a career as a songwriter, penning hits for artists like Pat Benatar, Heart, Tina Turner, Animotion and Scandal (featuring Patti Smyth).

When Spider broke up in the early 1980s, Knight missed being in a band, so she recruited frontman Paul Engemann (his 1984 song “Reach Out” topped the German Pop Chart) and guitarist Gene Black to form Device. After writing “One of the Living” for Tina Turner, Knight performed keyboards and backing vocals on the track, and Black performed guitar. It was released as Tina Turner featuring Device, and in late 1985 peaked at #15 in the US and reached the top 10 in several countries overseas.

In spring 1986, Device released their sole album 22B3. It was a success, despite poor reviews, reaching #73 on the US Albums Chart in the summer of 1986. It spawned two hits, the top 40 single “Hanging On A Heart Attack” and the minor hit “Who Says” – which reached #79. The next two singles failed to chart. Device disbanded in 1987.

Knight released a solo album in 1988 and its lead single “Heart Don’t Fail Me Now” reached #59 in the US. But she also continued with her songwriting career, penning (or co-writing) hits for Aerosmith, Kiss, Lou Gramm, Rod Stewart and many others. In 2013, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.