[Air Supply] was a soft rock duo whose heavily orchestrated, sweet ballads, became a staple of late-'70's early-'80s radio, scoring a string of seven straight Top Five singles. [Air Supply], for most intents and purposes, was the duo of vocalists Russell Hitchcock (born Russell Charles Hitchcock, June 15, 1949, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia-the shorter dark-haired one), and Graham Russell (born Graham Cyril Russell, June 11, 1950, Sherwood, Nottingham, England, U.K.-the taller blond one). Other members came through the group over the years, yet they only functioned as backing musicians and added little to the group's sound.

The pair met in May 1975 while performing in the Australian production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice's musical production, [Jesus Christ Superstar.] Later that year, the duo, along with Chrissie Hammond and two others, formed [Air Supply] as a five-man group. Hammond left the band and was replaced by Jeremy Paul in time for the group's first Australian hit single, "Love and Other Bruises." It was followed by a debut album that reached gold in Australia, and featured keyboardist-arranger, Adrian Scott, drummer Jeff Browne, and guitarist Mark McEntee. Singles during this period included "Empty Pages" and "Do What You Do." The group was invited to open for Rod Stewart during his tour of Australia. He was so impressed with their performance that he invited them to be the opening act during his tour of the United States. During this tour, Jeremy Paul left the band.

Eager to prove that they could succeed as a duo, [Air Supply] released the album, [Love & Other Bruises,] which included re-recordings of many of their earlier hits. Although their music met with some success, Russell, on a 1995 DVD, recalls that he and Hitchcock were so poor that they were reduced to checking the backs of hotel sofas for change so that they could buy bread to make toast.

In 1979, the group released [Life Support,] a concept album that included a picture disc on its first printing. Produced by Charles Fisher, it was recorded at the tiny Trafalgar Studios in Sydney, Australia, where, as Graham recalls, he had half-an-inch between the end of his guitar and the studio wall. It was on this album that a five-and-a-half minute version of "Lost in Love" was introduced to Australian audiences. Written by Russell in fifteen minutes, the song caught the attention of music mogul Clive Davis, and his record label, Arista, remixed the song and released it as a single in the United States.

Their 1980 album, [Lost in Love,] contained three U.S. Top Five singles, including the title track (U.S. #3), plus "Every Woman in the World" (U.S. #5) and "All Out of Love" (U.S. #2), plus the album sold two million copies in the U.S. alone.

The following year they released [The One That You Love.] The title song was released as a single and went tp #1 on the U.S. [Billboard Hot 100 Chart.] It also featured two other Top 10 hits, "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" and "Sweet Dreams." A fourth single "I'll Never Get Enough," co-written by Jeanne Napoli, Gary Portnoy and Judy Quay, was released in Japan and achieved Top 10 status.

Their third album, in 1982, Now And Forever, continued the group's popularity with the Top 10 hit, "Even the Nights are Better" and two top 40 singles "Young Love" and "Two Less Lonely People in the World."

In 1983, they released a [Greatest Hits] album with a new single called "Making Love out of Nothing at All," written by Jim Steinman. The song was one of their biggest hits ever, spending three weeks at #2 on the U.S. [Billboard Hot 100 Chart,] and the album eventually sold 5 million copies.

In 1984, their song "I Can Wait Forever" was included in a scene in the blockbuster movie Ghostbusters, and appeared on the soundtrack album.

In 1985, [Air Supply] released their first live video, [Air Supply Live in Hawaii.] They had one semi-major Billboard hit with "Just as I Am" and a couple of minor hits.

Russell and Hitchcock recorded a 1987 Christmas album before taking a break from studio recordings. During this time, Russell Hitchcock released his self-titled album in 1988 which was not a big seller. However, in 1990, he did have the single "Swear to Your Heart," from the movie soundtrack for [Arachnophobia] which received significant airplay.

In 1989, using their old producer, and welcoming the return of drummer Ralph Cooper, the duo decided to enter the studio again to record [The Earth Is,] which was released in 1991 by [Giant Records,] a subsidiary of Warner Brothers. The recording contained their hit single, "Without You," along with singles for "Stronger Than the Night" (with a music video announcing that [Air Supply] was back), and "Stop the Tears."

The official [Air Supply] fan club released the video [The Earth Is World Tour,] a rare collector's item that contains live footage from the band's global tour in support of the album.

In 1993, [The Vanishing Race] was released supported by the hit single "Goodbye," produced by David Foster, with lyrics by Linda Thompson. And although not popular in the United States, the song was critically praised there, and gained a large following outside the country, especially in Asia where in many countries they would reach number #1. This popularity led to another world tour in 1993. The album was dedicated to the plight of the American Indians, the vanishing race of the album's title.

Their third album of the decade, [News from Nowhere,] was released in 1995. It contained the Asian hit singles "Someone," "Always," and a cover of "Unchained Melody," a song made famous by the American band, [The Righteous Brothers.]

[Air Supply]'s popularity continued to soar in Southeast Asian countries, culminating in the release of [Now and Forever: Greatest Hits Live,] a CD and DVD recording of a live concert in Taipei, Taiwan.

The group continued to tour heavily throughout Asia and in select venues in the U.S., as well as record into the new millennium, releasing the more adult contemporary-titled [The Book of Love] (1997), [Yours Truly] (2001), and [Across the Concrete Sky] (2003).

In 2005 they once again released a live CD/DVD recording and they performed in Havana, Cuba, becoming one of the first foreign bands invited to perform in the country. They were booked to perform two concerts. They played the first show on July 7the, the day before [Hurricane Dennis] hit the country. In high winds, their first concert had an audience of 175,000, however, due to the hurricane they could not play the second show. Fans staying at the same hotel as [Air Supply] on July 8th, had to be content with Graham performing acoustically for them, as there was no electricity.

In 2006 they released an acoustic album, [The Singer and the Song,] and were gearing up t release their first studio album in three years, [Zed.] In support of the acoustic album they made their first trip to India in May 2006. December 2, 2006 saw the duo perform to a capacity crowd in Kingston, Jamaica. This was their second visit to Jamaica, having performed at the [Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival] in January 2006.

In 2007, Graham Russell released his first adult contemporary solo album called [The Future.] Also, he made an appearance in [Believe,] a comedy about Multi-Level Marketing.

In 2008, [Air Supply] was named as the #83 [Best Musical Act of All Time] in the [Billboard Hot 100]'s 50-year anniversary edition.

They appeared on the December 19, 2008, edition of TV's, [Don't Forget the Lyrics,] hosted by Wayne Brady.

A new album is scheduled for early 2010.

DISCOGRAPHY: Albums: Year / Album / Label 1976 / [Air Supply] / Australian Record Company 1977 / [The Whole Thing Started] / Epic-Sony 1977 / [Love & Other Bruises] / Columbia Records 1979 / [Life Support] / Big Time Records (Rereleased 1996 by EMI Australia) 1980 / Lost in Love (#22 U.S.) / Arista Records 1981 / The One That You Love / (#10 U.S.) / Arista Records 1982 / Now and Forever (#25 U.S.) / Arista Records 1983 / Making Love... The Very Best of [Air Supply] / Arista Records 1985 / [Air Supply] (#26 U.S.) / Arista Records 1986 / Hearts In Motion (#84 U.S.) / Arista Records 1987 / The Christmas Album / Arista Records 1988 / Greatest Hits (#7 U.S.) / Arista Records 1988 / Russell Hitchcock (Russell Hitchcock solo album) / Arista Records 1991 / The Earth Is... / Giant Records 1993 / The Vanishing Race / Giant Records 1995 / News from Nowhere / Giant Records 1995 / Now and Forever...Greatest Hits Live (#1 China) / Giant Records 1997 / The Book of Love / Giant Records 1999 / The Definitive Collection / Arista Records 2001 / Yours Truly / Giant Records 2001 / Sweet Dreams / BMG 2002 / The Heart of the Rose: A Rock Opera (Graham Russell solo album) / BMG 2002 / A Nice Pair / BMG 2002 / Celestine Travelers (Graham Russell solo album) / BMG 2003 / Across the Concrete Sky / BMG 2003 / [Ultimate Air Supply] / Arista Records 2003 / Forever Love: 36 Greatest Hits / BMG 2004 / Platinum and Gold Collection / Arista Records 2005 / Love Songs / Arista Records 2005 / All Out of Love Live / Cleopatra Records 2005 / The Singer and the Song / A Nice Pear 2007 / The Future (Graham Russell solo album) / A Nice Pear 2008 / Take Time (Russell Hitchcock solo album) / A Nice Pear 2009 / Mumbo Jumbo / A Nice Pear

Singles: Year / Song / U.S. Hot 100 / U.S.Adult Contemporary / U.K. Singles / Album 1980 / "Lost in Love" / 3 / 1 / - / [Lost In Love] 1980 / "All Out of Love" / 2 / 5 / 11 / [Lost In Love] 1980 / "Every Woman in the World" / 5 / 2 / - / [Lost In Love] 1981 / "The One That You Love" / 1 / 2 / - / [The One That You Love] 1981 / "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" / 5 / 1 /- / [The One That You Love] 1982 / "Sweet Dreams" / 5 / 4 / - / [The One That You Love] 1982 / "Even the Nights Are Better" / 5 / 1 / 44 / [Now And Forever] 1983 / "Young Love" / 38 / 13 / - [Now And Forever] 1983 / "Two Less Lonely People in the World" / 38 / 4 ' - [Now And Forever] 1983 / "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" / 2 / 2 / 80 [Making Love... The Very Best of Air Supply] 1985 / "Just As I Am" / 19 / 3 / - / [Air Supply] 1985 / "The Power of Love (You Are My Lady)" / 68 / 13 / - [Air Supply] 1986 / "Lonely Is the Night" / 76 / 12 / - / [Hearts in Motion] 1991 / "Without You" / - / 48 / - / [The Earth Is...] 1993 / "Goodbye" / 86 / 35 / 66 / [The Vanishing Race] 1995 / "Someone" / - / 60 / - / [News From Nowhere] 1995 / "The Way I Feel" (#1 China) / - / - / - / [Now and Forever...Greatest Hits Live]

Music videos" Year / Title 1976 / "Love and Other Bruises" 1977 / "Bring Out the Magic" 1980 /"Lost in Love" 1980 / "All Out of Love" 1980 / "Every Woman in the World" 1981 / "Even the Nights Are Better" 1981 / "Young Love" 1982 / "Here I Am (Just When I Thought I Was Over You)" 1982 / "Keeping the Love Alive 1982 / "The One That You Love" 1983 / "Making Love Out of Nothing At All" 1985 / "Just As I Am" 1985 / "The Power of Love" 1986 / "Lonely is the Night" 1986 / "One More Chance" 1991 / "Stronger Than the Night" 1991 / "Without You" 1991 / "Stop the Tears" 1993 / "It's Never Too Late" 1993 / "Goodbye" 1995 / "Someone" 1995 / "Unchained Melody" 1995 / "Always" 1997 / "Strong, Strong Wind" 2001 / "You Are the Reason"