South Florida may be home to numerous celebs and showbiz stars, but sometimes we overlook others who operated on the other side of the camera — or in the case of Dennis Lambert, the opposite end of the microphone. The Boca Raton resident has written some of the biggest hits in pop history. Consider these — "We Built This City" for Starship, "Rhinestone Cowboy" for Glen Campbell, "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)" for Tavares, "Baby Come Back" for Player, and "One Tin Soldier" for the film Billy Jack. All together, he's responsible for more than 80 Billboard Hot 100 singles as well as number-one hits in practically every category and a dozen Grammy nominations to boot.
Lambert has likely accumulated a fairly hefty bank account in the process, but fortune and fame don't always go hand in hand. Although a solo tour of the Philippines in 2007 may have helped accelerate the latter, it will likely take a new biopic starring Steve Carrell — scheduled for production later this year — to bring his name to the masses. For now, the hometown crowd can wish him well as he commences a headlining tour with some of the same artists who found success by singing his songs.