Hugh Anthony Cregg III (born July 5, 1950),[1] known professionally as Huey Lewis, is an American singer, songwriter and actor.

[1] His father, Hugh Anthony Cregg Jr., was an Irish-American from Boston, and his mother, Maria Magdalena Barcinska, was Polish, from Warsaw.

[10] In an interview with David Letterman,[11] Lewis talked about hitchhiking across the country back to New York City and how he learned to play the harmonica while waiting for rides.

While there he made friends with Lance and Larry Hoppen, who later played with Orleans, and with Eddie Tuleja of King Harvest.

He signed up with a band called Slippery Elm and, in December 1969 during his junior year, he dropped out of Cornell and moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area.

His aim was to continue playing music, though along the way he also tried other fields of work including landscaping, carpentry, and wedding and event planning, as well as delivering and selling natural foods.

They had their big break in a club there when their act was caught by Nick Lowe, who convinced Clover to travel to Great Britain with him.

The band accompanied Elvis Costello on his debut album, My Aim is True, minus Lewis and Alex Call, the singers.

McFee and Lewis, credited as Huey Harp, both appear as guest musicians on the George Hatcher Band's 1977 sophomore album, Talkin' Turkey, produced by Tom Allom.

[16] That same year, he was playing at Uncle Charlie's, a club in Corte Madera, California, doing the "Monday Night Live" spot along with future members of the News.

After recording the song "Exodisco" (a disco version of the theme from the film Exodus) simply as American Express, Lewis landed a singles contract from Phonogram, and Bob Brown became his manager.

[17] The band played a few gigs (including an opening for Van Morrison), before adding new guitarist Chris Hayes to the line-up.

After a failed self-titled debut in 1980, the band finally broke through to Top 40 success with the gold album Picture This (1982).

He later produced several songs (including one where he sang backup and played harmonica) on Bruce Hornsby & The Range's debut album, The Way It Is.

(Lewis plays the audition committee leader, who, after glancing at the other, equally unimpressed fellow faculty members, picks up the megaphone and says, "Hold it, fellas ...

[23] Following the success of "The Power of Love" and Back to the Future, Huey Lewis and the News released their fourth studio album, Fore!

[24][failed verification] Lewis has sung with Chicago-based progressive jam band Umphrey's McGee at several shows beginning with the 2005 Jammy Awards and is featured on two tracks of their album Safety in Numbers.

On May 29, 2011, Lewis played the annual Summer Camp Music Festival in Chillicothe, Illinois, along with Umphrey's McGee.

[26] On April 2, 2013, Lewis appeared on the ABC television series Dancing with the Stars, where he performed "The Heart of Rock & Roll" in celebration of the 30th anniversary release of Sports and a concert tour with the News.

[31] After Lewis's cameo appearance as a teacher in Back to the Future, more substantial roles followed, including Vern Miller in Robert Altman's ensemble feature, Short Cuts, and Ricky Dean in Duets.

He has performed in occasional television roles as well, including One Tree Hill, The King of Queens and a recurring character on Hot in Cleveland.

[32] On October 21, 2015, on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Lewis reprised his role from Back to the Future in a segment where Marty McFly and Doc Brown arrive in the time machine and talk to the host.

[6][8] In April 2018, Lewis revealed that he had hearing loss as a result of Ménière's disease, and canceled all upcoming tour dates.