Air Supply Remember Jim Steinman: ‘One Of The World’s Greatest Songwriters’

Jim Steinman’s talents as a lyricist should be remembered among the all-time greats.

That’s praise coming from Air Supply, the Australian soft-rock act who ruled the sales charts in the early ‘80s with a string of hits, including 1983’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All,” which the duo recorded with Steinman.

Air Supply’s Graham Russell turned to social media for a remembrance to Steinman, who passed away Tuesday (April 20), aged 73.

“Today we lost one of the world’s greatest songwriters,” reads the message. “There aren’t many left now, but Jim Steinman was one of those rare unique composers that carved his own path and created his own style that others could only hope to follow. I feel so privileged to have known Jim and for Air Supply to have recorded one of his incredible songs.”

The tribute finishes, “Legends are not made on Earth, they are created in Heaven! Rock on Jim.”

Built around the core of Russell Hitchcock and Russell, Air Supply enjoyed a run of seven consecutive Top Five entries on the Billboard Hot 100, including their 1981 leader “The One That You Love.”

“Making Love Out of Nothing at All” was written in 1975 for the film A Small Circle of Friends and appeared on Air Supply’s Greatest Hits. The single reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, denied only by another Steinman record, Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”.

Air Supply’s albums have sold in excess of 40 million units, and the group was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2013.

Read Russell’s tribute to Steinman below.