Huey Lewis
Actor · Born July 5, 1950 (76) · New York City, New York, USA
Huey Lewis (born Hugh Anthony Cregg III, July 5, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player of the rock band Huey Lewis and the News. The band achieved massive success in the 1980s with hits such as “The Power of Love,” “Hip to Be Square,” and “Stuck with You,” and their album Sports (1983) remains one of the best-selling pop releases of all time. Born in New York City and raised in Marin County, California, Lewis attended Strawberry Point Elementary School (where he skipped second grade) and Edna Maguire Junior High School. His mother, Magda Cregg, was a Polish refugee, and his maternal grandfather invented the red wax sealant used on certain cheeses. After his parents divorced when he was 13, he was sent to the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, graduating in 1967 with a perfect 800 on the math SAT. He enrolled at Cornell University in the engineering program but dropped out in his junior year in December 1969 to pursue music. As a teenager, Lewis hitchhiked across the country, stowed away on a plane to Europe, and spent time busking in Madrid, Spain, where he became an accomplished blues harmonica player. Upon returning to the U.S., he joined the Bay Area band Clover in 1971, adopting the stage name Huey Lewis (inspired by poet Lew Welch, his mother’s longtime partner). Clover recorded two albums in the UK with producer Mutt Lange but struggled as punk rock overshadowed their pub-rock sound. While Lewis was on vacation, the rest of the band backed Elvis Costello on his debut album My Aim Is True. Clover disbanded in 1979. In 1979, Lewis formed Huey Lewis and the American Express, which soon became Huey Lewis and the News. After a unsuccessful self-titled debut in 1980, the band broke through with Picture This (1982) and exploded with Sports (1983), which sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. and produced multiple Top 10 hits. Their follow-up Fore! (1986) also reached No. 1. Lewis wrote or co-wrote many of the band’s songs and contributed harmonica to notable recordings, including Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous (1978). The band’s music featured prominently in popular culture, most notably with “The Power of Love” in Back to the Future (1985), in which Lewis also had a cameo. They contributed to “We Are the World” and scored 14 Top 20 Billboard Hot 100 hits during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1995, Lewis sued Ray Parker Jr. over similarities between “I Want a New Drug” and the Ghostbusters theme. The case was settled out of court. Lewis has also produced for artists such as Nick Lowe and Bruce Hornsby. In 2018, Lewis was forced into semi-retirement after being diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, which caused severe hearing loss. By 2025, he reported total deafness, though a cochlear implant has partially restored his ability to hear speech. Despite this, the band continues to tour occasionally, and Lewis remains active in other projects. In 2024, the jukebox musical The Heart of Rock and Roll, based on the band’s catalog, premiered on Broadway. In February 2025, he was the inaugural inductee into the People’s Music Hall of Fame.
Read moreShow less
Biography from TMDB.
- July 5, 1950 (76)
- New York City, New York, USA
- Actor
- 19 on MovieCove · 25 credits in all
What are Huey Lewis' films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Ideas.
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
A split, not a type: Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 1
Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 1 · Intense 1
Steady 2 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
A split, not a type: Casual 2 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 0
Resolved 3 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
- Allyas Al Gordon in Shadow of Doubt (1998)
- Tricksteras Ricky Dean in Duets (2000)
- Mentoras Ricky Dean in Duets (2000)
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet2
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Huey Lewis' films?
As of October 24, 2026, 13 of their 19 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Hulu (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Huey Lewis' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
25 credits, 19 with a MovieCove page; 37 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Behind the Music(2021)
Midcredits score: 43rd percentile of all shows
The Blacklist(2013)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all shows
Buccaneers and Bones(2010)
Hot in Cleveland(2010)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all shows
The Cleveland Show(2009)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all shows
Pineapple Express(2008)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
Graduation(2007)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
One Tree Hill(2003)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all shows
.com for Murder (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Duets(2000)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
American Psycho(2000)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Dead Husbands (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1998)
The King of Queens(1998)
Midcredits score: 65th percentile of all shows
Shadow of Doubt(1998)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all films
Sphere(1998)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Wag the Dog(1997)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Just Shoot Me!(1997)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all shows
Land of Milk & Honey (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)
Short Cuts(1993)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
The Real Story of Humpty Dumpty (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)
Oliver & Company(1988)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
Amazon Women on the Moon(1987)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
Huey Lewis and the News - All the Way Live (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Back to the Future(1985)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Rockpalast (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1974)
Career shape
Star power in the 81st percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 24 titles from 1974 to 2013; peak year 1999.
Biggest box office
Sphere (1998)
Highest rated
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
Most popular right now
Sphere (1998)
Film career
Peak 1999 · fewer prominent film roles lately. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1993Screen debut· Short Cuts
- 2010Career best· Hot in Cleveland
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Huey Lewis' films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 69th percentile, the median of all 11; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 38th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up7
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th5
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 18 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved5
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser6
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the acting 64/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles; fans 76, detractors 40. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.