Gary Portnoy (born June 8, 1956) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known for co-writing and performing the main theme song of the NBC sitcom Cheers, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name".

Career

In the early 1980s, Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo set out to write a theme for Cheers. After their first two attempts were rejected, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" was selected. Prior to that, Portnoy's songs had been recorded by various artists, including Dolly Parton's "Say Goodnight" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) and Air Supply's "I'll Never Get Enough of You" (co-written by Jeanne Napoli and Judy Quay). He also recorded and released a self-titled album in 1980 for Columbia Records. Portnoy also wrote several songs for the NBC television series Fame, including the Emmy-nominated track for Best Original Song, "I Still Believe In Me" (co-written by Susan Sheridan) as well as "It's Gonna Be a Long Night" (co-written by Estelle Levitt). Both songs were featured on the 1982 album, The Kids from "Fame". Portnoy also received an Emmy nomination for the Cheers theme, as well as six consecutive ASCAP awards during the 1980s for the Most Performed Television Themes of the year. He also wrote (with Hart Angelo) the theme songs for the television programs Punky Brewster and Mr. Belvedere, performing the former himself, while Leon Redbone performed the latter. In 2003, after a hiatus from the music business during the 1990s, Portnoy released the 12-track album Keeper, which includes the full-length version of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". In 2007, he followed with the release of the autobiographical 12-track album, Destiny, which contains a full-length version of the theme song for Mr. Belvedere (whose original version was sung by Leon Redbone). In 2010, Portnoy released the 12-track album, Songs Along The Way, which includes eleven newly penned compositions as well as the demo version of the Cheers theme song. In 2013, Portnoy's Argentum Records released Gary Portnoy's Original Cheers Theme across all digital platforms. It includes Portnoy and Hart Angelo’s three initial attempts at composing the theme as well as their songwriting demo and subsequent full-length recording of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name". 2017 saw the release of Pushing Sixty, Portnoy’s fifth full-length CD.

Discography

Albums

Songs recorded by other artists (partial list)