Who had the hit single "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" in 1980?

Rupert Holmes had the hit single “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” in 1980. Holmes wrote, performed and produced the song, which appeared on his 1979 album “Partners in Crime.”

Although it is commonly remembered as a 1980 hit, “Escape” was released as a single in September 1979 and first reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 near the end of that year. It returned to the top spot in January 1980, making it notable as the first pop song to reach No. 1 in two different calendar decades under the chart’s usual dating.

The song tells a comic story about a bored man who answers a personal ad, only to discover that the woman seeking a piña-colada-loving companion is his own partner. Another common misconception is that Holmes was primarily a singer; he was also a playwright, novelist, composer and arranger. The familiar parenthetical title became more popular than the original one-word title.