George Merrill

Biography

George Merrill (born January 10, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Whitney Houston, Bette Midler, Graham Nash, Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson, among others. He co-wrote "How Will I Know", which was a hit for Whitney Houston in 1986, as well as Houston's 1987 hit "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".

From the mid-1980s to the present day, Merrill and writing partner Shannon Rubicam have been the vocal duo Boy Meets Girl, who are best remembered for the 1988 hit "Waiting for a Star to Fall". They wrote the song and had initially offered it to Houston and Belinda Carlisle, but they both rejected it (though Carlisle did do a demo recording) and Boy Meets Girl decided to feature it on the next Boy Meets Girl album titled Real Life. Merrill and Rubicam also sang backing vocals for Deniece Williams' hit "Let's Hear It for the Boy".

Merrill has been married twice. His first marriage was with Rubicam from the mid-1980s until they divorced in 2000. Despite the divorce they have continued working together for various music projects. Merrill married his current wife, artist Rozalynd Roos Merrill, in 2004. He has a daughter, Hilary Rubicam Merrill (with Shannon Rubicam), and stepson Maxfield Roos Chandler. Hilary can be seen as the blond girl in her parents' video of "Waiting for a Star to Fall" also singing backing vocals on the Boy Meets Girl albums The Wonderground , Five , and the 2024 single, "We The People".

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