Huey Lewis (born Hugh Anthony Cregg III in 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, and harmonica player best known as the frontman of Huey Lewis and the News, a San Francisco-based rock band formed in 1979. The group rose to massive 1980s popularity with polished, upbeat pop-rock hits, including several from their multi-platinum albums Sports and Fore!.
“Hip to Be Square,” released in 1986 as a single from Fore!, is a catchy, horn-driven track co-written by Lewis, drummer Bill Gibson, and keyboardist Sean Hopper. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and playfully comments on former rebels settling into conventional, “square” adult life—though Lewis has noted it was meant satirically and was sometimes misread as a straightforward anthem for conformity.
- Features backup vocals from San Francisco 49ers stars including Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott.
- Famously referenced (and analyzed) by Patrick Bateman in the novel and film American Psycho.
- Lewis later performed it live as “(Too) Hip to Be Square.”
- One of the band’s signature ’80s hits alongside “The Power of Love” and “Stuck with You.”
Four decades on, “Hip to Be Square” remains a fun, infectious reminder of pure 1980s rock energy.