Matthew Wilder

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Matthew Wilder
Background information
Birth name	Matthew Weiner
Born	January 24, 1953 (age 54) New York City, New York, United States
Genre(s)	New Wave, Synthpop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, Record producer
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Synthesizer, Guitar
Years active	Solo Career: 1983 - 1984
Associated acts	Matthew & Peter

Matthew Wilder (born Matthew Weiner, January 24, 1953, in New York City) is an American musician best known for his 1983 Top 5 hit, "Break My Stride".

Wilder was one-half of the Greenwich Village folk group Matthew & Peter in the 1970s. In 1978 he moved to Los Angeles and sang for television commercials, and as a backing singer for Rickie Lee Jones and Bette Midler.

Wilder's debut album, I Don't Speak the Language (1983), reached number 49 on the Billboard chart, fueled by "Break My Stride", which reached number 5 on the singles chart. Wilder had some continued success with the single "The Kid's American" which entered the Billboard Top 40 in 1984 but the single failed to match the success of "Break My Stride". Wilder's second album, Bouncin' Off the Walls (1984), failed to gain much momentum - even with an innovative music video for the single Bouncin' Off the Walls and was subsequently deemed a commercial failure.

Despite the collapse of his solo career, Wilder continued his career in the music industry as a songwriter and as a record producer for such acts as No Doubt, 702, Kelly Clarkson, and Joanna. He lent his singing voice to the character of Ling and was nominated for an Academy Award for Original Music Score (along with David Zippel and Jerry Goldsmith) for his work on the Disney film Mulan (1998). He has also recently done production work on Australian Singer-songwriter Mig Ayesa's self-titled album which is slated to be released in March 2007 and has helped with production on Hayden Panettiere's upcoming album; slated to be released May 8, 2007.

For theatre, Wilder has once again paired with Zippel to provide the music and lyrics for Princesses, a musical comedy update of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel A Little Princess. The production ran at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle but has yet to open on Broadway.