Speaking of children finding it difficult to live up to expectations…..

The offspring of actors who then become actors themselves don’t always achieve a level of success comparable to their famous parent, but their chances are actually pretty good, and examples abound of fame begetting fame (just off the top of my head: Isabella Rosselini, Michael Douglas, Angelina Jolie, Sean Astin, Dakota Johnson, all of those Barrymores…and many more).

The offspring of singers, however…..well, let’s just say that mountains of records and CDs have gone unsold over the years. And for those who do succeed, it tends to occur on a much smaller level. The bar of expectations rests at a very high elevation.

But sometimes, the kids do mommy and daddy justice. Sometimes, the kids don’t fall far from the platinum tree.

Growing up in the California sunshine during the 70’s and 80’s, Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & The Papas, used to hang out with Carnie and Wendy Wilson, the daughters of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, and would constantly cajole them into singing harmonies with her. Eventually they decided to take it seriously and a connection in the biz hooked them up with songwriter Glen Ballard, hot off of co-writing a #1 for Michael Jackson.

They met up in 1988 and Ballard played the trio a cassette of an instrumental track he had written. Chynna took the tape and played it in her car on the way home and before she’d even reached the driveway had composed all of the lyrics. At this time in her life, she was in the middle of a messy break up and also attending AA meetings to fight substance abuse, and as she drove down the highway the words just poured out of her, an affirmation to survive one day at a time and never give up.

Wilson Phillips and Ballard went into the studio to record “Hold On” and three other tracks for a demo tape. They shopped it around L.A. but astonishingly found no takers, despite the family pedigree of the group and the absolutely killer chorus of “Hold On,” but eventually they signed with SBK Records and recorded their debut album.

People had doubts about “Hold On,” but when released as a single in February of 1990, the song topped the charts, won a Grammy, and was the bestselling single of the year. Wilson Phillips followed that up with two more #1 singles and both their debut album and their follow-up went platinum. Unfortunately, longevity wasn’t in the cards and the three parted ways, but they’ve occasionally reunited to release albums of covers or Christmas tunes. Together or apart, they’ll always be in the exclusive club of parents and kids who hit #1 — eight times between all of them!

So break free from the chains — things’ll go your way … with Wilson Phillips.