Editing Leif Garrett (section)

===Music career===
[[File:Leif Garrett 1978.jpg|thumb|Garrett in 1978]]

In late 1976, Garrett signed a five-album recording contract with [[Atlantic Records]]. In early 1977, he released a single called "[[Come Back When You Grow Up]]", and recorded his first album, ''[[Leif Garrett (album)|Leif Garrett]]''. The album was released in July 1977, and his first four singles charted modestly on the US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. All of these hits were covers of late 1950s and early 1960s hits such as the [[Dion DiMucci|Dion]] covers "[[Runaround Sue]]" and "[[The Wanderer (Dion song)|The Wanderer]]". In mid-1978, he signed with [[Scotti Brothers Records]] and recorded his second album, ''[[Feel the Need (Leif Garrett album)|Feel the Need]]''. Its first single, "[[I Was Made for Dancin']]", reached number 10 on the US Hot 100 and number 4 on the [[UK Singles Chart]] early in 1979. It became his greatest hit in the US and the UK.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.top40db.net/lyrics/?SongID=79104&By=Artist&Match=Leif+Garrett | title= I Was Made For Dancin' | publisher= Top40DB.net }}</ref>

Subsequent singles failed to crack the Top 20 in either country, but he continued to record, releasing the albums ''Same Goes for You'' (1979), ''Can't Explain'' (1980) and ''My Movie of You'' (1981) in quick succession. In May 1979, he hosted a TV special, ''Leif'', with guest stars [[Brooke Shields]], [[Marie Osmond]], [[Bob Hope]] and [[Flip Wilson]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-the-leif-garrett-special-vol-11-no-20/ |title=Picks and Pans Review: The Leif Garrett Special |website=People}}</ref>

In 1981, Garrett recorded "I Am a Rebel", words and music expressly composed for him by Victorio Pezzolla and produced by [[Richard Finch (musician)|Richard Finch]] of [[KC and the Sunshine Band]], which became the theme song for an Italian TV program entitled ''Il Barattolo''. He mostly stopped recording music in the early 1980s and concentrated on acting for the rest of the decade.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1429351/leif-garrett-arrested-on-the-comeback-trail/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423014255/http://www.mtv.com/news/1429351/leif-garrett-arrested-on-the-comeback-trail/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 23, 2016 |title=Leif Garrett Arrested on the Comeback Trail |publisher=MTV |date=December 7, 1999 |access-date=July 7, 2016}}</ref> He later claimed the producers would not allow him to make music aimed at an adult audience when he reached his early twenties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://currentincarmel.com/qa-with-former-teen-idol-leif-garrett |title=Q&A with former teen idol Leif Garrett |work=CurrentInCarmel.comb|date=July 23, 2015 |access-date=April 24, 2017}}</ref> In 1986, he provided lead vocals to the song "The Way to Happiness", and backing vocals to the title track of the [[L. Ron Hubbard]] album ''[[The Road to Freedom (L. Ron Hubbard album)|The Road to Freedom]]''.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}