So who links Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Cher, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith and Lady Gaga?
Her songs have collectively sold over 130,000,000 singles the world over and feature on many of the biggest selling albums of all time. And it’s likely that some of your favourite songs have been written by her.
Her name is Diane Warren, and for over thirty five years she has been writing songs for many of the worlds biggest artists and groups. Songs for movies, TV shows, stage productions and even The Eurovision Song Contest!
“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship. One of THE defining sounds of the 1980’s and used in the hit film ‘Mannequin’. Written by Diane, it was the first of nine songs (so far) be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Celine Dion‘s “Because You Loved Me” is another of those. Recorded for the film ‘Up Close and Personal’ and included on Dion’s studio album “Falling Into You“, which has sold over 32 million copies to date.
Diane was born in California in 1956. She began writing music at the age of 11, but her mother desperately tried to put a stop to this new fascination. Her father did not and encouraged her to fulfill her ambition. “Because You Loved Me” was written as a tribute to his motivation and inspiration.
Her first hit was Laura Branigan’s “Solitaire” in 1983, which reached No.7 in the US. She formed her own publishing company soon after called RealSongs and later wrote the song “Real Emotion” for Celine Dion’s album “The Colour Of My Love”.
How many of her songs can you name? How many count among your all time favourites? Here are just a few of Diane’s memorable classics:
Belinda Carlisle – “I Get Weak”
Cher – “If I Could Turn Back Time”
LeAnn Rimes/Trisha Yearwood – “How Can I Live?”
Aerosmith – “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”
Toni Braxton – “Unbreak My Heart”
Five Star – “Strong As Steel”
DeBarge – “Rhythm Of The Night”
Meatloaf – “Not A Dry Eye In The House”
Whitney Houston/Enrique Iglesias – “Could I Have This Kiss Forever?”
Rod Stewart – “Faith Of The Heart”
Michael Bolton – “How Can We Be Lovers?”
Taylor Dayne – “Love Will Lead You Back”
And in 2009, she co-wrote the United Kingdom’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, “It’s My Time”, performed by Jade Ewen. It achieved fifth place overall, the highest for the UK since 2002!
She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2001 and received a Special International Award at the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards in recognition of her ‘outstanding compositions’.
Diane continues to write big hits for many of today’s artists, including Lady Gaga’s “Til It Happens To You”, “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” for Paloma Faith and Common’s “Stand Up For Something”, from the film ‘Marshall’.
More recently, Diane wrote an original song for the 2020 movie ‘Emperor’, “I’ll Get There (The Other Side)“, performed by Emeli Sande.
Stay in touch with Diane through her WEBSITE and follow her on TWITTER
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