Diane Warren
About
Biography
Filmography
Notes
There is an official Web site located at www.realsongs.com
Warren received ASCAP's pop songwriter of the year award for an unprecendented five straight years (1995-1999)
Biography
Renowned for her epic romantic ballads, Diane Warren was one of the most prolific and successful female songwriters of all time, having penned hundreds of chart hits beginning in the early 1980s. A Grammy Award and Golden Globe winner, as well as a multiple Oscar nominee, Warren first achieved success with tracks written for the likes of Laura Branigan, DeBarge and Starship and subsequently found herself courted by much bigger superstar names. After giving Cher her biggest hit in 15 years, Warren went onto write number one singles for Toni Braxton, Brandy and Celine Dion, break chart records with LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" and compose much-loved film themes for the likes of Gloria Estefan, Aerosmith and Faith Hill. Her phenomenally successful career also took in the Olympics, "American Idol" (Fox 2002-16) and even the Eurovision Song Contest. But despite her ubiquity in the upper reaches of the chart, Warren remained a relatively anonymous figure happy to let her winning way with a melody do the talking.
Born in Van Nuys, CA in 1956, Warren was encouraged to pursue her songwriting ambitions by her father, who not only bought her a 12-string Martin guitar but also built a backyard metal shed to give her private rehearsal space. Inspired by the likes of Carole King, Leiber and Stoller, and Burt Bacharach, her dedication to the craft became so strong that she abandoned courses at both Los Angeles' Pierce College and California State University in order to focus entirely on writing songs. After hawking her services around to various music publishers to little avail, Warren briefly worked as a music industry messenger service before a friend helped her to land a staff songwriting job with Laura Branigan's producer Jack White. Warren subsequently wrote the lyrics to the New Yorker singer's 1983 Top 10 hit, "Solitaire," sparking one of the most successful hit-making careers in chart history.
After writing DeBarge's signature hit, "Rhythm Of The Night," in 1985, Warren set up her own publishing company, RealSongs, and quickly scored her first US number one single and Academy Award nomination with Starship's "Mannequin" (1987) theme, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." She further established her credentials by penning tracks for Cher (her 1989 comeback hit "If I Could Turn Back Time"), Patti LaBelle ("If You Asked Me To"), and Milli Vanilli ("Blame It On The Rain"). But it was during the mid-'90s that her 12-hour-a-day/six-days-a-week work schedule seriously began to reap its rewards. Written as a tribute to her supportive father, one of Warren's few autobiographical songs, "Because You Loved Me," gave Celine Dion her second chart-topper in 1996. Toni Braxton's power ballad "Un-Break My Heart" reached the same position in the same year. Leann Rimes' country ballad, "How Do I Live," spent a record-breaking 69 weeks on the US Hot 100 in 1997.
Add in Gloria Estefan's official 1996 Atlanta Olympics theme, "Reach," the first and only number one of Aerosmith's career, "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," and several hits for a new generation of R&B stars including Brandy ("Have You Ever"), Aaliyah ("The One I Gave My Heart To") and Mya ("My First Night With You"), and Warren finished the 20th century as one of America's most bankable songsmiths. It's a role that she continued to hold down throughout the early part of the 2000s thanks to the likes of Faith Hill's "Pearl Harbor" (2001) theme "There You'll Be," Christina Aguilera's "I Turn To You," and Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias' duet, "Can I Have This Kiss Forever." Meanwhile, a surprising collaboration with doomy rockers The Cult for the soundtrack to "Gone In Sixty Seconds" (2000) and a rare uptempo tune in the form of LeAnn Rimes' "Can't Fight The Moonlight" proved that she was capable of venturing outside her power ballad comfort zone.
Following a rare foray into TV with the theme to "Star Trek: Enterprise" (UPN 2001-05), Warren returned to the small screen with the first of several guest judging appearances on "American Idol" (Fox 2002-) in 2003 and a year later released a compilation of her best romantic efforts named Diane Warren Presents Love Songs. Although her hit rate started to decline over the next decade, she still continued to work with high-profile artists, contributing one of the standouts from Whitney Houston's final studio effort, I Turn To You ("I Didn't Know My Own Strength"), teaming up with Andrew Lloyd-Webber to compose Jade Ewen's "My Time," the 2009 UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, and winning her first Golden Globe for Cher's "Burlesque" (2011) number, "You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me."
Filmography
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Life Events
1970
At age 14, began performing career as a singer at a restaurant in Venice, California
1982
Wrote first hit single, "Solitaire", recorded by Laura Branigan
1984
Contributed first song to a motion picture, "Hot Night" included on the soundtrack to "Ghostbusters II"
1985
Received a Golden Globe Award nomination for the song "Rhythm of the Night" from the feature "The Last Dragon"
1986
Founded Realsongs, a publishing company to handle the rights to her songs
1987
Was nominated for Best Original Song Oscar for "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" from "Mannequin"
1989
Wrote the theme song to the James Bond film "Licence to Kill"
1996
Got second Oscar nomination for Best Song for "Because You Loved Me", the love theme from "Up Close and Personal"
1996
Toni Braxton's recording of her pop song "Unbreak My Heart" was a Number One Hit
1997
Earned third Academy Award nomination for the country-flavored song "How Do I Live" used in the film "Con Air"; song was recorded by both Lee Ann Rimes and Trisha Yearwood
1999
Penned the theme to "Music of My Heart"; picked up a Best Original Song Academy Award nomination
2000
Had four songs featured on the soundtrack of "Coyote Ugly"
2000
Wrote the song "I Don't Know How I Got By" for the film "The Family Man"
2001
Contributed the love theme ("There You'll Be") to "Pearl Harbor"; netted sixth Oscar nomination
2001
With James Newton Howard, co-wrote songs for Disney's animated "Atlantis: The Lost Empire"; when film was released, however, only one of the songs "Where the Dream Takes You," was included
2001
Received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (January 31)
2005
Contributed three songs to Carrie Underwood's first album, "Some Hearts"
2010
Partnered with Avon to be a celebrity judge for Avon Voices, an online singer talent search and songwriting competition with a focus on women's voices and writing
2012
Wrote the song "Counterfeit," featured on Tulisa's debut album
2014
Wrote the song "Only Love Can Hurt," performed by Paloma Faith
2014
Wrote the song "Grateful" for the film "Beyond the Lights," performed by Rita Ora and nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards
2015
Co-wrote, with Lady Gaga, the hit song "Til It Happens to You," featured in the documentary "The Hunting Ground," which won the Emmy for Best Original Music and Lyrics and was nominated for both an Oscar and a Grammy, along with many other awards
Family
Bibliography
Notes
There is an official Web site located at www.realsongs.com
Warren received ASCAP's pop songwriter of the year award for an unprecendented five straight years (1995-1999)
David Geffen has called Warren "one of the best songwriters in the world".
Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2001.
"I still don't think I've made it. That's the weird thing. I know I have. Believe me, I get the cheques to prove it. But in my mind, I still feel like this struggling songwriter, I still come in and work harder than I ever have." --Diane Warren quoted in The Daily Telegraph, July 25, 2000.
"She hits a common chord, no pun intended. She touches everyone. She nails simple emotions in a very direct way that's relatable, which is what songwriting's all about: communication." --lyricist Carole Bayer Sager on Warren, quoted in The Hollywood Reporter, December 5, 1996.
"I expect to sit down, whenever I write a song, to write a great song. I put pressure on myself. I've been doing this since I was 14 years old, Nobody could put more pressure on myself than I do." --Diane Warren in The Hollywood Reporter December 5, 1996.
