Will Jennings
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Award-winning lyricist Will Jennings has collaborated with a distinguished array of composers. Among his many songs with Richard Kerr are the Barry Manilow hits "Looks Like We Made It" (1976) and "Somewhere in the Night" (1978), and his frequent pairing with Steve Winwood led to a 1986 Grammy nomination for their song "Higher Love." Jennings also wrote the words for Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" and shared a Grammy for Song of the Year (1993) with the guitar legend. He earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for "People Alone" from "The Competition" (1980) and took home the statue for "Up Where We Belong" from "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982). Jennings first worked with James Horner on "The Land Before Time" (1988) and the duo provided the underrated songs for the animated sequel "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West" (1991). Their fourth collaboration, James Cameron's "Titanic" (1997), yielded the hit love theme "My Heart Will Go On," recorded by Celine Dion.
Filmography
Music (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Music (Special)
Life Events
1975
First feature film credit, the songs used in "The Commitment"
1976
His song, "Looks Like We Made It" (written with Richard Kerr) was a hit for Barry Manilow
1978
Had second hit recorded by Manilow, "Somewhere in the Night" (also written with Richard Kerr)
1980
Received first Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for "People Alone" from "The Competition"; co-written with Lalo Schifrin
1982
Won Oscar for Best Song, "Up Where We Belong" from "An Officer and a Gentleman"
1986
Shared Grammy Award nomination with Steve Winwood for their song "Higher Love"
1988
First feature collaboration with James Horner, "The Land Before Time"
1991
Reteamed with Horner on "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West"
1993
Shared Grammy Award for Song of the Year with Eric Clapton for "Tears in Heaven"
1997
Fourth film with Horner, James Cameron's "Titanic"; wrote lyrics to hit song "My Heart Will Go On" recorded by Celine Dion; received Oscar as Best Song
1999
Again collaborated with Horner on "Then You Look at Me", the theme for "Bicentennial Man", recorded by Celine Dion
2001
Reteamed with James Horner to write "All Love Can Be" for "A Beautiful Mind"
Companions
