Will Jennings: Last News

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe music industry’s return to whatever passes for normal these days has been hit and miss, to put it mildly: Grammy Week, Coachella, and the first publishers’ week in three years have seen an uneven balance of caution and carelessness — some events have a relatively high percentage of masks and distancing, some have hardly any at all, and at each one you hear tales of how severe someone’s bout with Covid was or wasn’t, and that someone else couldn’t make it because they suddenly tested positive.The “publishers week” we’re referring to is the usual combination of A2IM’s Indie Week conference, the National Music Publishers Association’s annual meeting, and the closer, the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which is one of the most unique and memorable awards shows in the business — which is a parallel event to the Clive Davis pre-Grammy Gala in that it’s invite-only and features a number of once-in-a-lifetime performances. Not only is it the annual family reunion for the songwriting an publishing industry, over the years we’ve seen performances from  Neil Diamond, Drake, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt, Justin Timberlake, Ariana Grande, Van Morrison, Cyndi Lauper, John Prine, Leon Russell, Elvis Costello and dozens of others, along with several completely unique homages: Lady Gaga singing Four Non-Blondes’ hit “What’s Up” to Linda Perry; Stevie Nicks belting “The Rose” to Bette Midler; Emmylou Harris performing Eric Clapton’s heartbreaking hit “Tears in Heaven” for the song’s co-writer Will Jennings; and one year, the evening ended with Billy Joel and Garth Brooks duetting at the piano in matching Stetson hats.

Oscar-winning lyricist for songs such as ‘My Heart Will Go On’, ‘Tears in Heaven’ and ‘Up Where We Belong’, has died at the age of 80.The news was confirmed by his caregiver Martha Sherrod, who told The Hollywood Reporter that he passed away on Friday (September 6) at him home in Tyler, Texas. He had been in declining health for five years.Jennings won three Grammys, two Golden Globes and two Oscars, the latter coming for Celine Dion’s signature song for Titanic in 1997, and ‘Up Where We Belong’, recorded by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes for An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982.Wilbur Hershel Jennings was born on June 27, 1944 in Kilgore, Texas, and after a period teaching at Austin State University, he made his first inroads into the entertainment industry in the mid-1970s.Some of his earlier success came writing alongside composer Richard Kerr, including multiple hits for Barry Manilow, including ‘Looks Like We Made It’ and ‘Somewhere In The Night’.He found his niche writing lyrics for songs for films, earning his first Oscar nomination for ‘People Alone’, from the Richard Dreyfuss drama The Competition in 1980, which he wrote alongside Lalo Schifrin.‘Up Where We Belong’ earned him his first Academy Award, alongside Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, and from there Jennings became in high demand as a lyricist, writing for artists including Roy Orbison, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houstin, B.B.

multiple reports. Jennings won an Academy Award for Best Original Song along with composer James Horner for the haunting ballad from the 1997 disaster film, which was made legendary by Celine Dion.He also won the coveted award for “Up Where We Belong”from “An Officer and a Gentleman,” and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “People Alone” from “The Competition.” In 2006 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Will Jennings, the two-time Oscar and Grammy-winning co-writer of the beloved Titanic theme, Celine Dion‘s “My Heart Will Go On,” has died at 80 in his Texan home, according to multiple reports. Though a cause of death was not identified, those close to the composer said he had been in declining health for a number of years.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Former President Donald Trump has a long history of using popular songs at his campaign rallies without authorization — by the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Linkin Park and even Celine Dion — many of which have titles or meanings that hardly seem to imply victory, like “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” and, in the current case in point, “My Heart Will Go On,” Celine Dion’s theme song from the 1997 film “Titanic,” in which thousands of people die on a sinking luxury liner.Trump campaign plays the theme from the Titanic at his rally pic.twitter.com/lspVW1hA5I While Trump has used the song at rallies in the past, in Montana on Friday night he used a video of Dion singing the song as well — which brings in a raft of legal issues beyond the standard use of a song at a rally. On Saturday, Dion disavowed any endorsement of his campaign and questioned the choice of the song, which for millions evokes the tragedy of the Titanic and, in the film, Leonardo DiCaprio’s dying character sinking to the bottom of the sea.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The Songwriters Hall of Fame, which staged its annual awards ceremony on Thursday night, is an institution and an event unlike any other in the music industry, even though many of its elements are hardly unique and many things about it have barely changed over decades, and possibly since it launched in 1969. Indeed, we say many of the same things about the ceremony in an article very similar to this one every year — it’s a combination of an awards show, a family reunion and a trade event that is invite-only yet features a mind-blowing array of Grammy-level, once-in-a-lifetime performances and tributes, always held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York’s Times Square.

Thania Garcia Sebastián Yatra will sponsor the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation’s Prodigy Scholarship which will go toward a bachelor’s degree at Berklee College of Music for the 2024 fall semester. The Foundation scholarship provides students with up to $200,000 in financial aid.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Grammys might be the most well-known music awards show in the world, but the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s ceremony is arguably the most unique. The invite-only event, being held June 16 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City, and its awards honor the most important and yet most frequently overlooked people in the music business — the songwriter, duh — and it resembles a cross between the Grammys and an annual family reunion for the tight-knit songwriting and music-publishing community.At each ceremony, superstars receiving honors frequently tell the room that the accolade means more to them than any other award they’ve received, because it’s an endorsement and a validation from their peers.