Will Jennings

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Wilbur "Will" Jennings (born 1944 in Kilgore, Texas) is an American songwriter. He attended school just outside Tyler, TX, in the nearby Chapel Hill Independent School District. He also attended the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.^[1]

Grammy and Academy Award-winning songwriter Will Jennings began his Hollywood career with 1976s The Commitment, soon after teaming with composer Richard Kerr to author Barry Manilow's 1977 pop chart-topper "Looks Like We Made It"; two years later, Manilow returned to the Top Ten with the duo's "Somewhere in the Night." After earning his first Academy Award nomination for the song "People Alone" from 1980s The Competition, Jennings collaborated with Steve Winwood for several songs on the singer's acclaimed 1981 album Arc of a Diver; they reunited the following year for Talking Back to the Night, which generated the hit "Valerie."

In tandem with Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, Jennings next scored his first Oscar for "Up Where We Belong," the Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes blockbuster from the film An Officer and a Gentlemen; after working with Jimmy Buffett on 1984s Riddles in the Sand and its follow-up Last Mango in Paris, he reunited with Winwood for 1986s enormously popular Back in the High Life, earning a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year for the number one smash "Higher Love." Also in 1984, he wrote the lyrics for; "Love Came For Me", music by; Lee Holdridge, the theme song to the movie, "Splash", a surprise box office hit, directed by Ron Howard, with Daryl Hannah, and Tom Hanks, starring. In 1991, Jennings paired with Eric Clapton for the cathartic "Tears in Heaven," culled from the motion picture Rush. His biggest song, however, remains 1997s Titanic theme "My Heart Will Go On"; written with composer James Horner and sung by Celine Dion, the song earned a number of Oscars, Grammys, and Golden Globes on its way to becoming the most-played radio hit in history.^{[citation needed]}

He has co-written or wrote songs for motion picture soundtracks and popular singers including Steve Winwood, B. B. King, Peter Wolf, Randy Crawford, Barry Manilow, Jimmy Buffett, Rodney Crowell, Roy Orbison, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Frankie Miller, Whitney Houston, Tim McGraw, Linda Ronstadt, Gregg Allman, Aaron Neville, Céline Dion, Diana Ross.

Awards

He has received the following major awards:

• Best Pop Vocal Performance 1993 Grammy Awards "Tears in Heaven" performed with Eric Clapton
• Academy Award (1997), Golden Globe Award (1997), Grammy Award for writing the lyrics to "My Heart Will Go On" performed by Céline Dion for the motion picture Titanic.
• Golden Globe Award (1991) for writing the lyrics for "Tears in Heaven" by Eric Clapton for the film Rush and also in 1991 for writing the song "Dreams To Dream" for the motion picture An American Tail: Fievel Goes West.
• Academy Award (1983), Golden Globe Award (1983) along with Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie for writing the song "Up Where We Belong" performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes from the motion picture An Officer and a Gentleman. Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award for "Up Where We Belong" with Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie
• Grammy Award (1993) — "Tears In Heaven" (shared with Eric Clapton)
• Grammy Award (nomination) (1986) — "Higher Love"
• Grammy Award (1982) — "I will Never Love This Way Again" (shared with Richard Kerr)
• Academy Award (nomination) (1980) — for writing the song "People Alone" for the motion picture The Competition.

Jennings wrote the lyrics for Udo Jürgens' composition "Leave a Little Love", which was successful at the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival 1981 in Tokyo, Japan. Jürgens received the Most Outstanding award for performance, and the Most Outstanding award for composition.

Jennings co-wrote a majority of the songs on two Jimmy Buffett albums, Riddles in the Sand (1984) and Last Mango in Paris (1985). This era of Buffett's career was an experimental period, venturing into uncharted waters for him. Riddles was described as a country album, and some songs from Paris can be considered as 1980s pop (songs such as "Everybody's On the Run"). The albums were moderately successful, and the single "If the Phone Doesn't Ring, it's Me" hit the top 20 on the country charts.

There is an extended interview with Will Jennings (among many interviews with other songwriters), including discussion of his work with Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Steve Winwood, Roy Orbison, and The Crusaders, at the Songfacts website^[2]

References