American songwriter
Musical artist
Wilbur H. Jennings (born June 27, 1944) is an American lyricist. He is popularly known for writing the lyrics for the songs "
Tears in Heaven " and "
My Heart Will Go On ". He has been inducted into the
Songwriter's Hall of Fame and has won several awards including three
Grammy Awards , two
Golden Globe Awards , and two
Academy Awards .
[1]
Life and education
Jennings was born in
Kilgore, Texas . He attended school near
Tyler, Texas in the
Chapel Hill Independent School District . He graduated from
Tyler Junior College and taught English at the college. In 1967, Jennings earned his B.A. from
Stephen F. Austin State University , located in
Nacogdoches , Texas.
[2] He then taught at the
University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire for three years.
[3]
Career
Jennings has written for a variety of artists, including
Steve Winwood ,
Whitney Houston ,
Eric Clapton ,
B.B. King ,
Joe Sample ,
Rodney Crowell ,
Mariah Carey ,
Jimmy Buffett ,
Barry Manilow and
Roy Orbison .
[4]
[5]
[6]
With Steve Winwood, Jennings wrote a series of albums including
Arc of a Diver ,
Talking Back to the Night and
Back in the High Life , an album that contained the hits "
Higher Love ", "
The Finer Things ", and "
Back in the High Life Again ". Winwood won the
Record Of The Year and Outstanding Male Vocal Performance. Both Jennings and Winwood were nominated for the
Song of the Year award for "Higher Love."
[7]
With Joe Sample, Jennings wrote "
Street Life " (a world-wide hit for
the Crusaders with singer
Randy Crawford ) and several songs for various albums by the Crusaders for guest vocalists, including
Joe Cocker ("I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today"), and
Bill Withers ("Soul Shadows").
Jennings and Sample also wrote the better part of three albums for
B.B. King ,
Midnight Believer in 1978,
Take It Home in 1979, and
There is Always One More Time in 1991.
[8]
[9]
Richard Kerr and Jennings wrote "
Somewhere in the Night " and "
Looks Like We Made It " for
Barry Manilow and "
I'll Never Love This Way Again " for
Dionne Warwick .
[10]
Deana Martin recorded one of Jennings’ songs, "
I Know Who You Are ", on her 2016 album Swing Street .
[11]
Jennings has collaborated on many songs for film, the most notable being "
Up Where We Belong " for
An Officer and a Gentleman , a song that won the Academy Award in America and the BAFTA (
British Academy Award ) in the
United Kingdom and was a number one hit for Joe Cocker and
Jennifer Warnes . In 1997, Jennings wrote the world-wide number one
Céline Dion hit "
My Heart Will Go On " for the film Titanic with his collaborator
James Horner . They won the
Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Song from a Motion Picture.
[12]
Among his other collaborations were two albums written with Jimmy Buffett and
Michael Utley ,
Riddles in the Sand and
The Last Mango in Paris . Jennings also wrote several songs for Roy Orbison's
King of Hearts album.
[13]
[14]
In
Nashville , Jennings wrote hits with
Rodney Crowell , including "
Many a Long & Lonesome Highway ", "
What Kind of Love " and "
Please Remember Me ", a number one country hit for
Tim McGraw .
[14]
Jennings also wrote "
Tears in Heaven " with Eric Clapton, which won song of the Year and also won the
Ivor Novello award for best song from a film.
[15]
Teaming with James Horner and
Mariah Carey , Jennings wrote the lyrics for the central song in
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! , "
Where Are You Christmas? ", sung by a character within the film and by
Faith Hill at the end of the film. In 2002, Horner and Jennings contributed a song for the Oscar-winning film
A Beautiful Mind .
[12]
In 2002,
Peter Wolf 's new album,
Sleepless , appeared with positive reviews. The album featured six songs written by Jennings and Wolf, who collaborated previously on Fool's Parade (1999) on
Mercury Records .
[16]
Jennings and Joe Sample, the keyboard player for the Crusaders, go back to 1978 and began by writing the
Midnight Believer album for B.B. King and then wrote the hit "
Street Life " for the Crusaders album of the same name. Jennings and Sample also wrote "
One Day I'll Fly Away ", originally sung by Crawford, which was featured in the film
Moulin Rouge! , along with another of Jennings's songs, "
Up Where We Belong ". In the film "One Day I'll Fly Away" was sung by
Nicole Kidman and, in March 2002, was released as a single in the
UK from the second soundtrack album to emerge from Moulin Rouge .
[17]
Albums
With
Steve Winwood :
Arc of a Diver ,
Talking Back to the Night ,
Back in the High Life , Roll With It, Chronicles, Refugees Of The Heart
With
Joe Sample , for
B.B. King :
Midnight Believer ,
Take It Home ,
There is Always One More Time
With Joe Sample, for various artists: The Crusaders Vocal Album
With Joe Sample, for
Randy Crawford : Now We May Begin
With
Jimmy Buffett :
Riddles in the Sand ,
The Last Mango In Paris
With
Timothy B. Schmit and
Bruce Gaitsch : Timothy B.
With Richard Kerr: Welcome To The Club
With
Roy Orbison : King Of Hearts
With
Peter Wolf : Fool's Parade, Sleepless , and Midnight Souvenirs
Hits
Steve Winwood :
Eric Clapton :
"
Tears in Heaven " (#2, nominated for a Golden Globe award, 1993 Grammy for Song of the Year, 1993 Ivor Novello award from British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors)
Dionne Warwick :
Randy Crawford /
The Crusaders :
Barry Manilow :
Whitney Houston :
Rodney Crowell :
Jimmy Buffett :
"Who's The Blonde Stranger?"
"If The Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me"
Joe Cocker and
Jennifer Warnes :
"
Up Where We Belong " (#1, American Academy Award, British Academy Award, Winner Tokyo Song Festival)
Celine Dion :
"
My Heart Will Go On " (#1, American Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Grammy for Song of the Year)
Tim McGraw :
Diana Ross :
Awards
He has received the following major awards:
References
^
"Will Jennings" . IMDb.com . Retrieved August 8, 2019 .
^
"The Collegiate Licensing Company : Institution Profile" . Clc.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^
^
"Will Jennings Biography" . Songwriters Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^ Ankeny, Jason (June 27, 1944).
"Will Jennings - Music Biography, Credits and Discography" . AllMusic . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^
"While You See a Chance by Steve Winwood Songfacts" . Songfacts.com . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^
"Back In The High Life Again by Steve Winwood Songfacts" . Songfacts.com. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^ McGee, David (2005).
B.B. King: There Is Always One More Time - David McGee - Google Books .
ISBN
9780879308438 . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^
Billboard - Google Books . March 3, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^ Bronson, Fred (2003).
The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: Updated and Expanded 5Th Edition - Fred Bronson - Google Books .
ISBN
9780823076772 . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^
"Review - Deana Martin - Swing Street" . Music Connection \ November 30, 2016 . Retrieved September 10, 2016 .
^
a
b
"Will Jennings" . IMDb.com . Retrieved August 8, 2019 .
^ Eng, Steve (October 15, 1997).
Jimmy Buffett: The Man from Margaritaville Revealed - Steve Eng - Google Books .
ISBN
9780312168759 . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^
a
b Lehman, Peter (June 13, 2003).
Roy Orbison: Invention Of An Alternative Rock Masculinity - Peter Lehman - Google Books .
ISBN
9781439903896 . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^ Strong, Martin Charles (2004).
The Great Rock Discography: Complete Discographies Listing Every Track ... - Martin C. Strong - Google Books .
ISBN
9781841956152 . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^ Swindle, Anna (January 8, 2010).
"Peter Wolf's New Album to Feature Neko Case and Merle Haggard" . Pastemagazine.com . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
^ Muir, John Kenneth (2005).
Singing A New Tune: The Rebirth Of The Modern Film Musical, from Evita to De ... - John Kenneth Muir - Google Books .
ISBN
9781557836106 . Retrieved August 14, 2012 .
External links
Awards for Will Jennings
1934–1940 1941–1950 1951–1960 1961–1970 1971–1980 1981–1990 1991–2000 2001–2010 2011–2020 2021–present
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
"
Beautiful Day " –
Adam Clayton ,
David Evans ,
Laurence Mullen &
Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2000)
"
Fallin' " –
Alicia Keys (songwriter) (2001)
"
Don't Know Why " –
Jesse Harris (songwriter) (2002)
"
Dance with My Father " –
Richard Marx &
Luther Vandross (songwriters) (2003)
"
Daughters " –
John Mayer (songwriter) (2004)
"
Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own " –
Adam Clayton ,
David Evans ,
Laurence Mullen &
Paul Hewson (songwriters) (2005)
"
Not Ready to Make Nice " –
Emily Burns Erwin ,
Martha Maguire ,
Natalie Maines Pasdar &
Dan Wilson (songwriters) (2006)
"
Rehab " –
Amy Winehouse (songwriter) (2007)
"
Viva la Vida " –
Guy Berryman ,
Jonathan Buckland ,
William Champion &
Christopher Martin (songwriters) (2008)
"
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) " –
Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell ,
Beyoncé Knowles ,
Terius Nash &
Christopher Stewart (songwriters) (2009)
2010s
"
Need You Now " –
Dave Haywood ,
Josh Kear ,
Charles Kelley &
Hillary Scott (songwriters) (2010)
"
Rolling in the Deep " –
Adele Adkins &
Paul Epworth (songwriters) (2011)
"
We Are Young " –
Jack Antonoff ,
Jeff Bhasker ,
Andrew Dost &
Nate Ruess (songwriters) (2012)
"
Royals " –
Joel Little &
Ella Yelich O'Connor (songwriters) (2013)
"
Stay with Me " (
Darkchild version) –
James Napier ,
William Phillips &
Sam Smith (songwriters) (2014)
"
Thinking Out Loud " –
Ed Sheeran &
Amy Wadge (songwriters) (2015)
"
Hello " –
Adele Adkins &
Greg Kurstin (songwriters) (2016)
"
That's What I Like " –
Christopher Brody Brown ,
James Fauntleroy ,
Philip Lawrence ,
Bruno Mars ,
Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip (songwriters) (2017)
"
This Is America " –
Donald Glover ,
Ludwig Göransson &
Jeffery Lamar Williams (songwriters) (2018)
"
Bad Guy " –
Billie Eilish O'Connell &
Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2019)
2020s
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
International National Artists Other