Will Jennings, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning co-writer of Titanic‘s “My Coronary heart Will Go On” and different hit songs by Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Whitney Houston, has died. He was 80.
The celebrity lyricist handed away Friday (Sept. 6) at his dwelling in Tyler, Texas, his caregiver Martha Sherrod confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. A reason behind dying was not offered, however Jennings had been experiencing well being points in recent times.
“A tragic time, the passing of Will Jennings, a maestro, sensible thoughts and a delicate spirit. It was an unlimited honor to have labored with such a musical genius,” former J. Geils Band singer Peter Wolf, who collaborated with Jennings, wrote on X (previously Twitter) Saturday.
Throughout his profession, the Songwriters Corridor inductee co-wrote six songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart: Barry Manilow’s “Seems Like We Made It” (1977); Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ “Up The place We Belong” (1982); Winwood’s “Larger Love” (1986); Houston’s “Didn’t We Virtually Have It All” (1987); Winwood’s “Roll With It” (1988); and Celine Dion’s “My Coronary heart Will Go On” (1998).
Jennings additionally collaborated with Clapton on “Tears in Heaven,” which hit No. 2 on the Sizzling 100 and topped Billboard‘s Grownup Up to date chart for 3 weeks in 1992. The tribute to Clapton’s late son additionally earned the pair a music of the 12 months trophy on the thirty fifth annual Grammy Awards.
Jennings gained greatest authentic music on the Academy Awards in 1983 for co-writing An Officer and a Gentleman‘s “Up The place We Belong” alongside Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie. He took dwelling the identical honor in 1998 for the Titanic basic “My Coronary heart Will Go On,” which he wrote-wrote with composer James Horner. The Dion-sung ballad additionally gained a Grammy for music of the 12 months.
Jennings was born in Kilgore, Texas, in 1944. Earlier than hitting it large in songwriting, he was a professor at Tyler Junior School and later Austin State College, earlier than educating on the College of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His résumé additionally contains musical collaborations with superstars like B.B. King, Mariah Carey, Jimmy Buffett and Roy Orbison.
Jennings is survived by his spouse, Carole, and his sisters, Joyce and Gloria.
