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.
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The prolific lyricist was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the tunes “People Alone” from The Competition (1980) and “Up Where We Belong” from An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), the latter of which he won. In 2006, Jennings was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In addition to his two Oscars, Jennings won three Grammys: “My Heart Will Go On” (Song of the Year, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or for Television) and “Tears in Heaven” (Song of the Year), from 1992’s Jennifer Jason Leigh-starring cop drama Rush , for which he paired with Eric Clapton. He also won two Golden Globes for Best Original Song, for the Dion masterpiece and “Up Where We Belong,” which he co-wrote with Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Born in Kilgore, Texas on June 27, 1944, Jennings began his Hollywood tenure with 1976’s The Commitment , teaming afterward with composer Richard Kerr to pen the Barry Manilow No. 1 hit “Looks Like We Made It.” Two years later, Manilow returned to the charts with the pair’s “Somewhere in the Night.”
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The songwriter was also a frequent collaborator of Steve Winwood’s, with whom he worked on several songs on the Brit musician’s album Arc of a Diver (1981). The following year, they reunited to work on 1982’s Talking Back to the Night , which included the hit “Valerie.” Their joint hits also spanned “Higher Love” and “Roll With It” (both of which reached No. 1), as well as “Back in the High Life Again” and “Don’t You Know What the Night Can Do.”
Jennings also wrote and had major hits with the likes of Whitney Houston (“Didn’t We Almost Have It All”), Dionne Warwick (“I’ll Never Love This Way Again”), Tim McGraw, Mariah Carey (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” along with “My Heart Will Go On” collaborator James Horner), B.B. King, Diana Ross, Faith Hill and Jimmy Buffett, among others.
Peter Wolf, former vocalist for The J. Geils Band and friend, wrote on social media in a tribute of the songwriter: “A Lot of Good Ones Gone’…A sad time, the passing of Will Jennings, a maestro, brilliant mind and a gentle spirit. Will shared his talents with me, ever patient and generous, he was a treasured friend and teacher, enriching my life in so many ways. It was an enormous honor to have worked with such a musical genius for so many years…To quote one of his favorite poets, W.B Yeats, ‘Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends.'”
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