Will Jennings, the Oscar-winning lyricist who co-wrote the Titanic theme song “My Heart Will Go On,” has died at the age of 80. Multiple Reports.
Jennings shared the Academy Award for Best Original Song with composer James Horner for the haunting ballad from the 1997 disaster film made legendary by Celine Dion.
He also won a coveted award for “Up Where We Belong.” He was nominated for an Academy Award for the theme song to “An Officer and a Gentleman” and for Best Original Song for the song “People Alone” from “The Competition.”.”
In 2006 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He also won two Grammy Awards, for “My Heart Will Go On” and for Eric Clapton's 1991 hit “Tears in Heaven.”
The song was written about the death of Clapton's four-year-old son Conor and appears on the soundtrack to the film Rush.
Born June 27, 1944 in Kilgore, Texas, Jennings began his career in 1976's The Commitments.,“ He later teamed up with Richard Kett to write Barry Manilow's number one hit, “Looks Like We Made it.”
He is also a collaborator of Steve Winwood. Diver's Arc and Speaking to the NightThe album includes the hit “Valerie.” Other hits with Winwood include “Higher Love” and “Back in the High Life Again.”
But it was the haunting lyrics of “My Heart Will Go On” that catapulted him to superstardom.
He told Songfacts that the inspiration for the song's lyrics came from a “spirited” woman he met two years ago who was about 101 years old. Variety reported.
“Then I thought of her,” Jennings said, “and realized she could have been on the Titanic. So I wrote the whole thing from the perspective of an old man looking back through the years.”
Jennings also worked with Whitney Houston on “Didn't We Almost Have It All,” Dionne Warwick on “I'll Never Love Again,” and other music giants such as Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw, B.B. King, Diana Ross, Faith Hill and Jimmy Buffett.
Jennings reportedly died at his home in Texas. The cause of death has not been determined.
