June 7, 2010, by
Diane Warren has written some of the biggest songs the past two decades. Depending on your point of view, they're emotionally deep and lyrically meaningful or maudlin and overwrought. And you'll hear many of her tunes on blockbuster films such as "Pearl Harbor" or "Armageddon."
"Un-Break My Heart." "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." "How Do I Live." "If I Could Turn Back Time." "Because You Loved Me." "There You'll Be."
The Grammy-winning songwriter (who ironically has stage fright) has garnered more than 90 top 10 hits for artists such as Aerosmith, Celine Dion and 'N Sync. Her chart heyday was the 1990s. Today, in a world of packed with synthetic dance pop by artists such as Ke$ha and Jay Sean, her influence has faded a bit.
It's not surprising she is catering now to the older public TV crowd, which embraces the likes of Il Divo, Josh Groban and Celtic Woman.
Warren is coming to Georgia Public Broadcasting tonight at 8:30 p.m. to help with pledge drive support and promote her new tribute concert “Diane Warren: Love Songs.”
She also has found a new male/female duo Due Voci, who will sing her classics and some newer songs in that pop/classical style GPB viewers love.
Warren, in an interview last week, said she was inspired by Simon Cowell's El Divo boy group. She already had Kelly Levesque in mind but sifted through hundreds of men to find Tyler Hamilton. "He was even more important in a weird way for this audience," she said. "He had to be really gorgeous but also have the chops. The hunt was frustrating." David Foster turned her on to Hamilton, a carpenter who became a Canadian Idol contestant. "Three years of searching paid off," Warren said.
The PBS special, which features Due Voci and taped a few weeks ago at the Palladium in Los Angeles, includes songs sung by Atlantan Toni Braxton, Fantasia, LeAnn Rimes and Gloria Estefan, along with Eric Benet and Patti Austin. Former Atlantan Jane Fonda introduced her and friends Cher and Clive Davis pop by.
Warren tends to focus on her next song. (She writes about one a week.) Watching the concert, though, she thought, “Wow! I’ve done some cool stuff. I’m proud of my work.”
As for her writing style, she said she has an easier time with melodies than lyrics and she often has to avoid plagiarizing herself or anybody else. Fortunately, she said she has a good encyclopedic memory for melodies and songs. (She has never been sued for plagiarism and has never sued others, even when people do songs that sound like hers.)
Not surprisingly, she bemoaned today’s pop charts, calling it “dismal” with too many songs with a range of three notes and minimal melodic or lyrical interest. She wouldn’t name names, though. She’s shrewd enough to know that she might just want to work with an artist who has recorded said “dismal” song.
On TV
“Diane Warren: Love Songs,” 8:30 p.m. tonight June 7 on Georgia Public Broadcasting
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
