This story about Diane Warren first appeared within the All the way down to the Wire situation of TheWrap’s awards journal.
When she landed a nomination this yr for writing the track “Io sì (Seen)” from “The Life Forward,” Diane Warren prolonged her personal file for Oscar success: She’s now been nominated for songwriting 12 instances over 5 totally different many years, from 1987 to 2021, albeit with out ever profitable.
“How cool is it that the best composers and songwriters on the planet select my songs to be within the prime 5, you realize?” she stated. “It’s a giant deal, and I don’t take it without any consideration for a second.”
A pause. “Would I wish to win? Yeah, that will be very nice.”
Warren gave TheWrap a guided tour to all 12 of her Oscar nominations.
“Model” / twentieth Century Fox
1987: “Nothing’s Gonna Cease Us Now” from “Model”
Written with: Albert Hammond
Carried out by: Starship
Misplaced to: “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” from “Soiled Dancing”
Warren had a couple of pop hits earlier than penning this theme for the comedy a few younger man (Andrew McCarthy) who falls for a department-store model that involves life. It grew to become her first No. 1 hit.
“My first nominated track is principally a few man who f—s a model. How about that? However he does marry her, so he makes an trustworthy model out of her. I wrote it with my buddy Albert Hammond, and the concept was to jot down a giant marriage ceremony anthem for the top of the film. So we went to some shops, and I left Albert alone with the mannequins… No, simply kidding.
“However the film grew to become form of a responsible pleasure, and the track lived on, too. I’m wondering what number of mannequins have gotten married to it by now.”
Additionally Learn: Oscars Track Contenders on ‘Frequent Thread’ By means of Their Songs: ‘A Must Be Heard and Seen’ (Video)
“Up Shut and Private” / Disney
1996: “As a result of You Cherished Me” from “Up Shut and Private”
Carried out by: Céline Dion
Misplaced to: “You Should Love Me” from “Evita”
Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer have a Might-December romance in Jon Avnet’s drama set on the earth of TV journalism.
“On the finish of the film he dies and he or she’s speaking about what he meant to her. And I assumed, ‘Let me write a track about someone who noticed one thing in you that no one else noticed and actually lifted you up.’ It was an opportunity for me to thank my dad, as a result of he actually believed in me once I determined to be a songwriter. My mother was like, ‘What are you doing? Can you’re taking your songs to Ralphs and get groceries?’ However my dad was extra of a dreamer, and he all the time believed — he obtained me a subscription to Billboard and would take me to publishers and encourage me. It’s turn out to be a giant marriage ceremony track for lots of father-daughter dances, and likewise a giant funeral track.
“It was one of many two instances I went to the Oscars pondering I used to be going to win, and I bear in mind being bummed out once I didn’t.”
“Con Air” / Touchstone
1997: “How Do I Dwell” from “Con Air”
Carried out by: Trisha Yearwood (and LeAnn Rimes)
Misplaced to: “My Coronary heart Will Go On” from “Titanic”
The Simon West film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer was Warren’s first time working with the producer. It was not a clean expertise.
“I suppose there have been lots of people writing songs for ‘Con Air,’ and I had written ‘How Do I Dwell.’ I bumped into LeAnn Rimes at a restaurant when she was 14 and had simply gained Finest New Artist on the Grammys. I stated, ‘Hey, I wrote a track — do you need to hear it and demo it? She beloved the track and recorded it and did a giant costly video. After which I performed it for Jerry Bruckheimer, and he didn’t just like the manufacturing. It was too nation, I suppose, for the film. However LeAnn’s dad, Wilbur, was like, ‘I’m not altering nothing for them Hollywood individuals!’ He wouldn’t budge.
“So Jerry took the track to Trisha Yearwood and requested me if that was OK. I stated, ‘Yeah, so long as LeAnn can put the file out, too.’ He stated yeah, however then he all of the sudden stated, ‘No, it’s important to pull it from LeAnn.’ I couldn’t try this, and everyone form of hated me. Jerry Bruckheimer hated me and Trisha hated me and the LeAnn file wasn’t even going to return out.
“I referred to as Curb Data and talked them into placing it out, and the 2 information got here out at precisely the identical time. And other people stopped hating me as a result of they each grew to become hits. Trisha had a No. 1 nation file and gained a Grammy, and LeAnn’s was the most important file ever by a feminine artist. Jerry Bruckheimer informed me, ‘I’m by no means going to work with you once more.’ After which he labored with me once more the subsequent yr.”
Additionally Learn: Jerry Bruckheimer’s Longtime Paramount Deal Will Not Be Renewed
Diane Warren and Steven Tyler / courtesy of Diane Warren
1998: “I Don’t Need to Miss a Factor” from ‘Armageddon’
Carried out by: Aerosmith
Misplaced to: “When You Consider” from ‘The Prince of Egypt’
Bruckheimer turned to Warren as soon as once more for the love theme to a global-disaster epic directed by Michael Bay and starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, whose rock-star dad, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, dealt with the vocals.
“The music supervisor on the film, Kathy Nelson, stated, ‘I’m going to get Aerosmith to do that.’ I used to be like, ‘No, you’re not — there’s no method they’ll need to do a track I wrote.’ I assumed I used to be writing it for a feminine artist. However Steven beloved the film and beloved the track.
“I bear in mind sitting on the piano subsequent to him when he was singing the track, and what a tremendous feeling that was. I might by no means have imagined it, however there was simply one thing a few man singing these lyrics (“I might keep awake simply to listen to you respiratory…”). If a woman sings it, it virtually sounds too needy. However guys aren’t often that weak, and to have macho rock star Steven Tyler singing these phrases was simply excellent.”
“Music of the Coronary heart” / Miramax
1999: “Music of My Coronary heart” from “Music of the Coronary heart”
Carried out by: Gloria Estefan and N Sync
Misplaced to: “You’ll Be in My Coronary heart” from “Tarzan”
Horror director Wes Craven modified course for this drama a few real-life music instructor who based a faculty of music in Harlem; Meryl Streep performed the instructor, with Gloria Estefan taking part in one other instructor and singing the title track with a scorching boy dangerous.
“I needed to jot down a track that was about these youngsters occupied with a instructor who modified their lives. It’s factor in the event you can faucet into one thing private whenever you write a track like that — however I assumed again on my life, and there weren’t loads of academics like that for me, as a result of I used to be a horrible pupil and obtained kicked out of college on a regular basis.
“However I did bear in mind a counselor from a camp who was actually form to me. So I tapped into that once I wrote the track, form of like I did with my dad earlier than. The film initially had a distinct title, however they modified it to match the title of the track.”
Additionally Learn: Oscar’s Longest Dropping Streaks: 12 Folks With 10-Plus Nominations and No Wins (Images)
“Pearl Harbor” / Touchstone
2001: “There You’ll Be” from “Pearl Harbor”
Carried out by: Religion Hill
Misplaced to: “If I Didn’t Have You” from “Monsters, Inc.”
Warren’s third nomination for a Bruckheimer film discovered her shedding to Randy Newman, who gained his first Oscar after 15 track and rating nominations and not using a win.
“Jerry Bruckheimer made me rewrite that track 20 instances. It was driving me loopy, however lastly Michael Bay beloved it after which Jerry couldn’t say the rest. Religion did an excellent job on it, and it’s one other of these songs that has turn out to be a giant funeral and in-memoriam track. The film is clearly the primary and most essential place {that a} track has to work, however I’m completely satisfied that they get these different lives, too.
“And I misplaced to Randy Newman. I bear in mind writing him a be aware, going, ‘Properly, if I needed to lose to someone, congratulations.’ I used to be actually completely satisfied for him.”
“Past the Lights” / Relativity
2014: “Grateful” from “Past the Lights”
Carried out by: Rita Ora
Misplaced to: “Glory” from “Selma”
After a 13-year absence from the Oscar race, Warren got here again with a track from the romantic drama directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Gugu Mbatha-Uncooked and Nate Parker. It started a streak of six nominations within the subsequent seven years.
“I wrote the track for what the characters have been going by. I beloved the message of it — that you simply gotta be pleased about all of the dangerous stuff you undergo as a result of it will get you the place you might be and it makes you stronger. However I used to be actually shocked that it obtained nominated. It was an excellent film, however no one actually noticed it. However the those that did see the film actually beloved it, they usually should have beloved the track as properly.”
Girl Gaga and Diane Warren on the Oscars / Getty Photographs
2015: “Til It Occurs to You” from “The Looking Floor”
Written with: Girl Gaga
Carried out by: Girl Gaga
Misplaced to: “Writing’s on the Wall” from “Spectre”
Warren went into the Oscars because the prohibitive favourite to lastly win for this highly effective track written from her personal expertise with sexual abuse — however a couple of minutes after co-writer Girl Gaga introduced the home down on the Oscars singing it whereas surrounded by abuse survivors, the track inexplicably misplaced to Sam Smith’s forgettable James Bond ditty “Writing’s on the Wall.”
“I bear in mind writing that track and pondering, ‘Oh, my God, that is positively considered one of my greatest songs.’ The film is about sexual assault on campus, however I all the time thought the track might be larger than that, so within the lyrics I by no means stated what the It was. It’s no matter you’re going by when individuals say, ‘It’s going to get higher, simply give it time.’ However whenever you’re in it, you’re like, ‘You don’t know the way it feels till it occurs to you.’
“After which I referred to as Gaga, as a result of I had heard that she had stated one thing on Howard Stern that she’d been raped. I assumed, ‘I’m simply going to take an opportunity and play her the track. And if she’d gone by that, it’s going to attach together with her. I performed her the track and he or she was sobbing on the cellphone.
“However no one needed that track to return out. The label, administration, no one needed it to return out. So I referred to as my buddy, (director) Catherine Hardwicke, she listened to the track and stated she’d do a video, I put in a few of my very own cash, she put in a few of hers, the actors labored without cost, she made this good video after which we leaked it out and it blew up.
“On the Oscars, that efficiency was simply gorgeous on each stage. That was among the finest performances I’ve ever seen. Folks have been sobbing within the viewers, after which there was a industrial break they usually got here again and stated, ‘And the winner is…’ and I assumed, ‘What simply occurred?’ That was my reminiscence of the night time: I simply saved saying, ‘What simply occurred?’”
Additionally Learn: Girl Gaga, Catherine Hardwicke, Diane Warren Staff As much as Highlight Sexual Assaults on Faculty Campuses (Video)
“Marshall” / Open Street Movies
2017: “Stand Up for One thing” from “Marshall”
Written with: Lonnie R. Lynn (a.ok.a. Frequent)
Carried out by: Andra Day and Frequent
Misplaced to: “Keep in mind Me” from “Coco”
The second in Warren’s string of inspirational, soul-based nominated songs got here from a biopic of Supreme Court docket Justice Thurgood Marshall.
“I beloved the script, and I scribbled ‘All of it means nothing in the event you don’t get up for one thing’ on it. Earlier than I wrote the track, I listened to ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ over and over — not that I ripped it off, however I needed it in my system as I wrote the track, to get impressed and return to that period of soul protest anthems.
“After which I assumed it’d be nice to get a rapper to convey these two eras collectively. I went to Sundance, and Frequent was sitting behind me on the aircraft — so when he was a captive viewers, I stated, ‘I’ve one thing actually nice for you.’ He informed me to ship it to him, and when he heard it he was so excited that the subsequent time I checked my cellphone, I had 9 missed calls from him.”
“RBG” / Magnolia
2018: “I’ll Struggle” from “RBG”
Carried out by: Jennifer Hudson
Misplaced to: “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”
Warren went back-to-back with decide motion pictures for a track from the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary, then bumped into an Oscar-night buzzsaw within the type of outdated pal Girl Gaga’s “Shallow.”
“I used to be like, ‘Cool, one other Supreme Court docket justice!’ I simply needed to create an anthem for her. She was very soft-spoken, however she was loud as a result of she modified the world. So I assumed, ‘She wants a diva voice. Who’s her avatar? How about Jennifer Hudson?’
“I performed the track for Jennifer and he or she beloved it. However I used to be beneath no illusions of profitable that yr, as a result of it was going up in opposition to ‘A Star Is Born.’ I simply thought, ‘Properly, let’s simply have a enjoyable time.’”
Additionally Learn: Diane Warren, JoJo Name Upon Voters to Be ‘The Change’ in Track for New Biden-Harris Advert
“Breakthrough” / Fox
2019: “I’m Standing With You” from “Breakthrough”
Carried out by: Chrissy Metz
Misplaced to: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Once more” from “Rocketman”
The religion-based drama “Breakthrough” was one of many smallest motion pictures Warren has written for, and he or she resisted the concept of letting lead actress Chrissy Metz deal with the vocals till she heard Metz sing.
“Chrissy Metz on the Oscars, that was fairly cool. I beloved the film and it impressed the track. And a few fairly superb issues have occurred with it. Sharon Farber did a video at the start of lockdown the place singers and musicians from each continent performed and sang on it, and it raised tens of millions of {dollars} for United Nations COVID reduction. The track actually took on a life exterior the movie. I even did a rewrite through the pandemic: “No matter you undergo, I’m standing six toes away from you.”
“The Life Forward” / Netflix
2020: “Io sì (Seen)” from “The Life Forward”
Written with: Laura Pausini
Carried out by: Laura Pausini
Her present nomination, which comes for the Sophia Loren movie “The Life Forward,” is the tenth Oscar-nominated track in a language apart from English, and the primary such track for Warren.
“I wrote it in English as ‘Seen,’ pondering it was going to be within the film in English. However once they put it in opposition to the film, it didn’t work. However (director) Edoardo Ponti beloved the track, and he needed it to work. And the way in which to get it to work was to translate it into Italian.
“The cool factor concerning the track, and what’s uncommon for me, is that Edoardo really took out dialogue from the film to make the track be the dialogue. They actually modified the film to suit the track.”
Learn extra from the All the way down to the Wire situation right here.
