Music Legend Will Jennings Dies at 80: Co-Wrote Iconic Hits for Celine Dion and Eric Clapton
Will Jennings, the legendary songwriter behind Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On and Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven, has died at the age of 80.
Jennings passed away at his home in Tyler, Texas, after several years of declining health, according to his caregiver Martha Sherrod, who shared the news with The Hollywood Reporter.
Born Wilbur Hershel Jennings on June 27, 1944, in Kilgore, Texas, Jennings started his career as a professor. He taught at Tyler Junior College, Stephen F. Austin State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before making the leap to Hollywood, where he would go on to write some of the most iconic songs of the past century.
Musician Peter Wolf paid tribute to Jennings in a heartfelt Facebook post, writing: “A lot of good ones gone… It’s a sad time with 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.’”
Jennings’ impressive career earned him numerous accolades. He won his first Academy Award in 1983, alongside Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, for Up Where We Belong from An Officer and a Gentleman. He had been first nominated two years earlier for People Alone from The Competition. Over the years, he also won three Grammys, two Golden Globes, and a host of other prestigious awards.
Collaborating with composer Richard Kerr, Jennings co-wrote Barry Manilow’s hit Looks Like We Made It, followed two years later by another top 10 hit, Somewhere in the Night. One of his most famous collaborations was with Eric Clapton on the Grammy-winning Tears in Heaven, which was also nominated for a Golden Globe.
In 2006, Jennings was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, ten years after winning his second Oscar for My Heart Will Go On, the timeless ballad from Titanic that became synonymous with the film’s global success.
