David Foster

Renowned music producer David Foster was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on November 1, 1949. He began his career as the keyboardist in pop / rock band Skylark in the early 1970s, achieving a Top 10 hit single with “Wildflower,” After Skylark's demise, he collaborated with George Harrison on the former Beatle’s 1975 solo album Extra Texture. From those sessions, he formed rock supergroup Attitudes with drummer Jim Keltner and Danny Kortchmar. After two albums with that group, he formed the short-lived AOR / yacht rock band Airplay with singer Jay Graydon. David Foster then began co-writing and producing other artists' records, making a name for himself in Los Angeles, California. In the early days, he worked with many big names including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Donna Summer, Bob Weir, Nigel Olsson, Paul Anka, Alice Cooper, Kenny Loggins, Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bobby Womack, and many others. In 1979, he produced Earth, Wind and Fire’s I Am album, winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for “After the Love Has Gone” in 1980. He went on to work with The Tubes, Chicago, Peter Cetera, and Kenny Rogers in the 1980s, co-writing the hits “Hard to Say I'm Sorry” and “You're the Inspiration” for Chicago, “Glory of Love” for Cetera and “The Best of Me” for Rogers. In 1985, David Foster wrote the score for the film St. Elmo's Fire, including the number 1 hit single of the same name sung by John Parr. Continuing with film work, he wrote music for The Secret of My Success (1987), Stealing Home (1988) and The Bodyguard (1992), for which he penned the hit single “I Have Nothing” for Whitney Houston. Apart from his collaborations and film work, David Foster released his own albums including The Best of Me (1983), David Foster (1986), The Symphony Sessions (1988), River of Love (1990), Rechordings (1991), The Christmas Album (1993), and Love Lights the World (1994). In 1995, David Foster launched his own record label, 143 Records, in association with Warner Bros. Irish group The Corrs were one of 143's first artists along with Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. He returned to film scoring, writing “I'll Make It Up As I Go” for the 2001 film The Score. After many years working on production, songwriting, and film scoring, David Foster returned with the album Eleven Words (2020), which was followed by the 2022 holiday release Christmas Songs, a collaboration with vocalist Katherine McPhee. David Foster regularly donates his time to charities, co-writing the World’s Children Day song “Stand Up for Love” with his daughter Amy Foster-Gillies and Beyoncé. Throughout his career, he has been honored with many awards including 16 Grammy Awards (including three for Producer of the Year and a 1999 Golden Globe for Best Original Song (“The Prayer”). He’s also been the recipient of many honors including Order of Canada (1995) and Officer of the Order of Canada (2006). David Foster has been inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame (2002), the Canadian Music Hall of Fame (2007), Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fam (2010), and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2010).