Will Jennings

American lyricist (1944-2024) who wrote the words for a string of major pop hits, including "Up Where We Belong," "Higher Love," "Tears in Heaven," and Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On." His work earned three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards, and led to his induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was born Wilbur Herschel Jennings in Kilgore, Texas, on 27 June 1944, graduated from Tyler Junior College, took his B.A. at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches in 1966 and a master's degree the following year, and taught English there and for three years at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire before moving to Nashville in 1971. His first large success was "Looks Like We Made It", written with Richard Kerr and taken to number one by Barry Manilow in 1977. He wrote afterwards with Steve Winwood, Joe Sample, Rodney Crowell, Roy Orbison, Eric Clapton and James Horner. The Songwriters Hall of Fame admitted him in 2006 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame seven years later. He died at his home in Tyler, Texas, on 6 September 2024.