Diane Warren Interview

Hollywood Journal

2 days ago

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Transcript

00:00So tell me what inspired the All Fight song.

00:03Ruth Bader Ginsburg, RBG movie.

00:06Right, I mean, what inspired it?

00:07You know, I wanted to write a song that captured her essence,

00:12which is she's a fighter.

00:14She might speak softly, but her voice is very loud, and it is heard.

00:19Thank God it needs to be keeping heard forever.

00:23And what is it about her that, what is it, is there a connection to her?

00:29Is there something about her that kind of speaks to you?

00:32Yeah, because I'm a fighter, too.

00:33And I mean, not that I, you know, I mean, it's, I love the, I mean,

00:37what speaks to me is that she speaks for us.

00:43Does that make sense?

00:45Do you know if she's heard the song?

00:46I don't even know.

00:47I hope she has.

00:49Because I want to write out the lyrics for her, and I want to, you know,

00:52I really want her to hear it.

00:53I want to be there when she hears it.

00:54I mean, I'm sure she has, because she's probably seen the movie,

00:56you know, with the song in it, so she has.

00:58But I'd love to see what she, you know, what she thinks.

01:01Do you have any?

01:02I want to see her work out to it.

01:05I want to see her doing planks to I'll Fight.

01:07Do you have any plans of, you know, sending her the song or making, delivering it to her?

01:11Yeah, I'm hoping I meet her, because I think she's coming into town,

01:14you know, and I'm hoping I meet her then.

01:16And, you know, I want to write out the lyrics and frame them for her.

01:18And how did you team up with Jennifer Hudson for the original song?

01:23I called her, because I've worked with Jennifer before, and I thought, you know,

01:25she'd be the perfect voice, because, you know, it's almost like that's her,

01:29that's Ruth Bader Ginsburg's avatar.

01:31Because even though she speaks softly, her voice carries.

01:34And who better, who's a, you know, who's a better voice to carry than Jennifer Hudson?

01:38What was Jennifer's reaction to the song, the idea, and when she first heard it?

01:44She loved the song.

01:45Jennifer loved the song.

01:46And she felt like it was something she could relate to as well, with stuff she was going on.

01:50She goes, you wrote my song.

01:52You know, so I love that.

01:55And I have other questions I want to ask you when the girls are here.

01:59Okay.

02:00But I'll ask you a few questions about some other stuff that you've worked on before.

02:04Okay.

02:04I know, you know, you obviously done some amazing, you know, hits.

02:08One being Celine Dion's, Because You Loan Me.

02:10Tell me about the inspiration behind that.

02:12You know, where did that come from?

02:14Oh, boy.

02:15These are the older songs.

02:16It's hard to remember everything.

02:18With that song that was written for a movie called Up Close and Personal.

02:22So it was written for, you know, what Michelle Pfeiffer's character goes through

02:25when Robert Redford's character dies.

02:28But I thought of my dad and him believing in me.

02:30It was a song about someone believing in you.

02:34So it was more, so when you write these songs,

02:38even though they're for the person who sings it,

02:40do you kind of base it more on a personal experience to make it more,

02:44does it help you get to touch emotional for yourself in order to make it?

02:48Sometimes, you know, it can help.

02:50You know, it doesn't have to be something I've personally gone through.

02:54I just try to write a great song.

02:56But sometimes, you know, I could relate to, you know,

02:59what that song's about pretty deeply.

03:01Do the artists typically collaborate with you on songs, or do you...

03:05They collaborate when they sing them, and they bring them to life.

03:08Okay.

03:10Now, what was it like working with Whitney Houston, for example?

03:14One of the best voices of our time, ever.

03:18It's sad to see her.

03:19I apologize.

03:20You know, I mean, it's so sad that that voice is no longer with us.

03:24How about Christina Aguilera?

03:26You know, another great singer.

03:27I've worked with, like, the best singers, so, you know,

03:30whether it's Jennifer, you know, Whitney, you know, Gaga, you know.

03:35So, I mean, I've worked with the best.

03:39Speaking of Gaga, you worked on her with Till It Happens.

03:44Yeah, I wrote Till It Happens, yeah.

03:45Which was, won an Emmy, nominated for an Oscar.

03:49It was my, I think it was my eighth Oscar I lost.

03:53And there's nine so far, so maybe this will be ten.

03:57So that one, that dealt with sexual assault.

04:00You know, how sick, and recently, you know, Lady Gaga came out,

04:03and she apologized for collaborating with R. Kelly.

04:05Have you seen the documentary of R. Kelly?

04:07No, but I heard it's pretty powerful.

04:09God.

04:10Do you think the music industry was blindsided by his talent?

04:15You know, I don't really know everything that went on,

04:18but, I mean, if people knew about it, it's just, I mean, it's horrible.

04:21These stories that I'm hearing, you know, I didn't, you know,

04:24I'd heard the thing about him peeing on a girl or something before,

04:26and I, I mean, that's just horrifying.

04:29And I worked with Aaliyah back in the day.

04:31I had a big hit with Aaliyah.

04:32And wasn't she married him when she was, like, 15?

04:36Wow.

04:37So I haven't seen this documentary, but it's just horrifying.

04:41These poor girls.

04:43Do you think other stars should speak out against him,

04:46or why do you think they maybe haven't?

04:47I mean, everybody has to do what they do their own way.

04:51I'm not going to judge anybody.

04:53He's not somebody I'd want to work with ever, you know.

04:56What other upcoming projects are you working on?

05:00Oh, all kinds of exciting things.

05:02I'm kind of keeping them under wraps, but some really, I'm working with Ali B from Fifth Harmony.

05:08I just did a great record with her called The Truth Is In There.

05:11That just came out.

05:13We're working on a lot of different things.

05:14A lot of really great movies this year.

05:16A lot of exciting projects.

05:18What are some, like, you know, kind of cool behind-the-scenes,

05:24like, any diva moments you've had writing songs,

05:27or what are some crazy stories that you can share with us,

05:31like writing songs for some of these huge stars?

05:33I mean, there's lots of stories.

05:35Of course, I can't think of them, right?

05:37I mean, like, there's some crazy stories, and there's some good stories, and, you know, most of them.

05:44Anything you can share with, you know, Whitney Houston or Lady Gaga or?

05:49Just that, I mean, not great stories, just that, I mean, the great story is that I got to work with somebody like a Whitney Houston,

05:56or I get to work with Gaga.

05:58I made you the song with her in Stars Born, the butt song, you know, Why Did You Do That?

06:04Tell me about that.

06:05It was a fun song, and it was the one when Bradley Cooper, you know, made fun, you know, gave her a hard time for it.

06:12That was my line, actually, so.

06:15I'm to blame, yeah.

06:16Did she help write that song?

06:18Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we wrote that together.

06:19So her being a songwriter herself, like, does she typically help write the song?

06:24Do you write the songs with her typically?

06:25I mean, that one we did, you know, so, yeah.

06:29Any other ones, like, that stand out that, or did you, with her specifically,

06:34because she is a songwriter herself?

06:36Yeah, I mean, that was something we did together.

06:38Okay.

06:38You know, that we.

06:40For other celebrities, do you typically write the song solely yourself?

06:44Yeah, I do, I do.

06:45Okay.

06:46Are there any other celebrities that help write the song that like to collaborate a lot with you?

06:50I mean, to be honest, I mainly write by myself.

06:53But she's one of them.

06:54Yeah, yeah, on occasion, like, with Gaga or something like that, yeah.

06:56Anyone else that likes to collaborate?

06:58I mean, I just prefer to write by myself.

07:01Okay.

07:02And what's some of the more stand out songs that kind of have a lot of meaning to you?

07:07Well, I was excited, I was really excited about the song I did last year called Stand Up For Something

07:12that I wrote, that Andrew Day did in common, did the rap on.

07:16I was really proud of that song, because it's gotten a life of its own.

07:19It became the theme song for Stand Up To Cancer, and lots of other things have happened with that song.

07:23And I'm hoping with something like I'll Fight, you know, I think that song will get a life of its own as well.

07:28I think people can make whatever they want meaning from that song.

07:31They could be talking to, you know, just whoever they love, you know, their kids, their family, their friends.

07:37It's like whenever you're going through hard times, you know, I'll fight for you.

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