David Walter Foster, O.C., O.B.C., LL.D. (born November 1, 1949 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer-songwriter and arranger..
He has produced debut albums for The Corrs, Michael Bublé, Renee Olstead, and Josh Groban, which were released under his own record label, 143 Records, and distributed through Warner Music. He also was one of the executive producers of John Stevens' debut CD, Red.
Foster also composed the score for the film St. Elmo's Fire, including "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" which hit #15 in US pop charts. Another song from the film, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)", recorded by John Parr hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 7, 1985. He collaborated with then-wife Linda Thompson on the song "I Have Nothing" sung by Whitney Houston in the 1992 film, The Bodyguard. The couple was nominated for a Grammy Award and an Academy Award for Best Song for the song. Foster, along with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, composed "The Power of the Dream" as the official song of the 1996 Summer Olympics, with Thompson providing the lyrics (sung by Céline Dion). He also composed "Winter Games", the theme song for 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. "Winter Games" is the soundtrack for a fountain show at the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas as well as a fountain show at Sea World Orlando. In 2001, he produced an album of his own arrangement of Canada's national anthem, O Canada, with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Lara Fabian. In 2003, Foster won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for The Concert for World Children's Day. His song "I Will Be There With You" (sung with Katharine McPhee ) is being used by Japan Airlines to promote the introduction of new aircraft to its US flights.
During the 1990s he often performed acts with San Diego vocalist Warren Wiebe who he had discovered in the restroom of a hotel bar in 1987. In 1994 he had Wiebe put together a band called Millennium featuring Nita Whitaker and a few session vocalists but the deal with Foster's record company led to the group's demise. Warren was Foster's "mouth" on many of his videos but took his own life before he could release a solo album.
Foster's home life was featured in a Fox staged reality TV show called The Princes of Malibu, in which he attempts to force his two spoiled stepsons, Brandon and Brody Jenner, the children of Thompson and Olympian Bruce Jenner, to straighten their lives up and earn their own way.
In late April 2006, Foster appeared as a special guest on both American Idol (as a mentor) and Nashville Star (as a judge) two weeks apart. He was also a judge on Celebrity Duets, a FOX TV show. He also appeared on Star Tomorrow, where auditions were held in Los Angeles and New York for undiscovered talent. It aired only one [July 31, 2006] episode on NBC.
In July 2006, Foster made a brief appearance on The View as Star Jones's vocal coach. In August 2006, he was the musical director for JCPenney Jam: The Concert For American Kids, which aired on CBS and was later released in CD/DVD format. In November 2007, Foster appeared in Oprah's annual "Favorite Things" episode, performing with Josh Groban.
On March 12th, 2008, Foster accompanied Katharine McPhee on the Beatles' song "Something" on American Idol. After the song Foster announced that he and McPhee were working together on an album. He subsequently appeared on Access Hollywood with Michael Johns, who he invited to play in his one-night tribute concert, David Foster & Friends on May 23 2008 (also featuring Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, Josh Groban, Katharine McPhee and Charice Pempengco) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip.
In September 2008 singer Charice Pempengco joined David Foster on the Oprah Winfrey television program with Celine Dion via satellite.
In 1995, Foster became the recipient of the Order of British Columbia, the highest honour awarded in his native province of British Columbia. Foster became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006.
Foster has won fifteen Grammy Awards (three for producer of the year) and has been nominated a total of forty-three times. He has been nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Song and won a Golden Globe Award for the song “The Prayer” from the film Quest for Camelot and he has been named BMI's "Songwriter of the Year".
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