Will Jennings, Oscar-Winning ‘My Heart Will Go On’ Co-Writer, Dies at 80

Will Jennings, the Oscar- and Grammy-winning co-writer of Titanic‘s “My Heart Will Go On” and other hit songs by Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and Whitney Houston, has died. He was 80.

The superstar lyricist passed away Friday (Sept. 6) at his home in Tyler, Texas, his caregiver Martha Sherrod confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. A cause of death was not provided, but Jennings had been experiencing health issues in recent years.

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“A sad time, the passing of Will Jennings, a maestro, brilliant mind and a gentle spirit. It was an enormous honor to have worked with such a musical genius,” former J. Geils Band singer Peter Wolf, who collaborated with Jennings, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Saturday.

During his career, the Songwriters Hall inductee co-wrote six songs that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: Barry Manilow’s “Looks Like We Made It” (1977); Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ “Up Where We Belong” (1982); Winwood’s “Higher Love” (1986); Houston’s “Didn’t We Almost Have It All” (1987); Winwood’s “Roll With It” (1988); and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” (1998).

Jennings also collaborated with Clapton on “Tears in Heaven,” which hit No. 2 on the Hot 100 and topped Billboard‘s Adult Contemporary chart for three weeks in 1992. The tribute to Clapton’s late son also earned the pair a song of the year trophy at the 35th annual Grammy Awards.

Jennings won best original song at the Academy Awards in 1983 for co-writing An Officer and a Gentleman‘s “Up Where We Belong” alongside Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie. He took home the same honor in 1998 for the Titanic classic “My Heart Will Go On,” which he co-wrote with composer James Horner (who died in 2015). The Dion-sung ballad also won Grammys for record and song of the year.

Jennings was born in Kilgore, Texas, in 1944. Before hitting it big in songwriting, he was a professor at Tyler Junior College and later Austin State University, before teaching at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. His résumé also includes musical collaborations with superstars like B.B. King, Mariah Carey, Jimmy Buffett and Roy Orbison.

Jennings is survived by his wife, Carole, and his sisters, Joyce and Gloria.

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