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.^[1].

Career

Foster was a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark whose song ?Wildflower? was a top ten hit in 1972. He has worked as a producer with Whitney Houston, Céline Dion, Cher, Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Kenny Rogers, Michael Bolton, Deniece Williams, Donna Summer, Faith Hill, The Corrs, Brandy, Luis Miguel, Peter Allen, Richard Marx, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Red Army Choir, Vanessa Williams, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Andrea Bocelli, Deborah Blando, Lisa Marie Presley, Lara Fabian, Dolly Parton, Julio Iglesias, Gordon Lightfoot, Michael Jackson, Madonna, All-4-One, Ricardo Montaner, Al Jarreau, Kenny Loggins, Az Yet, Natalie Cole, Yolanda Adams, The Tubes, Michael Bublé, Chicago, Peter Cetera, Katharine McPhee, Air Supply, Heidi Montag, William Joseph (musician), and many others. Foster also helped launch the career of Kevin Sharp, after the two met through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

He has produced debut albums for The Corrs,^[2] Michael Bublé,^[3] 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.^[4]

Foster also composed the score for the film St. Elmo's Fire,^[5] 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.

Television

In early 2001, Foster was in Popstars, a reality series that aired on WB. The series aimed at coming up with the next girl group and eventually became Eden's Crush (featuring Nicole Scherzinger). He and Linda Thompson wrote and produced several songs on their album.

Foster's home life was featured in a Fox staged^[6] 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.^[7]

In September 2008 singer Charice Pempengco joined David Foster on the Oprah Winfrey television program with Celine Dion via satellite.

Discography

In addition to the numerous albums he has produced, the following are Foster's own solo or band works:

• Skylark (self-titled) (1972)
• Skylark - 2 (1974)
• Attitudes (self-titled) (1976)
• Attitudes - Good News (1977)
• Airplay (self-titled) (1980)
• David Foster - The Best of Me (1983)
• David Foster (self-titled) (1986)
• David Foster - The Symphony Sessions (1988)
• David Foster - Time Passing (1989)
• David Foster - River of Love (1990)
• David Foster - Rechordings (1991)
• David Foster - A Touch Of David Foster (1992)
• David Foster - The Christmas Album (1993)
• David Foster - Love Lights The World (1994)
• David Foster - The Best Of Me: A Collection of David Foster?s Greatest Works (2000)
• David Foster - O Canada - with Lara Fabian (2001)
• David Foster - Love Stories (2002)
• David Foster - Teko?s Theme - with Nita Whitaker (2003)
• David Foster - The Best Of Me - Original Recording Remastered (2004)

Singles

• 1986 - Best of Me (duet with Olivia Newton-John)
• 1988 - "Winter Games (Can't You Feel It)" - Official theme song for the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics

Awards and honors

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 the 1999 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for the song ?The Prayer? from the film Quest for Camelot and he has been named BMI's "Songwriter of the Year".^[8]

References

External links

• The Official David Foster Website
• Christian Di Carlo's Great David Foster Site
• YouTube - Winter Games (Can't You Feel It) - performed at the 1988 Calgary Olympics Closing Ceremonies.
• David Foster on The Hour
• Airplay MySpace page
• Order of Canada Citation

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