David Foster

Birth name : David Walter Foster
Born : November 1, 1949 (1949-11-01) (age 59)
Origin : Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Genre(s) : pop, r&b, classical, gospel, adult-contemporary
Occupation(s) : Record producer, composer, songwriter, arranger
Instrument(s) : piano, keyboards, synthesizers
Years active : 1974 - present
Label(s) : Reprise Records/143 Records
Associated acts :Skylark, Chicago
Website : davidfoster.com
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.
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 a wide range of musical stars, including Whitney Houston, Céline Dion, Cher, Andrea Bocelli, Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, and Madonna.
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. Foster helped launch the career of Kevin Sharp, after the two met through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He was one of the executive producers of John Stevens' debut CD, Red.
Foster 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.
Personal
Married three times, Foster has five daughters: Allison Jones from a previous relationship; Amy Foster (b. 1973) by his first wife of ten years, B.J. Cook; Sara (b. August 24, 1981), Erin (b. August 2, 1982), and Jordan (b. September, 1986), by his second wife of eight years, Rebecca.
Foster married third wife Linda Thompson on June 27, 1991, and the two became a songwriting team, collaborating on several songs including "Grownup Christmas List" (sung by Natalie Cole) and songs from The Bodyguard movie soundtrack. Thompson filed for divorce Monday July 11, 2005, the day after a short-lived reality series, The Princes of Malibu premieredDaughter Amy Foster is a songwriter who has collaborated with Michael Buble, among others. As of May, 2008, daughter Sara is engaged to Tommy Haas, professional tennis player.

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 sung by Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion. He has been named BMI's "Songwriter of the Year".
Source : en.wikipedia.org