Composer
David Foster
Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter
b. 1949
17 works in the index
- Born
- 1949
- Birthplace
- Victoria
- Citizenship / historical state
- Canada
- Period (estimated from birth year)
- Contemporary
Biography
David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian and American record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 45 nominations across four decades (the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s). Across the last 50 years, Foster has composed and produced some of the most successful songs of each decade, with multiple songs reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and other individual genre charts. He has also been nominated three times in the Best Original song category at the Academy Awards.
Foster has contributed to material for prominent music industry artists across various genres. Some of the notable songs he has been involved with include: "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing", "The Prayer", "After the Love Has Gone", "Hard to Say I'm Sorry", "Hard Habit to Break", "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)", "Glory of Love", "Winter Games", "Grown-Up Christmas List", "Best of Me", "Look What You've Done to Me", "She's a Beauty", "Somewhere", and "Wildflower".
Foster served as senior vice president of Warner Music Group from 1997, then he chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016.
In recent years, Foster composed Boop! The Musical, which premiered in Chicago in 2023 and debuted on Broadway in 2025. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music.
Biography excerpt from Wikipedia contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting and reference markers have been removed; the introduction may be shortened. View contributors and article history.
Life and musical career
- Occupations
- composer; songwriter; musicologist; actor; singer; keyboardist; television producer; record producer; film score composer; pianist; musician
- Education
- University of Southern California; Mount Douglas Secondary School; The Royal Conservatory of Music
- Selected awards
- Officer of the Order of Canada; Grammy Award for Best R&B Song; Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album; Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical; Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals; Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year; Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award; Grammy Award for Album of the Year; Grammy Award for Record of the Year; Canadian Music Hall of Fame; Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics; Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
- Official website
- http://www.davidfoster.com/
- Birth name
- David Walter Foster
- Languages used
- English
- VIAF ID
- 32187168; 100246990
- ISNI
- 0000000114960377
- GND ID
- 13437598X
- Library of Congress ID
- no00047185
- MusicBrainz ID
- 04456b86-d064-4643-a57f-df9ef42a46d9
Recorded in Wikidata. Affiliations may refer to earlier stages of the composer's career.
In this catalogue
- Common listed instruments
- Piano, Guitar, Voice, Orchestra, Vocal
- Genres represented
- Jazz, pop, Pop, world
- Works with composition dates
- 0 of 17
These details describe the indexed sheet music, including arrangements.
Catalogue
Works
Years are composition dates where known. Instruments describe editions in our catalogue and may include arrangements. A dash means the detail is not recorded.
| Work | Year composed | Catalogue / opus | Key in title | Listed instruments | Genre | Editions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love Theme From 'St. Elmo's Fire' | — | — | — | — | Jazz, pop | 17 |
| Grown-Up Christmas List | — | — | — | Piano | Jazz, pop | 10 |
| Dream With Me | — | — | — | Orchestra | — | 10 |
| America's Song | — | — | — | Orchestra | — | 9 |
| My Grown-Up Christmas List | — | — | — | — | Jazz, pop | 3 |
| Winter Games 1988 Winter Olympic Theme | — | — | — | Piano | Jazz, pop | 3 |
| Ayer | — | — | — | Piano, Guitar, Vocal | Pop, world | 2 |
| Ave Maria | — | — | — | Piano, Voice | — | 2 |
| Voices That Care | — | — | — | Piano, Guitar, Vocal | Pop | 1 |
| You'll See | — | — | — | Guitar, Voice | Jazz, pop | 1 |
| Grace | — | — | — | — | Jazz, pop | 1 |
| Stella's Theme | — | — | — | — | Jazz, pop | 1 |
| Stand Up For Love | — | — | — | Guitar, Voice | Jazz, pop | 1 |
| It Could Have Been Anyone | — | — | — | Guitar, Voice | Jazz, pop | 1 |
| To Love You More | — | — | — | Piano | Jazz, pop | — |
| America's Songsheet music to download for orchestra | — | — | — | — | Jazz, pop | — |
| Dream With Me, full score | — | — | — | Orchestra | — | — |
Biographical record: Wikidata, matched on name and checked against dates held in the catalogue. The period label is an estimate from birth year. Authority record: VIAF 32187168. Portrait: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.