David Foster, The Godfather Of Schmaltz

By External Source

David Foster, the Jerry Bruckheimer of power ballads, likes to say that he hasn’t seen the inside of an elevator in more than 30 years because he’s afraid of hearing his own music.

Millennials know him as the former stepfather to Gigi and Bella Hadid and as a background player on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Before all that, he produced Whitney Houston’s world-famous rendition of “I Will Always Love You.”

He won sixteen Grammy awards and worked with Michael Jackson, Madonna, Neil Diamond, Toni Braxton, Barbra Streisand and Lionel Richie, often on songs that topped charts and divided critics.

You can even see him perform some of the ballads he produced, including Celine Dion’s “The Power of Love,” along with Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart” and Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” while he’s on tour, performing at theaters around the country starting on April 17 in Washington D.C. with a band of singers and musicians.

You’ve written disco classics for Cheryl Lynn and produced Whitney Houston’s biggest hit. Do great pop songs share a secret?

“I don’t know. I can only say that I gravitate toward schmaltz. I’m a commoner, not an elitist.”

– Continue reading David Foster, The Godfather of Schmaltz in the New York Times