‘My Heart Will Go On’ and ‘Tears in Heaven’ songwriter Will Jennings dies at 80

Will Jennings attends the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony in New York in 2006. His best-known pop classics include Whitney Houston’s “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” Barry Manilow’s “Looks Like We Made It,” Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” and Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven,” the latter of which earned him the Grammy Award for song of the year — his first of three Grammys. Jennings won Academy Awards for “Up Where We Belong,” written with Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie and performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes for the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman,” and “My Heart Will Go On,” written with James Horner and performed by Celine Dion for the film “Titanic.” “ condensed that movie’s epic melodrama into five endlessly re-playable minutes of sweeping faux-Celtic majesty,” Times pop music critic Mikael Wood wrote of “My Heart Will Go On” in 2015. “The song also solidified Celine Dion’s place as one of music’s most reliable emoters.” Jennings also contributed to “Where Are You Christmas?” from the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” as well as “One Day I’ll Fly Away,” which was featured in the movie “Moulin Rouge!”. “I’m deeply saddened to learn of the passing of my friend & collaborator Will Jennings,” musician Christopher Cross wrote on X.