One day, around 1964, young Diane Warren looked at the credits for The Drifters’ “Up on the Roof” compositions and decided what her life’s mission would be. “Said (Goffin / King), “she says.“ I remember wanting to be in parentheses. ” Warren ended up writing dozens of hits, starting with DeBarge’s “Rhythm of the Night” in 1985, with nine songs reaching number one, from Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart” to “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing ”By Aerosmith.”
In a recent interview with our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, Warren – who has a solo album filled with guest singer, Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions Vol. 1, due this year – recalled the stories behind some of his greatest songs. (To hear the audio version of the full interview, press play below or download and subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.)
“(You Make Me) Rock Hard,” Kiss (1988)
“I thought it was a really good title for a Kiss song! It was kind of funny. And then, you know, Paul loved it. And we ended up writing the song. I can’t believe I invented that title.“
“Girl you know is true”, Milli Vanilli (1989)
“ME knew that was a hit song. And it’s a funny little story. When I was writing. I was really bored to write the verse, and my hand slipped, and he went up half a step in the middle of the verse in a really strange place. But it really works. At the time, there was a group called Jets that was supposed to record it, and they kept it on hold for a year. And then they didn’t do that. I was really upset because I had been sitting on the music. And I went to see Clive Davis in New York, and before I even played the song he played, he said, I have a new group, Milli Vanilli. And he played ‘Girl You Know It’s True’, which has almost the same rhythm as ‘Blame It on the Rain’, which is kind of weird. And Clive loved the song and whoever recorded it recorded it. But whoever I sang it, I love it. I love this song. And I had no idea that they weren’t singing until they played live [and their backing track started skipping]! “
“Un-Break My Heart”, Toni Braxton (1996)
“I made up that title. And I started to play the chorus with those chords. It’s a strange title. This created a word. I remember, Clive Davis, when I played this song, he said, ‘you can’t rhyme rain and pain’ [because it’s a cliché ].He wanted me to change. And I say, ‘No, no, it works.’ I thought it would be a good song for Toni Braxton, and Clive loved it. And she really didn’t like it. It happens! Maybe she hates it more now, having to sing it for 20 years. “
“If I could go back in time”, Cher (1989)
“I thought it was a great song for her and she hated it. And then I went to the studio when she was recording another song of mine. And, literally, when she was in the room, I knelt and held her leg until she said she would try it. She goes, “I hate this fucking music. I hate it. “I say, ‘Well, I’m not going to let go of your leg!” I say,’ Look, I pay for the rails. If it doesn’t work, the cost is all mine. I know that music is right for you. ‘She said,’ I’m going to do this. I’ll try. ‘And this is probably my most iconic song! I remember that they couldn’t play that video until after midnight because it was too spicy. It was like, ‘What? Same?'”
“Because you loved me”, Celine Dion (1996)
“I wrote for the film Up close and personal. But I took the opportunity to thank my father for believing in me, because he always really believed in my music and always supported me. [The plot of that movie] it would be like a #metoo thing now. I mean, could they do that movie now? “
“How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes / Trisha Yearwood (1997)
“I remember getting in a lot of trouble because there were two versions of it. I wrote the song for the movie Con Air. Well, what happened was, so I wrote it. And I wrote for the film and played for [producer] Jerry Bruckheimer. And he liked it. But there were, I think, 200 other songs on [running] at that time for that film. And I happened to run into LeAnn Rimes, who had just won the Grammy for Best New Artist, in a restaurant and I said to her, I wrote this song, do you want to do a demo? “
“So she came back and recorded, made a video and spent all that money. I played for Jerry. And he was excited about LeAnn, but he wanted some changes to be made. And her father, who was the co-producer of the song, said, ‘I’m not changing anything for the Hollywood people.’ And then Jerry asked if it was okay to put Tricia [Yearwood] in. And I said: Yes, but I can’t get it out of LeAnn. even if Trisha does it for the film. And then Jerry said, ‘No, you have to pull LeAnn.’ I couldn’t do that. Jerry was like, ‘I’m never going to work with you again. ”So LeAnn got mad at me and Jerry was mad at me. Until it became, you know, the biggest hit. Then they all started to like me again. That’s what hits do. They make people like you! “
“I don’t want to miss anything”, Aerosmith (1998)
“Again, it was a title that I had and they showed me the end of the film [Armageddon]. I met with Jerry Bruckheimer. Remember, he said he would never work with me again, a year before? He changed his mind. So I went back and wrote the song. And never in a million years did I think Aerosmith would do that. I kind of thought a vocalist would end up doing that, but it’s a lot more powerful with Steven Tyler – him being so vulnerable in music it really worked. I remember the first time I heard that and I was literally knocked out of my chair with how good it was. That should have won the record for the year. It was a great record. “
“I Was Here,” Beyoncé (2011)
“It is one of the best experiences ever. I wrote on my guitar, because a friend of mine was three hours late. I had my guitar there. I started with the phrase, ‘I want to leave my footprints in the sand of time’, and the song kind of started to write itself. And I thought, this could be a really great song for Beyoncé. It can also be a song for Leona Lewis or Susan Boyle, both Simon Cowell artists. So I made a small guitar version of it. and I sent it to Simon. “
“And then I called Jay Z. And he called me back and I played the guitar. I said, ‘I thought this could be great for Beyoncé. It’s different for her. ‘And he loved it. He said, stay close to your phone. It will land. You know, as soon as she lands, she’s calling you. She said, ‘Okay, today is Monday, my album should be out on Friday. She said I will go on Wednesday. I’m recording this song. I’m stopping my album. ‘”
So I went to the studio with her and was amazed by that vocal. And then she said, ‘Well, I’m going to take a break for dinner now. And I’m going to go back and do it again. I’m like, what do you mean, do it again? It’s perfect. “She said, ‘Now I’m going to get better.’ And that’s a difference, by the way, between a great artist and a not-so-great artist. I mean, that’s why she’ll be around forever.”
“I couldn’t even sleep through the night, because I was so excited about how that song was going. I wake up in the morning and remember I gave it to Simon Cowell. I wake up with an email from your A&R boss saying, ‘The song is cool, but it won’t go to the end for us, but feel free to send more stuff.’ And then I replied, ‘Interestingly, I was in the studio last night with probably the greatest artist on the planet. And it was all for her. ”With a smiley face. So it was a fun email to write.
‘Why did you do that’ Lady Gaga (2018)
“‘Why did you come after me with an ass like that?’ That was my line! I will, is everything okay, if we say that? And then I didn’t see the song in the movie until the premiere. And so this is the one that Bradley Cooper is basically saying that she is a terrible artist for saying a phrase like that. I’m like, ‘Oh, cool! My line! ‘ “
“Times Like This”, Darius Rucker (2020)
“The pandemic took a month or two. I started writing that chorus and I loved it. It seemed so hymn and hopeful. In my head, I kept hearing Darius Rucker’s voice because with him it’s like listening to a friend. So, when you were going through all this turmoil, and this pandemic, and everything is ending, here is a voice. There is a line in the music. ‘I saw a man with a sign saying I need money to buy beer.’ And a few years ago, I was in Nashville and I saw someone holding a sign saying ‘I’m not going to lie, I need a beer.’ And I thought, a mental note to myself, this is going to turn into a song. ‘”
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