David Walter Foster, OC, OBC, is a Canadian musician, composer, songwriter, and arranger who has won multiple Grammy awards. He has been one of the few important figures in modern western music to have affected the bulk, if not all, of its recent changes during the majority of his nearly five-decade career. His education was meticulously planned to complement his talent as a prodigy in music. Foster started taking piano lessons when he was four years old, and nine years later, he enrolled in the University of Washington’s music program. He moved to Los Angeles in 1974 to join the band “Skylark,” and after the first, unavoidable years of hardship, he won his first Grammy in 1980. Since then, he has worked with artists like Earth, Wind & Fire, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton, Seal, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Chicago, Hall & Oates, Brandy, and ‘N Sync to produce gold and platinum albums. He has also penned timeless classic songs for popular movies like ‘The Bodyguard,’ ‘Urban Cowboy,’ and ‘St. Elmo’s Fire. He gained a fresh accomplishment when he was named head of Universal’s Verve Music Group between 2012 to 2016. He recently become a member of the ‘Asia’s Got Talent’ judging panel.
Early Childhood & Life
David Foster, the lone child of Maurice (Morry) Foster and Eleanor May Foster, née Vantreight, was born on November 1, 1949, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Jaymes, Ruth, Jeanie, Maureen, and Marylou are his five sisters. His mother stayed at home to raise their large family while his father worked as a maintenance yard superintendent.
He began studying music at the University of Washington in 1963. In 1966, he joined Chuck Berry’s support group. He went to England when still a teenager with the Victoria, British Columbia, band “The Strangers” and then returned to Toronto to collaborate with Ronnie Hawkins.
The Career of David Foster
David Foster played the keyboard for the musical group Skylark. In 1972, they issued their debut record under their own name. The album’s song “Wildflower,” which reached the top ten in 1973, is from. After the band split up in 1973, Foster collaborated with George Harrison on his albums Extra Texture and Thirty Three & 1/3 as well as the Earth, Wind & Fire album “I Am” (1979).
The musical genius had a busy decade in the 1980s. ‘The Completion Backward Principle’ (1981) and ‘Outside Inside’ (1983) are two of the albums he worked on with The Tubes. In addition, by producing the albums “Chicago 16” (1982), “Chicago 17” (1984), and “Chicago 18” (1986), he significantly contributed to the ascent of the American rock band “Chicago.” In order to write the band’s #1 single “Glory of Love” (1986), he collaborated closely with vocalist Peter Cetera.
Foster was referred to as “the master of… bombastic pop kitsch” in a 1985 piece in the magazine “Rolling Stone.” His ‘Glory of Love’ nomination for an Oscar came in 1986. The song, sung by Cetera, was used in “The Karate Kid Part II.” Two years later, he wrote “Winter Games,” the theme song for the XV Olympic Winter Games.
The song “I Have Nothing,” which Whitney Houston performed in the 1992 movie “The Bodyguard,” was co-written by Foster and his then-wife Linda Thompson. In 1995, he signed a contract with Warner Brothers that enabled him to launch his own boutique label, 143 Records, under the leadership of his then-manager Brian Avnet.
In the creation of “The Power of the Dream,” the official song for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he worked with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.
He collaborated with Lara Fabian and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 2001 to create English, French, and bilingual renditions of “O Canada,” the country’s anthem.
He collaborated with his daughter Amy Foster-Gilles to write “I’ll Make It Up As I Go.” The song was featured in the 2001 film “The Score,” which starred Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando. The song “Stand Up for Love,” written by the father-daughter team with Beyoncé, served as the official anthem for World Children’s Day.
In the early 2010s, Foster began a new chapter in his career when he was appointed chairman of Universal’s Verve Music Group. He invited Andrea Bocelli, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Sarah McLachlan, and Smokey Robinson into the fold with the ambition to transform the storied jazz company into the top label for both seasoned professionals and up-and-coming new artists. He and Verve split up in 2016 as a result of the record label’s restructuring.
In April 2005, he appeared as a guest mentor on the reality competition program “American Idol” before making an appearance as a guest judge on “Nashville Star.” In December 2008, he coordinated the PBS show “Hit Man: David Foster & Friends.” At the event, Foster and other well-known musicians performed.
He appeared on Andrea Bocelli’s live album, “Concerto: One Night in Central Park,” released in 2011. He has served as a judge on the ‘Asia’s Got Talent’ panel since 2015.
Bigger Works
The 1991 album ‘Unforgettable… with Love’, which was co-produced by David Foster and American singer Natalie Cole, did incredibly well in the Pop, Jazz, and R&B markets, topping the US Billboard 200 and US Billboard Top Jazz Albums charts and peaking at #5 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
In 1992, it also garnered six Grammy Awards and played a significant role in Foster winning Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. The album has received RIAA 7x platinum certification as of 2009.
Recognition & Achievements
David Foster has won 16 Grammy Awards, including three Producer of the Year Awards, out of a whopping 47 nominations.
In 1995, he received the Order of British Columbia civil honor merit, and in 1998, he received the Order of Canada honor merit.
At the 1998 Golden Globe Awards, he won Best Original Song for “The Prayer” from “Quest for Camelot.”
He shared the 2003 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics with Linda Thompson for “The Concert for World Children’s Day.”
2010 saw Foster’s induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2013, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Individual Life of David Foster
David Foster, who was married four times, is the grandfather of four granddaughters and three grandsons in addition to being the father of five biological children. Allison Jones Foster, his first child, was born in 1970 when Foster was 20 years old. Right after she was born, he was compelled to place her for adoption. For the following 30 years, he would not see her again.
He had a daughter named Amy Foster-Gillies (born 1973) with his first wife, the singer/writer B. J. Cook.
On October 27, 1982, he married Rebecca Dyer following their 1981 divorce. Their children Sara, Erin, and Jordan were born to her in 1981, 1982, and 1986, respectively. In 1986, Foster and Dyer got divorced.
He wed lyricist/composer Linda Thompson in 1991. They were married for 14 years before divorcing in 2005. In Dutch model Yolanda Hadid, whom he married on November 11, 2011, in a ceremony with an 11/11/11 theme, he found his fourth wife. Their divorce was finalized in May 2017 after they filed for divorce in late 2015.
Foster founded The David Foster Foundation in 1985 with the goal of aiding Canadian families with children in need of life-saving organ transplants financially.
Andrea Bocelli, the Italian tenor who is Trivia Foster’s all-time favorite performer, is a good friend of his.
Net Worth of David Foster
The estimated net worth of David Foster is around $1 million.