   "My wife and I first met
Warren at a starlight foundation about twelve years ago. We were walking to the hotel
lobby with our friend Burt Bacharach and, all of a sudden, I heard one of
my songs being sung. I turned to Burt and jokingly said "See Burt, that is what
happens when you really make it as a songwriter." He didn’t acknowledge my joke
becouse he was zoning in on this magnificent, magnificent and beautiful voice, the voice
of Warren Wiebe. I introduced myself to him. He said he just moved here from San Diego,
and he handed me a card. It simply said “Singer for Hire". Not an
understatement. And from that moment, our lives, both of our lives, changed forever.
Warren’s and mine. To call Warren a “Singer for Hire" would be like saying
the Mona Lisa is a nice drawing or that Steven Spielberg
is a guy that makes movies. To call Warren a genius is closer to the the truth He could
sing like Nat King Cole, Peter Cetera, Tom Jones,
George Jones or Davey Jones. He could also do a perfect Stevie
Wonder. Or he could just be Warren Wiebe, which is perhaps the most amazing voice
of all. He was pure and innocent and the music poured out of him.
He did demos, hundreds of them, thousands of them, which of us did not end up with a
better song after Warren’s interpretation of them. He did parties. He did bar
mitzvahs. He did weddings. He even sang in our wedding. He helped me with the Barbra
Streisand and Johnny Mathis duet. After he put down
Johnny’s part, Barbra Streisand said “I don’t want Johnny Mathis, I want
Warren". And that’s the truth. Celine Dion did the same
thing with “Sleepless in Seattle". "I want Warren to sing
with me", she said. I talked actually to Celine a couple of nights ago, and she was
heartbroken. She was in tears when she got this news. If you asked Celine who her
favorite, favorite singer is in the world, she would say: Warren Wiebe. Celine met with
the "Voices that Care" project: Meryl Streep, Billy
Cristal, Michael Bolton, Kevin Costner, Luther
Vandross, etc. They got to hear Warren sing the closing lines and, of course,
everyone was amazed. And then there were the charity events, dozens of them. It was kind
of like Warren became my voice. We were kind of like Edgar Bergin and Charlie
Mcarthy, only I was the dummy and Warren made me come alive on stage. I
can’t sing, so I would mouth the words. We performed for everyone and everyone loved
Warren.
15.000 people cheering at the Agassi event when he walked on stage
becouse they’d seen him the year before, and they knew what they were in for. There
was also a command performance for Charles and Diana. Of
course, I couldn’t do it by myself but Warren, at this point if you remember, was
having a very tough time. He was actually in a clinic here in San Diego. I drove down
there with my good friend doctor Art Janov in hope of convincing the
doctors to let him out to perform for the royal family. The doctors looked at us as if to
say “Well, which ward did you escape from?." "Just go on and perform for
the queen, it is not a problem." At that point, we were screwed and about to be
committed ourselves. This is a true story. I swear to God. I rented a car, I grabbed my
portable keyboard, I set it up and I begged for five minutes of Doctor Freuds time. Warren
started singing and the shrinks mouth was like this. And of course we made the gig. Lady
Diana that night remarked to me how much she had enjoyed Warren’s singing, and what a
free spirit he seemed to be. I said "Your Highness, you have no idea how free he
is." Everywhere he sang he made friends. In fact, music is without a doubt the best
way he comunicated. He never forgot a birthday, or an aniversary, Christmas or any
ocassion you may be celebrating. He was so child like and pure in so many ways, and yet so
complicated in many other ways. He looked at life the way many of us wanted to, but
didn’t take the time to. It’s no secret to most of us that he struggled with the
day to day part of living. But he never complained. I never heard him ever have a
confrontation or even a cross word with anyone. He was little like Dustin Hoffmann
in the Rain Man, or Peter Sellers in Being There.
But as we’ve learned from those movies, perhaps, those are the very, very best people
that God puts on this planet. We have all been to memorials before and we all hear the
phrase that our loved ones have gone on to a better place. And I don’t know about you
but in the past that has never ever really comforted me. But in Warren’s case, it
just maybe true. I think think he will find the peace in heaven that he never found on
earth." David Foster
About
David Foster...
A visionary producer, gifted arranger and prolific composer, David Foster brings a rare
combination of talent, taste and dedication to his work. When he began piano lessons at
the age of five in his native Victoria, British Columbia, it quickly became apparent that
his talents far surpassed those of other children his age. In 1971, Foster relocated to
Los Angeles, and within two years, his group Skylark scored the top ten hit
"Wildflower". Throughout the early '70s he built a solid reputation as one of
the best session keyboard players in the business. His early production and writing client
list included Hall & Oates, Deniece Williams and Boz Scaggs. In 1979, he received his
first Grammy Award for writing the hit "After The Love Has Gone" with Jay Graydon. Foster's writing and producing credits
expanded to include such superstars as Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Lionel Ritchie,
Dionne Warwick, Olivia Newton-John, James Ingram, The Pointer Sisters, Art Garfunkel,
Kenny Loggins, Al Jarreau, Richard Marx and many others. His self-titled debut release in
1986, his second solo album, The Symphony Sessions, 1988 and the album River 0f Love in
1990, and in 1991 Foster's acclaimed Rechordings was a stunning collection, featuring
versions of Foster’s best-loved compositions. David is married to Linda Thompson, who
is his frequent musical collaborator and co-writer. |
