 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jennifer Warnes" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Jennifer Warnes | |
|---|---|
 Warnesc. 1970 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Jennifer Jean Warnes (1947-03-03)March 3, 1947 (age 78) Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Origin | Anaheim, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Labels |
|
| Website | jenniferwarnes |
Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won twoGrammy Awards, in 1983 for theJoe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong", and in 1987 for theBill Medley duet "(I've Had) The Time of My Life". Warnes also collaborated closely withLeonard Cohen.
Warnes was born on March 3, 1947, inSeattle,Washington and raised inAnaheim, California.[1][2] Her desire and ability to sing came early; at age seven she was offered her first recording contract, which her father declined. She sang in church and local pageants until age 17, when Warnes was offered anopera scholarship toImmaculate Heart College. She was so committed to her Catholic faith that for a while she entered a convent after graduating from high school.[3]
Warnes chose to singfolk music as it became popularized byJoan Baez in the mid-1960s. In 1968, after a few years with musical theatre and clubs, she signed withParrot Records (aLondon Records subsidiary) and recorded her first album. That year, she joined the cast of the television showThe Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.[4][5]
Early in her career, industry advisors suggested Warnes change her name to "Warren", but then realized that there was already an actress namedJennifer Warren, so she performed briefly as simply 'Jennifer', though she was credited as Jennifer Warren when she provided duet vocals for the singer-guitaristMason Williams on his 1968 album,The Mason Williams Ear Show. Soon, however, she returned to her birth name.[citation needed]
In November 1968, Warnes (as "Jennifer Warren") portrayed the female lead in theLos Angeles, California, production of the stage musicalHair.[4] She had a related UK single release as "Jennifer" on London HLU 10278 in June 1969 with "Let The Sunshine In" and "Easy to Be Hard", licensed from the USParrot label.[6] Her fellowHair castmateBert Sommer wrote a song inspired by her entitled "Jennifer," andperformed it atWoodstock.[7]
In 1971, Warnes metCanadian songwriter and poetLeonard Cohen, and the two remained friends. She touredEurope with Cohen's band in 1972 and 1979 — first as a back-up singer and then as a vocal arranger and guest singer on Cohen's albumsLive Songs (1973),Recent Songs (1979),Various Positions (1985),I'm Your Man (1988),The Future (1992),Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979 (2001), andOld Ideas (2012).[8] Warnes also recorded a critically acclaimed album of Cohen songs,Famous Blue Raincoat, in 1987.[4]
In 1972, Warnes released her third album,Jennifer, which was produced byJohn Cale.[4] It was unavailable after the LP was deleted, until it was finally reissued inJapan in 2013 (Reprise WPCR-14865). In 1976, Warnes released the albumJennifer Warnes (Arista 4062), which contained her breakthrough single, "Right Time of the Night", which hit number 1 onBillboard'sEasy Listening (Adult Contemporary) chart in April 1977 and number 6 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart in May 1977.
Warnes recorded the song "It Goes Like It Goes" for the 1979 motion pictureNorma Rae.[4] The song won theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.[4] Her 1979 single "I Know A Heartache When I See One",[4] was a Top 10Country hit and reached the Top 20 on both the Pop and Adult Contemporary charts.
Warnes recorded theRandy Newman composition "One More Hour" for the 1981 motion pictureRagtime.[4] This became her second song performance nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.[4]
Warnes teamed up withJoe Cocker to record "Up Where We Belong" for the 1982 motion pictureAn Officer and a Gentleman.[4] Written byBuffy Sainte-Marie,Will Jennings andJack Nitzsche, the song won theAcademy Award for Best Original Song,[4] as well as aGolden Globe Award. The song also won Warnes and Cocker theGrammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, which was released as asingle and hit No. 1 (for three weeks running) on theBillboard Hot 100 chart. It was certifiedplatinum for over two million sales in the United States. That same year, she recordedJames Taylor's "Millworker" for theAmerican PlayhousePBS production ofWorking.
In 1985, she recorded a duet version withB. J. Thomas of the song "As Long As We Got Each Other", the theme for the TV showGrowing Pains. It was used as the opening theme for the second and third seasons. For the fourth season, the song was once again re-recorded with Thomas andDusty Springfield. However, the Warnes version made its return for the fifth season and the seventh (final) season of the show. The same year, she recorded vocals forLeonard Cohen's recordVarious Positions, getting equal vocals credits with Cohen in the inside booklet. After releasing a praised tribute LP of Leonard Cohen's songs in 1987,Famous Blue Raincoat,[4] to which Cohen contributed two new compositions, "First We Take Manhattan", which featuredStevie Ray Vaughan on guitar, and "Ain't No Cure for Love", she contributed vocals to Cohen's 1988 hit LPI'm Your Man, most notably to "Take This Waltz" and "Tower of Song".
Warnes teamed withBill Medley to record "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" for the 1987 motion pictureDirty Dancing.[4] This marked the third song performed by Warnes to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song and second for theGolden Globe Award in the same category. The song also won Warnes and Medley the Grammy Award for Duo or Group with Vocal. It reached No. 1 on theBillboard Hot 100 and spent four consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
On September 30, 1987, at the Coconut Grove inLos Angeles, she contributed vocals forRoy Orbison's star-studded television specialRoy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night.
In 1991, Warnes recorded the Lennon-McCartney song "Golden Slumbers" as a duet with Jackson Browne, included in the albumFor Our Children which was released by Disney as a benefit for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.[9]
Warnes released her seventh studio album,The Hunter, in June 1992.[4] The LP featured the AC No. 13 single "Rock You Gently", and also featured the track "Way Down Deep" co-written by Warnes and Leonard Cohen. She recorded the track "Cold Enough To Snow" for the 1993 film,Life With Mikey.
In August 2007, the Shout Factory Records label re-released the 20th anniversary edition ofFamous Blue Raincoat with a 24-page booklet and four additional songs.The Hunter was re-released in 2009, andThe Well was re-released in September 2010.
All remasters were issued on high quality vinyl and 24K gold discs.Famous Blue Raincoat was released with four bonus tracks.The Hunter was released without bonus material. The re-releasedThe Well, however, contains a total of 14 tracks. These include two previously unreleased recordings from the original session: "La Luna Brilla", "A Fool for the Look (in Your Eyes)", and one extra bonus selection, "Show Me the Light" (a second duet withBill Medley, which was originally featured on the 1998 movie soundtrackRudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer-The Movie).
In 2018, Warnes released her first album since 2001,Another Time, Another Place. The first cut from the new album, "Just Breathe" was released on March 1, 2018. Written byEddie Vedder, the song was originally recorded byPearl Jam. The album includes 10 tracks, among them a new version of "So Sad" byMickey Newbury, "I Am The Big Easy" byRay Bonneville, "Once I Was Loved" byJohn Legend, "Why Worry" byMark Knopfler, and "The Boys And Me" by Warnes herself and Michael Smotherman.[10]
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions[11][12] | Label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [13] | US Country [14] | AUS [15] | CAN | UK [16] | |||
| 1968 | I Can Remember Everything | — | — | — | — | — | Parrot |
| 1969 | See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1972 | Jennifer | — | — | — | — | — | Reprise |
| 1976 | Jennifer Warnes | 43 | — | 92 | 26 | — | Arista |
| 1979 | Shot Through the Heart | 94 | 13 | — | — | — | |
| 1986 | Famous Blue Raincoat | 72 | — | 21 | 8 | 33 | Cypress |
| 1992 | The Hunter | — | — | — | 76 | — | Private Music |
| 2001 | The Well | — | — | — | — | — | Music Force/Cisco |
| 2018 | Another Time, Another Place | — | — | — | — | — | BMG Rights Management |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions[11][12] | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [17] | US AC [18] | US Country [19] | AUS [15] | CAN | CAN AC | CAN Country | UK [16] | |||
| 1969 | "Easy to Be Hard" | 128 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | See Me, Feel Me, Touch Me, Heal Me |
| 1976 | "Right Time of the Night" | 6 | 1 | 17 | 33 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 54[A] | Jennifer Warnes |
| 1977 | "I'm Dreaming" | 50 | 9 | — | — | 67 | 6 | — | — | |
| 1979 | "I Know a Heartache When I See One" | 19 | 14 | 10 | — | 46 | — | 12 | — | Shot Through the Heart |
| "Don't Make Me Over" | 67 | 36 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1980 | "When the Feeling Comes Around" | 45 | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1981 | "Could It Be Love" | 47 | 13 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | The Best of Jennifer Warnes |
| 1982 | "Come to Me" | 107 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Up Where We Belong"(duet withJoe Cocker) | 1 | 3 | — | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | 7 | An Officer and a Gentleman | |
| 1983 | "Nights Are Forever" | 105 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Twilight Zone |
| "All the Right Moves"(duet withChris Thompson) | 85 | 19 | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | All the Right Moves (soundtrack) | |
| 1987 | "Simply Meant to Be"(duet withGary Morris) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Blind Date |
| "Ain't No Cure for Love" | — | — | 86 | — | 23 | 1 | 17 | — | Famous Blue Raincoat | |
| "First We Take Manhattan" | — | 29 | — | 32 | 43 | 6 | — | 74 | ||
| "Bird on the Wire" | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | ||
| "(I've Had) The Time of My Life"(duet withBill Medley) | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 3 | — | 6 | Dirty Dancing | |
| 1992 | "Rock You Gently" | — | 13 | — | — | 50 | 7 | — | — | The Hunter |
| "True Emotion" | — | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993 | "The Whole of the Moon" | — | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Year | Song / Album |
|---|---|
| 1973 | David Blue,Nice Baby and the Angel (vocals) |
| 1979 | WithSteve Gillette, "Lost the Good Thing We Had" onA Little Warmth. No. 76 on Billboard Country Chart in 1980.[20] |
| 1981 | James Taylor,Dad Loves His Work (vocals) |
| 1982 | Bert Jansch,Heartbreak |
| 1988 | Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night (TV special) |
| 1989 | With David Benoit, "When the Winter's Gone (Song for a Stranger)"/"Urban Daydreams" |
| 1991 | Tanita Tikaram,Everybody's Angel (vocals) |
| 1994 | "Up Where We Belong"(live version withJoe Cocker) –Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume III[21] |
| 1995 | Tanita Tikaram,Lovers in the City (vocals) |
| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Grammy Award | Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals | "Up Where We Belong" withJoe Cocker | Won |
| 1988 | "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" withBill Medley | Won |
