Carole Bayer Sager
Biography
Carole Bayer Sager's songbook spans almost 40 years and contains some of the period's most popular and successful songs. From the Grammy-winning "That's What Friends Are For," the Oscar-winning "Arthur's Theme," and the Oscar-nominated "The Prayer," to "Don't Cry Out Loud" and "On My Own," Carole's songs have become pop standards. Honors for her work include an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Tony Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a Songwriter's Hall of Fame induction and being honored by the LA Chapter of the Recording Academy. One of the most prolific and poignant writers in pop history, Carole's songs have been recorded by such artists as Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler, Celine Dion, and Reba McEntire, among others.
Carole had a ten-year collaboration and close friendship with Peter Allen. They wrote dozens of songs together including #1 "Don't Cry Out Loud," "I'd Rather Leave When I'm In Love," "Everything Old Is New Again" and "Quiet Please There's A Lady On State" which are immortalized in the recent Broadway musical biography of Allen starring Hugh Jackman, "The Boy From Oz." Carole was the "musical consultant" on the play and was a presenter at the Tony Awards when Hugh won "Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical" for his role.
Carole is the executive producer of a CD entitled "It's Still Okay To Dream." All proceeds from the sale are going to the "Save the Children" Foundation. The CD includes songs recorded by Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Sting, and James Taylor. The title track was written by Carole and Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds and recorded by him.
Carole returned to New York City to headline an engagement at Feinstein's at the Regency recently, her first live appearance in New York in 25 years since she played the Bottom Line in 1978.
Carole is currently writing with Carly Simon as well as Donald Fagen. She recently collaborated with pop superstar Britney Spears and she works regularly with 21-year-old songwriter/choreographer Wade Robson. A song she co-wrote with David Foster, "A Mother's Prayer" will be on Celine Dion's forthcoming CD, "Lullaby." Carole's song "Don't Cry Out Loud" was sung on the season finale of "American Idol."
Born in New York City, Carole began her songwriting career while still a high school student. She wrote her first #1 hit, "A Groovy Kind of Love" for the English group The Mindbenders in 1966. Phil Collins re-recorded it taking it #1 and the most performed radio hit of 1990. Neil Diamond included it on his 1993 "Up on the Roof" CD.
In the 70s, Carole, Carole began a long-lasting collaboration with Melissa Manchester resulting in many classics including "Midnight Blue" and "Come In From The Rain."
Carole's self-titled 1977 debut solo album earned her a UK #1 hit with "You're Moving Out Today," co-written with Bette Midler and Bruce Roberts. Carole subsequently release two additional albums, the latter includes her biggest U. S. solo hit, "Stronger Than Before" in 1981.
Carole, Marvin Hamlisch and Neil Simon co-wrote the Tony winning Broadway smash, "They're Playing Our Song," which was a semi-autobiographical romantic musical comedy about a wisecracking composer and an offbeat pop lyricist that ran for 1082 performances and received four Tony Award nominations. Carole also contributed music to the Bob Fosse musical, "Dancin'."
Carole received her first Academy Award nomination in 1979 with the theme from "The Spy Who Loved Me," "Nobody Does it Better," which was co-written with Marvin Hamlisch and recorded by Carly Simon. The song hit #1 and became one of the many Sager-Hamlisch hits, including Academy Award-nominated, "Thru the Eyes of Love."
Carole's won an Oscar in 1982 for "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," which was co-written with Burt Bacharach, Peter Allen and Christopher Cross for the Dudley Moore hit film, "Arthur."
Carole's partnership with Burt Bacharach was fruitful both professionally and personally. As husband and wife, they were one of songwriting's most successful teams, highlighted by the #1 song of 1986 "That's What Friends Are For." Recorded by Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Dionne Warwick and Gladys Knight, it won the Grammy Award for "Song of the Year." Carole and Burt donated their publishing monies to the American Foundation for AIDS Research. The song has continued to heighten awareness of the disease, as well as raise over $2 million for AIDS research and care.
That same year, the Sager-Bacharach's collaboration "On My Own" was recorded by Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald and was Grammy nominated and topped three different Billboard charts simultaneously to set a precedent. Neil Diamond's recording of their "Heartlight" also went to #1.
With collaborator James Ingram, Carole was nominated for back-to-back Academy Awards and Golden Globes in 1994 and 1995 with "On The Day I Fall In Love" and "Look What Love Has Done To Me."
In 1998, Carole, working with David Foster, earned another Academy Award nomination for "The Prayer," sung by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. The song won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Original Song from a Motion Picture." That same year, Carole was nominated for an Emmy Award for the opening number to the AFI's "100 Greatest Stars," co-written by Marvin Hamlisch and performed by Liza Minnelli.
Carole was fortunate to work with Carole King on a number of projects including their collaboration along with David Foster on "Anyone At All," co-written for the Nora Ephrom film "You've Got Mail." The three also collaborated on "My One True Friend" performed by Bette Midler for "One True Thing" with Meryl Streep.
Most recently, Carole and Babyface wrote "Try It On My Own," for Whitney Houston's 2003 CD which went to #5 on the charts.
Carole has donated her time and talents to write songs for a CD to benefit Elizabeth Glaser's Pediatric AIDS charity and works with Joyce Bogart, the co-founded of the Neil Bogart Children's Cancer Research Labs at L.A.'s Children's Hospital, to raise funds. She is also active in an organization called the "Spirituality for Kids" associated with the Kaballah that works with Intercity children and their families.
Carole lives in Los Angeles and New York with her husband, Bob Daly, current advisor to Viacom, Chairman of Save the Children and former Chairman of the Dodgers and Warner Bros., her 19-year-old college student son, Cristopher, and their three dogs.
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