Songwriter Diane Warren has been nominated for an Oscar fifteen times, but has never won. She could expect a 16th nomination in the coming days when her new documentary hits theaters.
Diane Warren: Ruthlessdirected by Bess Kargman, gives viewers an inside look at one of the most prolific and accomplished American songwriters of all time. Although the Southern California-born artist is known for writing hits like Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time,” Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” and Toni Braxton’s “Un-Break My Heart,” she has the bittersweet distinction of being the most nominated and least winning songwriter at the Academy Awards. (Warren received an honorary Oscar in 2022.)
Her latest song ‘The Journey’, sung by HER and included in the Tyler Perry film The Six Triple Eightis officially shortlisted for Best Original Song at the 97th Academy Awards, with nominations to be announced on January 19.
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“Isn’t it crazy that here is a documentary about the journey of my life, [and] a song from another film, ‘The Journey,’ was just shortlisted,” Warren told Yahoo Entertainment a day after the Oscars shortlist was released.
“I’m so excited about that, by the way, because [I’m] I am hoping for nomination 16, and I have lost 15 times,” she added. “But you never really lose, because being nominated is quite something.”
After many years of failures, the songwriter emphasizes that she is not ‘jaded’.
“I was almost on pins and needles waiting to be shortlisted,” she said, “and I’m just getting excited like it’s the first time.”
The Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe winner always loved music growing up, but never wanted to be a singer. When she was 8 or 9, she said she saw the songwriters’ names on records and was immediately hooked.
“First of all, I’m not a very good singer. So even if I wanted to, no one wants to hear me sing. But I just wanted to be behind the scenes. I wanted to be that person who wrote the songs,” she said. “That was before I had even written a song. That’s what’s so crazy.”
After many false starts and clashes with her mother, who wanted her to be a secretary, Warren found herself writing songs, recording demo tapes and eventually breaking through with her 1983 song “Solitaire,” sung by Laura Branigan.
Since then, the songwriter has achieved consistent, decades-long success, reaching chart success in a variety of styles, with her songs featured in more than 150 films. Warren is also the sole owner of her music publishing company Realsongs, and her catalog is estimated to be worth half a billion dollars.
“Some people call me the song whisperer,” she said.
In the documentary, artists such as Cher, Common, LeAnn Rimes and Jennifer Hudson testify that Warren is ruthless. She is shown not to take ‘no’ for an answer, whether from executives or singers who may think a song is not for them.
Part of her pitch is believing in her songs. Even after she has composed hundreds of tunes, the film often says that “this song” is “the best” or “one of the best” she has ever written.
With so many artists in her contact list, she often just gives them a call when she thinks she has a banger that suits them best.
“It’s casting. It’s about finding the right artist for that song,” she said. “I love meeting artists and then finding the perfect song for them. And I really have to meet them to really know.
Take Gwen Stefani, she said, who came along last year.
“I started playing this riff from one of my songs on the guitar, and she said, ‘What is that?’ And I say, ‘Oh, wow, that’s my song: ‘All Your Fault.’ That’s a great song for you,” Warren explained. “I played it for her and she loved it. And she finally released it on her album a few weeks ago.
In addition to glimpses of her childhood home in the Los Angeles area (which she revisits and walks through, playing a song outside her old bedroom window), the documentary delves into personal struggles, Asperger’s diagnosis and even her love life , something that has caused speculation as Warren is not publicly linked to anyone.
“I’m not a heartbreaker,” she said. “I don’t really want to be in a relationship with anyone except my cat.”
The film briefly discusses a relationship Warren had with music producer Guy Roche. They reunite for a project, and in a room full of others he reveals that he would have had children with her – something to which Warren responds with “Eww.”
“Eww, I’ll say it again,” Warren said. ‘Not about him. The kids wouldn’t be my thing. I have song babies all the time.”
Along with those babies, her late cat Mouse appears in the film, which also features her Malibu animal shelter — a place Warren noted this week was safe after devastating wildfires destroyed her beach house in the area.
Kargman, who directed the film, told Yahoo Entertainment that she didn’t just want to show a songwriter “who is talented and brilliant.”
“That’s the story of someone who already made it, right? What about their journey to make it, like the climb? she explained. “Because everyone starts out as no one, right? It’s a constant journey.”
As Warren’s latest journey draws closer to the Oscar nominations, she’s not taking any of this for granted.
“I’m very proud of the song. I think it’s one of my best, greatest songs I’ve ever written,” she said.
Diane Warren: Ruthless is in theaters now and begins streaming on MasterClass on January 16.
