Carole Bayer Sager

Carole Bayer Sager (born Carol Bayer; March 8, 1944) is an American lyricist, singer, songwriter,^[2] and painter.

Carole Bayer was born in New York City, to Anita Nathan Bayer and Eli Bayer.^[3] Her family was Jewish.^[4] She graduated from New York University, where she majored in English, dramatic arts, and speech. She had already written her first pop hit, "A Groovy Kind of Love", with Toni Wine, while still a student at New York City's High School of Music and Art.^[5] It was recorded by the British invasion band The Mindbenders, whose version was a worldwide hit, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. This song was later recorded by Sonny & Cher, Petula Clark, and Phil Collins, whose rendition for the film Buster reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart and Billboard Hot 100 in 1988.^[2]

Bayer Sager's first recording as a singer was the 1977 album Carole Bayer Sager, produced by Brooks Arthur. It included the hit single "You're Moving Out Today", a song which she co-wrote with Bette Midler and Bruce Roberts.^[6] The single became a 1977 Australian number one single and also reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1977. Paul Buckmaster provided horn and string arrangements for the album. The album also included Bayer Sager's versions of two songs previously recorded by Melissa Manchester – "Home to Myself" and the oft-covered "Come in from the Rain". It went platinum in Japan and Australia.

It was followed by ...Too in 1978, also produced by Brooks Arthur, which included all-star cameos by the likes of Michael McDonald, Alice Cooper and Manchester. It also included the first recording of "It's the Falling in Love" which subsequently would be covered by Michael Jackson on his 1979 multi-platinum album Off the Wall.

في عام ١٩٨١، سجلت باير ساجر ألبوم "Sometimes Late at Night" ، الذي شارك في إنتاجه زوجها المستقبلي بيرت باتشراك مع بروكس آرثر، وتضمن أغنية "Stronger Than Before" التي أعادت تسجيلها لاحقًا تشاكا خان وديون وارويك . أصبحت هذه الأغنية الوحيدة لباير ساجر التي وصلت إلى قائمة بيلبورد لأفضل ٤٠ أغنية أمريكية ، حيث بلغت ذروتها في المركز ٣٠. أما أغنية "Just Friends" فقد تضمنت مشاركة صوتية لمايكل جاكسون، الذي شارك أيضًا في إنتاجها مع باتشراك، بينما شارك نيل دايموند في إنتاج وعزف الجيتار في أغنية "On The Way To The Sky" التي سجلها أيضًا كأغنية رئيسية لألبومه الذي يحمل نفس الاسم .

حققت باير ساجر نجاحاتٍ باهرة خلال سبعينيات القرن الماضي. شاركت في كتابة العديد من الأغاني مع ميليسا مانشستر ، والتي ظهرت في ألبومات مانشستر المنفردة في تلك الفترة، بما في ذلك "Come in from the Rain" و" Midnight Blue "، والتي أعاد غناؤها لاحقًا العديد من الفنانين. كما تعاونت مع كاتب الأغاني الأسترالي بيتر ألين ، وأبدعا معًا أغاني ناجحة مثل " I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love " و"You and Me (We Wanted It All)" و" Don't Cry Out Loud ". وحققت أيضًا نجاحاتٍ كبيرة بالتعاون مع ألبرت هاموند (" When I Need You ") وبروس روبرتس (" You're the Only One ").

كتبت، بالتعاون مع مارفن هامليش ونيل سيمون ، كلمات أغاني المسرحية الموسيقية " They're Playing Our Song" عام 1978 ، والتي استوحت فكرتها من علاقتها بهامليش. استمر عرض المسرحية لأكثر من ثلاث سنوات على مسارح برودواي . كما كتبت كلمات أغنية " Nobody Does It Better "، وهي أغنية فيلم جيمس بوند التي غنتها كارلي سيمون في فيلم "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977)، بينما لحّن هامليش موسيقاها. ^{[ 7 ]}

تم تأليف العديد من أغاني باير ساجر في ثمانينيات القرن العشرين بالاشتراك مع زوجها آنذاك، الملحن بيرت باتشراك . ^{[ 8 ]} كما عملت كمنتجة تنفيذية للألبوم المنفرد الذي يحمل اسم جون بوينتر ، من فرقة ذا بوينتر سيسترز ، في عام 1989.

Bayer Sager has won an Academy Award (out of six nominations), a Grammy Award (out of nine nominations) and two Golden Globe Awards (out of seven nominations). She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987. Bayer Sager won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1982 for "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", theme song to the romantic comedy Arthur.^[2][9][10]

Bayer Sager received the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1987 for the song "That's What Friends Are For", which she co-wrote with Bacharach.^[2] This song was originally written for the 1982 film Night Shift, for which it was recorded by Rod Stewart. The song was popularized in a 1986 cover version by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and Elton John.

Her song with David Foster, "The Prayer", originally recorded by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli, won the Golden Globe, and is often performed at weddings and funerals. In April 2020, Lady Gaga closed out her One World: Together at Home concert with a new rendition of "The Prayer", co-performed with Dion, Bocelli, John Legend and classical pianist Lang Lang. The performance helped raise $127 million for the World Health Organization battling COVID-19 cases in America.

She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Bayer Sager received the New York University Steinhardt Distinguished Alumni award in 2006. She received the 2019 "Johnny Mercer Award" from the Songwriters Hall of Fame during their 50th-anniversary induction ceremony. She was the sixth female songwriter to ever be awarded this honor.^[11]

She occasionally collaborated with Neil Sedaka,^[12] with 11 songs co-written between the two.

Alongside Bruce Roberts and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Bayer Sager co-wrote "Stronger Together", sung by Jessica Sanchez.^[13] The song was played after Hillary Clinton's speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The song is named after the slogan that the Clinton campaign used as a show of uniting behind the Democratic nominee.^[14]

In 2018, she co-wrote the song "Living in the Moment" for the film Book Club,^[15] recorded by Katharine McPhee, as well as two songs on Barbra Streisand's album Walls: "Better Angels" and "What's on My Mind". She contributed lyrics to "Ghost Town" on Kanye West's album Ye.

In May 2022, she was honored with a BMI Icon award at the 70th Annual BMI Pop Awards ^[16]

She married record-producer Andrew Sager in 1970, and they divorced in 1978.^[17] Bayer Sager was involved in a romantic relationship with composer Marvin Hamlisch in the late 1970s.^[17] On April 3, 1982, she married composer and pianist Burt Bacharach after over a year's cohabitation. In December 1985 the couple adopted an infant son, whom they named Cristopher Elton Bacharach.^[18] Bacharach and Sager divorced in 1991.^[19]

Since June 1996, Bayer Sager has been married to Robert Daly,^[20] former chairman of Warner Bros. and former chairman / CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, and currently chairman of the American Film Institute (AFI). They live in Los Angeles.^[18]

In October 2016, Bayer Sager published her memoir, They're Playing Our Song: A Memoir (Simon & Schuster).^[21] She also narrated the audiobook version.

• "Anyone at All" (theme from You've Got Mail) – Carole King
• "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)", from Arthur – Christopher Cross
• "Better Off Alone" (Song from The Magic Is You) – Shirley Bassey
• "Crazy" – Neil Diamond
• "We Were Made For Each Other" – The Monkees
• "Don't Cry Out Loud" – Melissa Manchester
• "Don't Say You Love Me" – The Corrs
• "Ever Changing Times (ft Michael McDonald)" – Aretha Franklin
• "Everything Old Is New Again" – Peter Allen
• "Fly Away' – Peter Allen
• "Fool That I Am' (song from Coast to Coast) – Rita Coolidge
• "Front Page Story" – Neil Diamond
• "Ghost Town" – (from Ye) – Kanye West
• "Groovy Kind of Love" – The Mindbenders and Phil Collins
• "Heartlight" – Neil Diamond
• "How Do The Fools Survive" – Doobie Brothers
• "I Never Loved You Anyway" – The Corrs
• "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" – Rita Coolidge
• "I'm Guilty" – Neil Diamond
• "It's The Falling in Love" – Michael Jackson
• "Maybe" (themes from Romantic Comedy and Making Love) – Roberta Flack
• "Midnight Blue" – Melissa Manchester
• "On My Own" – Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald
• "On The Way to the Sky" – Neil Diamond
• "One Hello" (theme from I Ought to Be in Pictures) – Randy Crawford
• "One Man" (co-written with Bayer Sager) – Sheena Easton
• "Our Night" – Shaun Cassidy
• "Past Forever" – Agnetha Fältskog, of ABBA
• "The Prayer" (theme from Quest for Camelot) – Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli; Josh Groban and Charlotte Church
• "Sleep With Me Tonight" – Neil Diamond, Patti LaBelle
• "Someone Else's Eyes" – Aretha Franklin ft Michael McDonald
• "Starmaker" – Judy Collins; The Kids from "Fame"
• "Through the Eyes of Love" (theme from Ice Castles) – Judy Collins
• "Turn Around" – Neil Diamond
• "We've Had Enough" – Michael Jackson
• "When You Love Someone" (theme from Forget Paris) – Anita Baker
• "Why Should I Care" (written for True Crime) Diana Krall
• "You Are My Life" – Michael Jackson
• "You're Moving Out Today" – Carole Bayer Sager
• Melissa Manchester ("Midnight Blue", "Come in From The Rain", "Don't Cry Out Loud", theme from Ice Castles (Through the Eyes of Love), etc..)
• Richard Marx ("Now and Forever")
• Bette Midler ("You're Moving Out Today", "Blueberry Pie", "My One True Friend" etc.)
• Liza Minnelli ("More Than I Like You", "Don't Cry Out Loud")
• Dolly Parton ("You're the Only One", "Heartbreaker", "The Day I Fall in Love" (theme from Beethoven's 2nd))
• Steve Perry ("I Stand Alone")
• Bernadette Peters ("Only Wounded", "Sweet Alibis")
• Kenny Rogers ("They Don't Make Them Like They Used To" (theme from Tough Guys))
• Diana Ross ("It's My Turn", "Come in from the Rain")
• Leo Sayer ("When I Need You")
• Frank Sinatra ("You and Me (We Wanted It All)")
• Carly Simon ("Nobody Does It Better" (theme from The Spy Who Loved Me))
• Dusty Springfield ("Dream On", "Home to Myself", "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love", etc...)
• Rod Stewart ("That's What Friends Are For" (closing theme from Night Shift))
• Barbra Streisand ("Niagara", "Love Light", "You and Me for Always", "One More Time Around", "Better Angels", "What's On My Mind" )
• Dionne Warwick ("Extravagant Gestures", "Love Power", "Stronger Than Before", etc...)
• Dionne & Friends (Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder) ("That's What Friends Are For")

• Georgy (1970) – musical – lyricist
• Dancin' (1978) – revue – featured lyricist for If It Feels Good, Let It Ride and Easy
• They're Playing Our Song (1979) – musical – lyricist
• Up in One (1979) – revue – featured songwriter
• The Madwoman of Central Park West (1979) – musical – featured songwriter
• Barbara Cook: A Concert for the Theatre (1987) – concert – featured songwriter
• The Boy from Oz (2003) – musical – featured songwriter with Peter Allen

• American Idol (2007) – guest judge

• Official website
• Carole Bayer Sager at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Carole Bayer Sager at AllMusic
• Carole Bayer Sager at IMDb
• Carole Bayer Sager at the Internet Broadway Database
• Radio interview on The Diane Rehm Show (50 mins, 2016)