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Musical Dice -- Songs Written By Diane Warren

     Welcome to the music section of my Musical Dice website! For you music trivia enthusiasts, and those who love to learn about the stories behind the music, you've come to the right place! I love sharing my knowledge of music trivia, so that's why I created this section.

     There have been many times over the past almost 40 years that a particular song written or co-written by Diane Warren has touched me or moved me in some way. Today's article lists the MANY top ten hits written by Diane Warren. You may not have heard of her by name, but I'm sure you know some of these songs.

     If I missed any of Diane Warren's top ten hit compositions, e-mail me at musicaldice323@gmail.com


Top Ten Hits Written By Diane Warren

  • "Solitaire" -- Laura Branigan (1983, #7)

  • "Rhythm Of The Night" -- DeBarge (1985, #3)

  • "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" -- Starship (1987, #1 for 2 weeks)

  • "Who Will You Run To?" -- Heart (1987, #7)

  • "I Get Weak" -- Belinda Carlisle (1988, #2 for 1 week)

  • "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" -- Chicago (1988, #3, Co-written by Albert Hammond)

  • "Look Away" -- Chicago (1988, #1 for 2 weeks)

  • "If I Could Turn Back Time" -- Cher (1989, #3)

  • "When I See You Smile" -- Bad English (1989, #1 for 2 weeks)

  • "Blame It On The Rain" -- Milli Vanilli (1989, #1 for 2 weeks)

  • "Just Like Jesse James" -- Cher (1989, #8)

  • "How Can We Be Lovers" -- Michael Bolton, (1990, #3, co-written by Michael Bolton)

  • "Love Will Lead You Back" -- Taylor Dayne (1990, #1 for 1 week)

  • "I'll Be Your Shelter" -- Taylor Dayne (1990, #4)

  • "When I'm Back On My Feet Again" -- Michael Bolton (1990, #7)

  • "Time, Love, And Tenderness" -- Michael Bolton (1991, #7)

  • "Set The Night To Music" -- Roberta Flack/Maxi Priest (1991, #6)

  • "If You Asked Me To" -- Celine Dion (1992, #4)

  • "Saving Forever For You" -- Shanice (1993, #4)

  • "I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)" -- Expose (1993, #8)

  • "Don't Turn Around" -- Ace Of Base (1994, #4, co-written by Albert Hammond)

  • "Because You Loved Me" -- Celine Dion (1996, #1 for 6 weeks)

  • "The One I Gave My Heart To" -- Aaliyah (1996, #9)

  • "Un-Break My Heart" -- Toni Braxton (1996, #1 for 11 weeks)

  • "For You I Will" -- Monica (1997, #4)

  • "How Do I Live" -- LeAnn Rimes (1997, #2 for 4 weeks)

  • "My Heart Will Go On" -- Celine Dion (1998, #1 for 2 weeks)

  • "The Arms Of The One Who Loves You" -- Xscape (1998, #7)

  • "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" -- Aerosmith (1998, #1 for 4 weeks)

  • "Have You Ever?" -- Brandy (1998, #1 for 2 weeks)

  • "Music Of My Heart" -- Gloria Estefan/N'Sync (1999, #2 for 1 week)

  • "I Turn To You" -- Christina Aguilera (2000, #3, Co-written by Christina Aguilera)

  • "There You'll Be" -- Faith Hill (2001, #10)


     Honorable mentions are definitely in order here. For one, "Can't Fight The Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes, which initially came out in 2000 on the "Coyote Ugly" movie soundtrack, but didn't make the top 40 until it was re-issued in 2002, after which it topped out at #11. Another great Diane Warren composition to barely miss the top ten was "When The Night Comes" by Joe Cocker (#11 in 1990). Another deserving honorable mention goes to "Live For Loving You" by Gloria Estefan (co-written by Diane Warren with Gloria and Emilio Estefan--climbing to #22 in 1991). And personally, I prefer Starship's original version of "Set The Night To Music" (came out in 1987, not hitting the pop chart at all, but reaching #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart) to the Roberta Flack/Maxi Priest version from 1991 (both versions are great, don't get me wrong). And "Don't Take Away My Heaven" by Aaron Neville definitely deserves an honorable mention, despite never making the top 40 either (#56 was its peak on the pop chart, but it did reach #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart).

     Some interesting notes about some of these songs: Diane Warren wrote "When I'm Back On My Feet Again" in 1989 just after her father died. She'd played a demo for Michael Bolton, whom she'd thought initially didn't like the song. However, the demo had left Michael Bolton in tears, for he was thinking about HIS father, who had just passed away at that time. Diane had also written "Because You Loved Me" as a tribute to her father. When I first heard "I'll Be Your Shelter" by Taylor Dayne, I thought it was Tina Turner singing the song. It turned out, there was a reason for that. For the song was written initially for Tina Turner. Apparently, her people had told Diane that the song would appear on Tina Turner's next album, but when that turned out not to be true, Diane was furious, and called up Taylor Dayne, who was also working on a new album, and asked if she would record the song. Taylor did. And "Don't Turn Around" was originally recorded by Tina Turner in 1986, as the B-side of "Typical Male." Oddly enough, one Diane Warren composition bumped another one out in late 1989. "Blame It On The Rain" had bumped "When I See You Smile" out of #1. And still another Diane Warren composition ended up the top song of 1989. "Look Away" by Chicago (which actually went to #1 just before Christmas 1988), which was the top song of 1989, was inspired by two friends of Diane's who used to be married to each other. They had gotten an amicable divorce, but the husband had always hoped they'd get back together. But when he found out that his ex-wife was seeing someone new, he was real upset, and told Diane about it, and Diane wrote the song from his point of view. One final note: It took some major convincing from Toni Braxton's producer L.A. Reid, for Toni to record "Un-Break My Heart," which would be Diane Warren's biggest composition. Toni Braxton initially hated the song!

     On a personal level, "When I'm Back On My Feet Again" helped me get through a difficult time in my life, when I was struggling to get back on my feet again, after briefly being homeless. Also, "Because You Loved Me" was the theme song for me and a girlfriend I had at the time, after we saw the movie "Up Close And Personal," which featured the song in it. Such a cruel irony that when my girlfriend and I broke up Christmas Eve that year, "Un-Break My Heart" was the #1 song. Also, in 2012, when my mom was dying, my sister insisted that she and I dedicate "Because You Loved Me" to our mom on Thanksgiving. She died 15 days later.

     If all this doesn't illustrate why Diane Warren is such an accomplished influential songwriter, nothing will! ☺