The David Foster name has been associated with musical genius, creativity, and record-selling hits. From the 1970s, when he started to make headway in the music industry, to date, Foster has demonstrated his prowess musically. This article is a detailed narration of the life and works of David Foster that highlights his remarkable achievements and career milestones.
Early Years
Born David Walter Foster to his parents —Maurice "Maury" Foster and Eleanor May Foster (née Vantreight) —in Victoria, British Columbia, Foster spent his childhood under the care of his father, who worked as a maintenance yard superintendent, and his mother, a homemaker. His birth date is 1st November 1949, and Foster is a brother to five sisters —Jaymes, Ruth, Jeanie, Maureen, and Marylou.
Education
From the early age of five, Foster had begun to learn how to play the piano. He took several piano lessons with which he honed his piano-playing skill. In 1963, he enrolled in the University of Washington, where the 13-year-old studied its music program.
Career
Just like Oscar Peterson, David Foster's music career evolved exponentially from a six-year-old amateur piano player to a music executive, arranger, composer, record producer, and musician extraordinaire.
Beginning in 1965, Tommy Banks' nightclub band in Edmonton piqued his interest, and he auditioned for the band lead role. This was the opportunity he got to learn from and understudy Banks, a jazz musician. Under Banks' tutelage, Foster learned so much about producing records, jazz, and the music business in general.
After a year under Banks, Foster relocated to Toronto, where he played alongside Ronnie Hawkins. Still in 1966, Foster joined Chuck Berry's backup band and then relocated in 1971 to Los Angeles with his pop music group named Skylark, which Eirik Wangberg discovered. In 1973, the release of the group's single titled "Wildflower" was a major success and the song became popular, debuting in the top 10. Eventually, the group disbanded, and David Foster, with Jay Graydon while still in Los Angeles, formed another group named Airplay.
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David Foster had since capitalized on his breakthrough, experience, and connections from Skylark to contribute to Extra Texture and Thirty Three & 1/3, George Harrison's albums in 1975. The next year, he joined Lies and Alibis, Guthrie Thomas' second Capitol Records album, alongside Ringo Starr and other performers.
Also contributing to the Earth, Wind, and fire album as a studio player and arranger in 1979, Foster also co-wrote six tracks on the album, including "After the Love Has Gone" which won him and his co-writers the 1980 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.
The Grammy-winning feat further shot Foster's career into the limelight. He began producing and writing songs for popular artists like Kenny Loggins, the Tubes, and Kenny Rogers. Within two years, the Canadian musician landed another Grammy award for the production of Dreamgirls' original cast album.
With The Tubes, he produced their albums The Completion Backward Principle in 1981 and Outside Inside in 1983. He also worked with Steve Lukather and Fee Waybill, The Tubes' singer, to co-write "Don't Want to Wait Anymore" and "She's a Beauty." The songs became a top 40 hit and a number 10 US hit, respectively.
With the 1980 Boz Scaggs, Foster co-wrote and played the piano on his songs from the Middle Man album, including "Jojo", "Simone", and "Breakdown Dead Ahead." He also contributed to the Urban Cowboy film's song "Look What You've Done to Me".
David Foster, in the mid-1980s, worked with the jazz-rock band named Chicago as a producer, composing and producing their albums —Chicago 16 (1982), their biggest-selling, multi-platinum Chicago 17 album (1984), and Chicago 18 (1986). He also co-wrote and produced their hit song "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," which peaked at number one on the US charts, as well as "Love Me Tomorrow" (peaked on US charts at No. 22), "Stay the Night" (peaked on US charts at No. 16), and "You're the Inspiration" (peaked on US charts at No. 3). Peter Cetera who also co-wrote these songs worked with Foster to produce and release his single titled "Glory of Love" which peaked at number one on US charts.
His work on "Hard Habit to Break" from Chicago's 1984 album —Chicago 17 bagged his third Grammy award in the Producer of the Year category. Following these peak achievements in Foster's career, he was featured in Rolling Stone magazine as the "master of . . . bombastic pop kitsch".
1985 saw Foster composing "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" (the instrumental) and the score for the movie. The instrumental peaked at number 15 on US pop charts, while John Parr's "Man in Motion" song for the same movie hit the number 1 spot on Billboard 100. The same year, he worked with a Canadian music group that consisted of Joni Mitchell, Bryan Adams, and Neil Young to co-write and produce "Tears Are Not Enough". The song reached the number 15 spot on the charts. He would contribute to several film scores, including The Secret of My Success' The Price of Love (1987), and Stealing Home film score (1988).
For the Canadian 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Foster composed its theme song titled "Winter Games", which is also the soundtrack for Las Vegas' Bellagio resort fountain shows. He also worked with Linda Thompson, his wife then, for The Bodyguard's "I Have Nothing" song. Whitney Houston sang the song in the 1992 film while the couple also starred in the movie.
In 1985, he set up his boutique label named 143 Records, as a joint venture after signing a deal with Warner Brothers that made this possible. Two years in, he realized that it wasn't feasible for him at the time and sold the label back to Warner Brothers after signing Irish folk-rock band, The Corrs, and producing their debut album. He also worked with Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, composed the 1996 Summer Olympics official song "The Power of the Dream", and produced the Diane Warren songs "Un-Break My Heart" sung by Toni Braxton, "Because You Loved Me" sung by Celine Dion, and "Have You Ever?" sung by Brandy.
Foster's music career also transcended the 20th century by producing debut albums for Josh Groban (2001), Michael Bublé (2003), Renee Olstead (2004), and Charice (2010). In 2001, he also worked with Lara Fabian and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in recording Canada's anthem "O Canada" in English, French and bilingual versions. With his wife at the time, Linda Thompson, he also composed "Light the Fire Within", for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The same year, he and his daughter, Amy Foster-Gilles, composed "I'll Make it Up as I Go" for the 2001 film The Score. Read about the success story of Leonard Cohen, one of Canada's popular music artists.
At the Las Vegas Mandalay Bay resort in 2008, Foster organized a concert titled Hitman: David Foster & Friends where he featured on the piano alongside Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Peter Cetera, Katharine McPhee, Celine Dion, Blake Shelton, Brian McKnight, and Charice.
He would go on to produce tracks for Whitney Houston's album and comeback single titled "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" (2009).
In 2013, the Canadian musician produced "A Mary Christmas", Mary J. Blige's first Christmas album that featured Marc Anthony, Jessie J, The Clark Sisters, Barbra Streisand, and Chris Botti. He also produced Andrea Bocelli's Passione, which had duets with Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado, and a virtual duet with Edith Piaf, as well as Bryan Adams' Tracks of My Years (2014).
Awards and Honours
Throughout his eventful career, David Foster has bagged a total of 16 Grammy Awards, 47 Grammy Nominations, and a series of nominations for Academy Awards, BMI's, and Golden Globe Awards while winning a handful of them.
He also received the Governor General Performing Arts Awards in 2022 and received a star near the Capitol Records Building for the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013. In a documentary by Barry Avrich titled David Foster: Off the Record (2019), David Foster is highlighted with interviews and archival footage alongside popular singers, including Celine Dion, Barbra Streisand, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, and others.
Foster is also a recipient of
- Order of British Columbia (1995)
- Hon. Doctorate University of Victoria (1995)
- Order of Canada (1998)
- Canadian Walk of Fame Inductee (2002)
- Hon. Doctorate of Music Berklee College of Music (2002)
- Officer of the Order of Canada (2006)
- Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductee (2007)
- Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductee (2010)
- Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductee (2010)
He also became the Chairman of Verve Records in 2012 after it was confirmed on December 15, 2011. His leadership spanned till 2016, when he left in a label reorganization.
Conclusion
The piano-playing skill set David Foster demonstrated, alongside his musical training from different mentors and tutors, significantly impacted his career success. Going on to demonstrate the essence of musical training from experts in the field. Learn more!
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