LOS ANGELES/TOKYO (CelebrityAccess) – The song catalog of Will Jennings, one of the most gifted and celebrated songwriters in history, has been acquired by his long-time music publisher and friend Lance Freed in partnership with Fuji Music Group.
As one of the most significant deals of the year in the music industry, the acquisition was made through an exclusive joint venture between Freed’s new publishing company, All Clear Music, and Fuji Music Group, which together acquired 100% interest in both Jennings’ publishing rights and writer’s share catalog. In the competitive deal landscape, Jennings’ family ultimately selected Freed as the caretaker of the award-winning lyricists’ legacy, fostering creative opportunities and ensuring the timeless songs are exposed to new audiences for generations to come.
In a career spanning over five decades, Jennings’ inspiring humble journey to global acclaim and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame began as a schoolteacher and struggling songwriter in Nashville who went on to pen lyrics to some of the most popular hits of all time recorded by superstars such as Celine Dion (“My Heart Will Go On”), Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (“Up Where We Belong”), Steve Winwood (“Higher Love,” “Roll With It,” “Don’t You Know What the Night Can Do?” “While You See a Chance,” “Back in the High Life Again”), Eric Clapton (“Tears in Heaven”), Barry Manilow (“Somewhere in the Night,” “Looks Like We Made It,”), Tim McGraw (“Please Remember Me”), Whitney Houston (“Didn’t We Almost Have It All”), Dionne Warwick (“I’ll Never Love This Way Again”), Randy Crawford/The Crusaders (“Street Life,” “One Day I’ll Fly Away”), and Rodney Crowell (“Many a Long and Lonesome Highway”), to name a few.
Jennings’ songs have sold an estimated 150 million records. He has received many accolades, including six Grammy nominations, three Grammy wins, two Academy Awards, and a BAFTA Award. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Jennings collaborated with diverse artists and songwriters of all genres and excelled in whatever creative direction he took. He co-wrote with composer James Horner the Oscar-winning theme to Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On,” sung by Dion, which became a cultural touchstone and worldwide No.1 is one of the most-played radio hits in history. Jennings wrote several albums with Winwood, including Back in the High Life, which garnered No. 1 hits and a Grammy for Record Of The Year for Winwood. Jennings and Winwood were also nominated for Song of the Year for “Higher Love.” His collaboration with Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, recorded by Cocker and Warnes, “Up Where We Belong,” for the film An Officer and a Gentleman, topped charts and won Jennings both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.
The roots are deep with Freed, who will administer the catalog globally with Fuji Music Group. In 1974, Jennings was signed by Freed when he was Head of Creative at Almo/Irving Music, the original publishing arm of Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert’s A&M Records. “Will was a schoolteacher who moved to Nashville in the early 1970s with the intent of becoming a songwriter. We signed him, and he struggled for nearly three years until he eventually found success with Clive Davis and Arista artists, like Barry Manilow,” said Freed, President of All Clear Music. “Having worked so closely with Will throughout his career, it’s very personal to me, as he is a cherished friend, and I have been honored to know and help support him throughout his career. When the opportunity to acquire the song catalog presented itself, I called my long-time friend Ichi Asatsuma, who had expressed he wanted to work together on something we truly loved. We agreed this could be that labor of love, and we feel a deep responsibility to care for his beautiful songs and legacy.”
In making the announcement, Ichi Asatsuma, Chairman of Fuji Music Group, additionally commented: “We are very honored to represent one of the world’s finest songwriters with Lance Freed’s All Clear Music, and will give Will Jennings’ music the very best promotion and all the respect it richly deserves.”
