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Will Jennings, the songwriter known for hit songs such as My Heart Will Go On, has died at age 80.
Jennings' death was announced on Friday, August 6 by his longtime publisher.
No cause of death was revealed, but the songwriter had reportedly been ill for some time.
Jennings won an Oscar in 1998 for the Titanic theme song, along with the late composer James Horner, for the chart topping hit sung by Celine Dion.
More than a decade before that, Jennings had won the Academy Award for Best Original song for Up Where We Belong from An Officer and a Gentleman, starring Debra Winger and Richard Gere.
He shared that honor with co-writers Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Will Jennings, a two time Oscar winning songwriter has died at age 80 (Pictured in New York City in June 2006)
The emotional Tears in Heaven, sung by Eric Clapton, and included in the movie Rush, earned a Golden Globe award and a Grammy in 1993.
Jennings was born in Kilgore, Texas in June 1944, and pursued an academic career after obtaining a degree in English from the Stephen F. Austin State University in his home state, and taught for three years at the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire.
During his prolific career, Jennings penned hits for a number of artists including Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw and more.
Houston's Didn't We Almost Have It All? went to number one, as did Barry Manilow's Looks Like We Made It.
Jennings produced two chart topping hits for Steve Winwood - Higher Love and Roll With It, along with the popular Back in the High Life Again and Don’t You Know What the Night Can Do.
The prolific artist was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.
Jennings won the Oscar for Best Original Song, along with the late James Horner for Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On from Titanic (Pictured in Los Angeles in 1998)
In 1983 Jennings had won the Academy Award for Best Original song for Up Where We Belong from An Officer and a Gentleman, starring Debra Winger and Richard Gere. He shared that honor with co-writers Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie
Jennings was a prolific songwriter and worked with a variety of artists. He wrote Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven, Barry Manilow's Looks Like We Made It, and Whitney Houston's Didn't We Almost Have It all and more (Pictured in New York City in 2006)
Longtime friend Peter Wolf paid tribute to Jennings on social media.
'A sad time, the passing of Will Jennings, a maestro, brilliant mind and a gentle spirit,' began the former J. Geils Band frontman.
'Will shared his talents with me, ever patient and generous; he was a treasured friend and teacher, enriching my life in so many ways.'
'It was an enormous honor to have worked with such a musical genius for so many years… To quote one of his favorite poets, W.B Yeats, "Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends."'
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