Дэвид Фостер: Канадтық өндіруші және композитордың өмірбаяны

Canadian record producer and songwriter
the Canadian music producer

David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian record producer, film composer, and music executive. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. Foster's career began as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark in the early 1970s Foster has contributed to material for prominent music industry artists in various genres since then, and is credited with production on over 40 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. He has also chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016.

Foster was born in Victoria, British Columbia, the son of Maurice "Maury" Foster, an office worker, and Eleanor May Foster (née Vantreight), a homemaker. In 1963, at the age of 13, he enrolled in the University of Washington music program. In 1965, he auditioned to lead the band in an Edmonton nightclub owned by jazz musician Tommy Banks. Banks mentored Foster in jazz, producing records, and the music business. After one year there, he moved to Toronto to play with Ronnie Hawkins. In 1966, he joined a backup band for Chuck Berry.

Foster was a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark, discovered by Eirik Wangberg. The song "Wildflower" was a top ten hit in 1973. When the group disbanded, Foster remained in Los Angeles That year, Foster composed the score for the film St. Elmo's Fire, including the instrumental "Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire", which hit No. 15 on the US pop charts. Another song from the film, "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)", recorded by John Parr, reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 7, 1985. In 1985, Foster also co wrote and produced "Tears Are Not Enough", which reached top 15 status. The album was recorded by a group of fellow Canadian artists including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Bryan Adams. Foster continued turning out occasional film scores, including the Michael J. Fox comedy The Secret of My Success (1987), which featured a song co written by Foster titled "The Price of Love", a version of which was performed by Roger Daltrey on his album Can't Wait to See the Movie, which Foster also produced. Foster wrote the score for the Jodie Foster Mark Harmon film Stealing Home (1988). Both films spawned soundtrack albums with Foster's prominent contributions. Foster composed "Winter Games", the instrumental theme song for the 1988 Winter Olympics and performed "Winter Games" and its vocal version "Can't You Feel It?" in Calgary, Alberta. "Winter Games" is the soundtrack for fountain shows at the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas. Foster collaborated with then wife Linda Thompson on the song "I Have Nothing", sung by Whitney Houston in the 1992 film The Bodyguard. The couple appeared in the film's Oscars scene as the conductor and an Academy member. In 1995, Foster signed a deal with Warner Brothers for his own boutique label, 143 Records, as a joint venture with Warner. Foster gave responsibility for running the label to then manager Brian Avnet. Renee Olstead (2004), and Charice (2010), which were released under his 143 Records. In 2005, Foster, his daughter Amy Foster Gillies, and Beyoncé wrote "Stand Up For Love" as the anthem to the World Children's Day, an annual worldwide event to raise awareness and funds for children's causes. Over the years, more than $50 million has been raised to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities and other children's organizations. In 2008, Foster held a one night concert called Hitman: David Foster & Friends at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas featuring Foster presiding center stage at the keyboard, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Peter Cetera, Katharine McPhee, Celine Dion, Blake Shelton, Brian McKnight, and Charice. In 2009, it was revealed by songwriter Diane Warren that she had worked with Foster to produce tracks for Whitney Houston's upcoming album and the singer's comeback single would be the Foster produced "I Didn't Know My Own Strength".

On May 30, 2011 Foster teamed with young singer Jackie Evancho in her Dream With Me Concert on PBS at the Ringling Brothers Museum in Sarasota Fl. On December 15, 2011, it was confirmed that Foster would become the Chairman of Verve Music Group. In 2013, Foster produced Mary J. Blige's first Christmas album A Mary Christmas released October 15 of that year. The album includes 12 classics such as swing styled "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". It features artists Marc Anthony, Jessie J, The Clark Sisters, Barbra Streisand, and Chris Botti. Foster produced Andrea Bocelli's album, Passione, released in January 2013. The album is a collection of Mediterranean love songs featuring duets with Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado, and a virtual duet with Edith Piaf. Foster produced an album with Bryan Adams titled Tracks of My Years released in 2014. Foster left Verve in 2016 in a label reorganization.

Foster composed a musical based on Betty Boop, with lyrics by Susan Birkenhead and a book by Bob Martin. Boop! The Musical had its world premiere at the CIBC Theatre in Chicago, on November 19, 2023.

In 1992, Foster went to Indonesia to record the TV show David Foster's Twilight Orchestra on the national television station RCTI. In early 2001, Foster appeared in Popstars, a WB reality series aimed at coming up with the next girl group. The result was Eden's Crush (featuring Nicole Scherzinger). Foster and Linda Thompson wrote and produced several songs on their album. In 2005, his and Linda Thompson's home life was featured in a "staged" reality television show, The Princes of Malibu, on Fox. The premise was Foster attempting to teach his spoiled stepsons, Brandon and Brody Jenner—the children of Thompson and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner—to straighten their lives up and earn their own way. In late April 2006, he appeared as a guest mentor on American Idol and as a guest judge on Nashville Star. In 2006, he was a judge on the FOX TV show Celebrity Duets and appeared on Star Tomorrow, for which auditions were held in Los Angeles and New York for undiscovered talent. In July 2006, Foster made a brief appearance on The View as Star Jones's vocal coach. In August 2006, he was the musical director for JCPenney Jam's The Concert For American Kids. Also in 2006, Foster was featured in Under the Desert Sky, Andrea Bocceli's live album and DVD of a pop concert held in Las Vegas. In 2007, Foster was featured in Bocelli's Vivere Live in Tuscany, a live album and DVD of a pop concert performed at Bocelli's Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, Tuscany in July. In November 2007, Foster appeared in The Oprah Winfrey Shows annual "Favorite Things" episode, performing with Josh Groban. In September 2008, singer Charice joined Foster on The Oprah Winfrey Show with Celine Dion via satellite; and on October 31, he and Andrea Bocelli appeared on Oprah again together, where he stated that Bocelli was his "favourite singer on the planet". In December 2008, Foster was featured in a PBS special titled Hit Man: David Foster & Friends, a concert featuring live performances by Foster and numerous other performers. Later in 2011, he was featured in Andrea Bocelli's live album, Concerto: One Night in Central Park (also known as Live in Central Park) and in Bocelli's four PBS specials. Bocelli also performed during Foster's Hit Man special. In late 2012, Foster appeared in an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. His wife, Yolanda Foster, joined the cast of season three. In 2015, Foster joined the panel of judges for Asia's Got Talent. In 2017 and 2019, he returned as judge with Anggun, Mel C, and Vanness Wu for the second season and third season with Anggun and Jay Park, and also judged the Chinese language World's Got Talent. In 2019, PBS hosted An Intimate Evening with David Foster. The show includes his wife Katharine McPhee, tenor Fernando Varela, Pia Toscano, Loren Allred, and Shelea. In 2019, the biographical documentary, David Foster: Off the Record was produced and directed by Barry Avrich. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2019. It includes archival footage and interviews, and appearances by singers including Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Celine Dion. In 2021, Foster and McPhee competed in season six of The Masked Singer as "Banana Split". Foster dressed up as the banana half and did most of the instrument playing while McPhee dressed up as the ice cream half and did most of the singing. They were eliminated in the Group B Finale, where they competed against Jewel as "Queen of Hearts".

Foster has produced multiple best selling Christmas albums beginning with Once Upon a Christmas, by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton in 1984. He produced Celine Dion's These Are Special Times (1998), Josh Groban's Noël (2007), Andrea Bocelli's My Christmas (2009), Michael Bublé's Christmas (2011), Rod Stewart's Merry Christmas, Baby (2012), Mary J. Blige's A Mary Christmas (2013), and Jordan Smith's 'Tis the Season (2016). Thus, he has produced the best selling Christmas albums of 1984, 1998, 2007–09, and 2011–12. Four of these albums rank among the top fifteen best selling Christmas albums ever. He composed "Grown Up Christmas List" (1990). Foster and his fifth wife Katharine McPhee recorded a seven song Christmas EP called Christmas Songs in 2022. On October 20, 2023, the album was "completed" and re released with seven additional songs.

Foster created the David Foster Foundation, which supports children in need of medical transplants, for which he was acknowledged in the Juno Awards 2019. He is an ardent supporter of Israel, raising money for their military at fundraisers.

Foster has been married five times and has five daughters, one son and seven grandchildren. His first child, Allison Jones Foster, was born in 1970 when Foster was 20. He placed her for adoption and reconnected with her when she was 30. His first marriage was to singer and writer B. J. Cook. Cook and Foster had one daughter together, Amy (b. 1973), a songwriter and author. They had three daughters: Sara (b. 1981), Erin (b. 1982), and Jordan (b. 1986). Foster is the father in law of former professional tennis player Tommy Haas, who is married to Sara. He married his third wife, songwriter Linda Thompson, in 1991 and divorced in 2005. The two became a songwriting team, collaborating on several songs, including "I Have Nothing", performed by Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard (1992), and "Grown Up Christmas List". Foster was stepfather to Brandon and Brody Jenner (Linda's sons with Caitlyn Jenner), who both grew up living in his Malibu home. Both Jenner boys starred in a short lived TV reality show called The Princes of Malibu in 2005 which also featured Foster and Thompson and was filmed in their home. In 1992, Foster was driving on the Pacific Coast Highway when his car struck actor and dancer Ben Vereen, who had just suffered a stroke while driving near his Malibu home and was stumbling on the highway. Vereen was critically injured but recovered after going through physical rehabilitation. Vereen said afterward that he would have died if Foster had not collided with him and then called for emergency services. David had three stepchildren from Yolanda Foster's previous marriage to Mohamed Hadid: Gigi (b. 1995), Bella (b. 1996), and Anwar (b. 1999). On December 1, 2015, Foster announced that after four years of marriage and nine years together, he and Yolanda had made the decision to divorce. The divorce was finalized on October 16, 2017. In June 2018, Foster became engaged to Katharine McPhee. On June 28, 2019, the couple wed at the Armenian Church of St Yeghiche, South Kensington in London. McPhee gave birth to a son, Rennie David, in February 2021. Foster's sister, producer Jaymes Foster, has a son with Clay Aiken. Foster is a cousin of racecar driver Billy Foster.