Paul Jabara

American songwriter

Paul Frederick Jabara (January 31, 1948 – September 29, 1992), was an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He was born to a Lebanese family in Brooklyn, New York. He wrote Donna Summer's Oscar winning "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday (1978), as well as "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)", Summer's international hit duet with Barbra Streisand. He also co wrote the Weather Girls' iconic hit "It's Raining Men" with Paul Shaffer.

Jabara was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in 1965, and briefly attended Long Island University in Brooklyn. His sisters, Delores and Claudette, also graduated from that high school.

Jabara's Broadway debut was in the original cast of the stage musical Hair. He originated the role of King Herod in the London production of Jesus Christ Superstar. The musical starred Ellen Greene, and played the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City in 1973. It closed in previews prior to its official opening and was never reviewed by the press. No recording was made of the score, which featured both Jabara's trademark disco music and traditional Broadway style numbers. In 1976, Jabara contributed a song to the 20th Century Fox motion picture sound track of Mother, Jugs & Speed, starring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel. The upbeat, disco flavored "Dance", both written and sung by Jabara, which was popular in clubs featuring high energy dance music. Jabara released his debut album Shut Out in 1977. Jabara's solo albums on the disco label Casablanca Records include three duets with Donna Summer: "Shut Out" (1977), "Something's Missing (In My Life)" (1978) and "Never Lose Your Sense of Humor" (1979). Donna Summer performed his song "Last Dance" for the 1978 film Thank God It's Friday winning Jabara the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song, the Academy Award for Best Original Song. in Los Angeles, California at the age of 44. A memorial service was held on October 4, 1992, at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, in the Hollywood Hills. He died at his Los Angeles home and was survived by his sisters, Delores Jabara and Claudette Hadad. At the time of his death, major outlets including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times were simply told by a spokesman and Claudette, respectively, that he had died due to "a long illness". On June 14, 2014, Jabara was featured in the first gay themed tour of Green Wood Cemetery.