The Grammy-Award winning songwriter, Allee Willis passed away suddenly on December 24th from cardiac arrest. The seventy-two year old Willis had just been inducted in to the Songwriters Hall of Fame last year.
Some of the music this talented writer helped create includes Earth, Wind and Fire's "September" and "Boogie Wonderland"; "Neutron Dance" by the Pointer Sisters (for the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack which she won her first Grammy), "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" by Pet Shop Boys featuring Dusty Springfield and "I'll Be There for You" by The Rembrandts which was used as the theme song for the still-popular sitcom, "Friends". Willis also co-wrote the songs for the Broadway musical of "The Color Purple" and received Tony-Award nominations and a Grammy win for her work.
Born Alta Sherral Willis in Detroit, she would go hang out outside of Motown Records to listen to the artists record their soon-to-be hits as a teenager. Willis went to college to study journalism but moved to New York after graduation and was drawn to singing and songwriting, She did record an album, "Childstar" in 1974 but it failed to get any attention. Not long after, Willis decided to give up performing, move to Los Angeles and focus on being a songwriter.
Willis was hired by A&M Records in 1977 as a writer and her first chance encounter was an introduction to Verdine White, the bass player for Earth, Wind and Fire. Through him, Willis would meet his brother, Maurice, the founder and leader of the band. They worked together writing "September" and this 1978 now-classic became her first hit song. This opened doors for Willis and she would go to work with a wide variety of artists including Rita Coolidge, Crystal Gayle, Sister Sledge, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper and Taylor Dayne.
Willis would later become known for her North Hollywood home, designed by William Kesling, where she threw wild parties and filled with pop culture artifacts which helped her become affectionately referred to as "the Queen of Kitsch". In honor of this great talent, here are a few of my favorite songs written by Allee Willis:
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