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Will Jennings, Oscar-winning lyricist of My Heart Will Go On, dies aged 80

Songwriter wrote No 1 hits for Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow, as well as iconic ballads such as Up Where We Belong and Tears in Heaven

This is a song so personal and so sad ... it is unique in my experience of writing songs.” Tears in Heaven became Clapton’s biggest hit in the US, reaching No 2 in the charts, and won Jennings a Golden Globe. In 1982 he wrote Up Where We Belong, performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes for An Officer and a Gentleman – the song topped the US charts, earned Oscar and Bafta awards, and became a defining ballad of that decade. Another ballad he wrote for Crawford, One Day I’ll Fly Away, was a big hit on its 1980 release in the UK, reaching No 2, and was later performed by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge!, with Up Where We Belong also making an appearance.

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