Interview with Diane Warren
Thursday / October 1, 2026
About Diane Warren
Songwriter from Van Nuys, California, who wrote "Because You Loved Me", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "How Do I Live", with many Oscar nominations and an Honorary Award.
Source: Oscars on YouTube
These answers are taken from Diane Warren on the Art of Songwriting | 'Academy Greenroom' Presented by Spotify on Oscars's YouTube channel. You! Backstage did not conduct this interview.
What was your very first experience with making music?
The first album I ever bought was a Beatles album, Meet the Beatles. I was a kid. I have older sisters. I love them. I got to grow up in a time of really great music, because when I grew up the radio played everything. So as a songwriter, I've always been a sponge with all kinds of influences. That's why I can write in all these genres.
When I was a kid, my dad got a shed in the backyard. My parents couldn't listen to me playing my songs over and over. It's like, okay, work on those songs outside. In the winter there'd be a little heater there.
What do you enjoy most about making music?
I love doing it. I just love writing songs, and it's fun to kind of capture the heart of a movie. That's what I like to do. When I do a song for a movie, I'm casting the artist for the song. That has to be authentic to the song and authentic to the movie.
I don't have the most balanced life, to be honest, but I love my work. So that's living for me. That's life to me.
What was a great moment for you as a musician?
I had Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on a song of mine. It was Ringo, the song's called "Here's to the Nights." He asked me for a song, and first of all, I'm the biggest Beatles fan. I'd done a song for Ringo before, but I had a whole concept with this song: let's get your old friends and then let's get some new friends. My little idea was to get Paul McCartney, and he loved the idea, and he got Paul. Paul was the first one to sign on. And then we got Chris Stapleton. FINNEAS is on there, Lenny Kravitz is on there, Dave Grohl's on there. It's pretty cool. But all I saw was Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney in my mind. That's a pinch-me thing to this day.
Getting nominated this year was a pinch-me moment, because I was not a shoo-in. This was the most competitive year I ever saw. I stayed up all night waiting, and my song was the last one called, and I had 10 heart attacks before that. But it was just the most wonderful moment.
How did your career as a musician unfold?
My first big hit really was "Rhythm of the Night," DeBarge. What was really awesome for me is I'm such a Motown fan, and growing up, I just loved every artist on Motown, all the songs. So for my first big hit to be on Motown with Berry Gordy, it's the coolest thing ever.
With movies, I just kind of kept doing it. My dad said as long as I went to college, he'd support me. And so I took all these movie classes. I took a lot of film history, watched old movies and stuff like that.
What advice do you have for new musicians?
For any songwriter to break into the industry, whether you're a woman or a man, you gotta put in the time. You have to have talent, A. It's aptitude and attitude and gratitude, if that makes sense.
I work every day. I get inspired every day, I come up with ideas. It's like an Olympic athlete. If you wanna be in the Olympics, you better practice, and you have to practice every day, and you have to put in the time and you have to put in the work. It's that simple.
I listen to people's conversations. I like to go to restaurants and listen to people. I read, I watch movies, see friends. Ideas are everywhere. You just have to be open to them.
I haven't had a problem with self-confidence in my work. Even when I didn't have any reason to believe in myself, I did. But you have to have it, because everything's against you.
What has been your greatest accomplishment as a musician?
It's a big deal to be nominated. Five songs are picked, only five songs. The Grammys have 40 song categories. The Oscars have one: five songs. Think of all the songs released all year and all the movies. They only pick five. If I'm one of those, that's winning.
If I had a choice of winning and never being nominated again, I would choose the longevity of 34 years and 13 nominations. I'm still here. I'm still in the game. I'm still kicking ass.
Think about a demanding producer, bandleader or collaborator. What made them difficult, and how did you work with them successfully?
I remember writing something for, I think it was Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I wrote a really great song for it and they didn't use it. I was kind of bummed out, but right then Carrie Underwood was doing an album and she loved that song and she did it, and that album sold 12 million albums. So you know what, they did me a favor.
I have a song that John Legend did called "Where Is Your Heart." He recorded the song. He kept saying he was gonna use it. He didn't use it. I gave it to an artist, and then he said he wanted it back, and I pissed off an artist, and then he didn't use it. I gave it to another artist, then he wanted it back again, and then he didn't use it. And I go, I believe in this song so much with your voice. It's just one of the best things I've ever heard. So when I came up with the idea of doing my DJ Diane kind of thing, I thought, okay, I'm putting "Where Is Your Heart" on here. It needs to be heard.
How do you keep communication clear with the band and the people you record with?
Usually they trust me. With this song, I had the chorus and I played it for the director, I had a piece of verse too, and he loved it. I'm at the point where I play something, I'm really excited about it. I won't play for somebody unless I love it.
The artists I'm supposed to work with find me, or I find them somehow. Honestly, someone has to have something going. It's hard to work with somebody starting out, because it's so much work. They have to be a great singer, or someone that I think I can help and that I can fit into their thing. But it's always artist by artist. I might hear somebody that I love so much that I'm willing to take that chance.
Describe your style.
I'm all over the place. I do classical crossover stuff and I do a lot of R&B stuff. I don't study artists, but of course I've been influenced by stuff. And I write by myself. I was just in the studio with Rita Ora, and she was holding up my lyric sheet going, look, one name, guys. In this day and age, when there's a minimum of five writers on a song, I'm a unicorn. I don't sample. I just write songs. I don't sample other songs.
I'm really a perfectionist. I could spend a week on a song, but lyrics are what I really take time with. That's the hard part. I got a really great chorus, but how do I set that up? I have a great second verse, then what do I do with that bridge? How does that take it to the next level? It takes work.
You can't be a great artist without being a great craftsman. I hate committees. It's about the passion of one person, not a committee. The committee is, what do you think? No, it's what do you feel? That's how things get done. It's by passion.
Tell me something I may not know from reading your credits.
I have a farm animal rescue ranch, and there's real goats there. Those are the real goats.
When the nominations come out, I stay up all night. I'm not cool enough to go to sleep. You just think you're really cool and don't wanna admit it, and I'm not cool, so I stay up all night and admit it, and I'm happy to admit it.
In the morning I have an ice blended mocha. Coffee is important. I show up and I work. I have little starts that I'll go back to. They tell me, they call me. You just hear them and you're like, okay, I got it.
Diane Warren's Full Biography
Diane was born in Van Nuys, California, USA on September 7, 1956 to parents David and Flora Warren. She become a prolific writer in her neighborhood, writing songs every day and eventually surpassing 1,000 of them. Her dad (an insurance salesman) took Diane to see publishers who said she had potential, but to come back and see them in the future. After signing with producer Jack White, circa 1983, the partnership produced her songs "Solitaire" and "Hot Night", which was recorded by Laura Branigan for the Ghostbusters (1984) soundtrack. It was also the beginning of a long line of film song projects, which produced many Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. After a legal battle with producer Jack White, Diane started her own publishing company called "Real Songs" in the late 80s. The company has the rights to all her songs and makes deals with hundreds of artists (and record companies) who record them.