David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian and American record producer, composer, arranger, and musician. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 45 nominations across four decades (the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s). Across the last 50 years, Foster has composed and produced some of the most successful songs of each decade, with multiple songs reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and other individual genre charts. He has also been nominated three times in the Best Original song category at the Academy Awards.
Foster has contributed to material for prominent music industry artists across various genres. Some of the notable songs he has been involved with include: "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing", "The Prayer", "After the Love Has Gone", "Hard to Say I'm Sorry", "Hard Habit to Break", "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)", "Glory of Love", "Winter Games", "Grown-Up Christmas List", "Best of Me", "Look What You've Done to Me", "She's a Beauty", "Somewhere", and "Wildflower".
Foster served as senior vice president of Warner Music Group from 1997, then he chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016.
In recent years, Foster composed Boop! The Musical, which premiered in Chicago in 2023 and debuted on Broadway in 2025. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music.
Early life Foster was born in Victoria, British Columbia, the son of Maurice "Maury" Foster (1913–1968), an office worker, and Eleanor May Foster (née Vantreight) (1918–2006), a homemaker. He has six sisters.David Foster Official Site: "David Foster" retrieved August 7, 2015 His parents discovered his perfect pitch at around age three. During his childhood, he studied both classical and jazz music. When he was 13 years old, he heard The Beatles on the radio and was so impressed that he said, "That's what I want to do". In 1963, he enrolled in the University of Washington's music program. He attended Mount Douglas Secondary School from 1964 to 1966. Although he did not graduate, he was awarded his Dogwood Certificate in 1985 and was named Honorary Alumni President in 2010. While attending school, he performed with the local band The Teen Beats, through which he developed a lasting friendship with fellow member Chris Earthy.
Career
1960s In 1966, he joined a stage band called The Strangers, and soon afterward they moved to London. They performed with Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. Diddley became a mentor to Foster, teaching him about groove. During this time, Foster was going through a difficult period, and was barely able to make ends meet.
In 1969, he auditioned for a band at a nightclub in Edmonton owned by jazz musician Tommy Banks. Banks mentored Foster in jazz, producing records, and the music business. Around the same time, Foster also performed with Ronnie Hawkins.
1970s In 1971, while playing in Hawkins' band, he met B.J. Cook, and the two quickly hit it off. They soon recruited other musicians to form Skylark. Foster was a keyboardist and de facto leader of Skylark. In 1972, the members of Skylark moved to Los Angeles at the urging of Barry De Vorzon, who became interested in the band after hearing a demo of their song "Wildflower". For Foster, De Vorzon's support marked a major turning point in his career. Cook was persistent and leveraged his connections, and after passing through several hands, Skylark finally secured a deal with Capitol Records. The song "Wildflower" produced by Eirik Wangberg, was a top ten hit in 1973. The band disbanded after releasing their second album, while Foster remained in Los Angeles as a studio musician.
In 1974, while working a few minor jobs as a rehearsal pianist, Foster was invited to a weekly jam session hosted by Jim Keltner. This pivotal event brought his talent to the attention of the music industry, marking a turning point in his life and launching his career in Los Angeles.
In 1975, Foster played on George Harrison's album Extra Texture. He then formed a band called Attitudes with Jim Keltner, Danny Kortchmar, and Paul Stallworth, musicians he had come to know in recent years, and together they released two albums. The band did not have any major hits and later disbanded. A year later, Foster contributed Fender Rhodes and clavinet to Harrison's album Thirty Three & 1/3.
By this time, Foster had collaborated with numerous musicians and had gained a degree of recognition within the music industry. He was credited as a keyboardist on a number of albums from that era. Foster had gradually transitioned from working solely as a studio musician to also taking on the role of producer. When Foster launched his career in music production, he entered into a full-scale management agreement with attorney Ned Shankman and Ron DeBlasio. Foster had been under contract with Shankman since 1974, but this marked his first major management deal. While such agreements were common for artists, this was the first time a behind-the-scenes producer had been retained in this way. Foster and his managers went on to build a partnership that lasted for decades, during which his managers played a central role in guiding and supporting his career.
In 1978, after contributing to the production of various albums, Foster was given the opportunity to produce an entire album for a major record label for the first time. The project was Along the Red Ledge for Hall & Oates. This album was the first collaboration with Humberto Gatica, who would go on to become a long-time colleague. Its success led Foster to produce their next album, X-Static.
In the same year, Foster produced From the Inside, a concept album by Alice Cooper. Although not a commercial success, it marked an early example of Foster's versatility as a producer and his ability to work across genres.
In 1979, Foster was a major contributor to Earth, Wind & Fire's album I Am, as a keyboardist, arranger and composer. He was a co-writer on six of the album's tracks, such as "After the Love Has Gone", for which he and his co-writers, Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards. Foster has often referenced this album in interviews because it made such a strong impression on him In the same year, he formed the band Airplay with Jay Graydon; the group released its only album the following year.
That same year, Foster produced the majority of Deniece Williams' album When Love Comes Calling, marking his first collaboration with Jeremy Lubbock as orchestral arranger and conductor. The two continued to work together on most of Foster's subsequent projects over the decades until Lubbock's death.
1980s
In 1980, Foster produced Boz Scaggs's album Middle Man. He co-wrote and played keyboards on some of Scaggs's most successful songs, including "Breakdown Dead Ahead", "Jojo", and "Simone", as well as "Look What You've Done to Me" from the film Urban Cowboy.
Foster went on to produce two albums for The Tubes: The Completion Backward Principle (1981) and Outside Inside (1983). He co-wrote several songs with the group, including "Talk to Ya Later" (with Tubes singer Fee Waybill and Toto guitarist Steve Lukather), the Top 40 hit "Don't Want to Wait Anymore", and the US Top 10 hit "She's a Beauty".
In 1982, Foster produced the original cast album for the Broadway musical Dreamgirls, which was uniquely recorded in a single take—unlike his usual practice of using multiple takes. The album earned him the Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album at the 25th Annual Grammy Awards.
In 1983, Foster released his first solo album Kimi ni Subete wo (The Best of Me), exclusively in Japan. The album was well received, underwent multiple reprints, and remains available as of 2025. It was essentially a collection of demos, many of its songs have since been covered by other artists.
Foster was a major contributor to the career of jazz rock band Chicago in the early and mid-1980s, serving as the band's producer on Chicago 16 (1982), Chicago 17 (1984), and Chicago 18 (1986). The three albums were highly successful and the group's unexpected comeback surprised everyone. Foster co-wrote several of the band's biggest hits with the band's bassist, Peter Cetera and outside songwriters, including "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" (US No. 1), "Hard Habit to Break" (US No. 3), "You're the Inspiration" (US No. 3), and "Will You Still Love Me?" (US No. 3). Entrusted with the task of reviving Chicago, Foster asserted his own style from the outset. He worked primarily with Cetera, with whom he shared similar views, and kept his distance from the other members, which led to ongoing discord within the band. Years later, Foster reflected, "I'm sorry for what happened back then." In retrospect, 21st-century reviews have noted that the songwriting, arrangements, and production of Chicago 17 are more representative of Foster's style than of the band's. For his work on the album, Foster was awarded Producer of the Year at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards.
Foster co-wrote Kenny Loggins's song "Heart to Heart" (US No. 15), from the 1982 album High Adventure. Around this time, Foster and Loggins became friends and began collaborating frequently on album production.
Foster also worked with country singer Kenny Rogers on the hit albums What About Me? (1984) and The Heart of the Matter (1985). The latter included a version of "The Best of Me", co-written with Richard Marx and Jeremy Lubbock, which was one of several notable recordings of the song.
In the late 1980s, Foster worked extensively on film soundtracks, sometimes producing entire albums. Three notable examples are: St. Elmo's Fire, The Secret of My Success, and Stealing Home. St. Elmo's Fire (1985) was a Brat Pack film. "The Love Theme from St. Elmo's Fire" became an instrumental hit, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. John Parr's recording of "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" topped the chart at number one. The Secret of My Success (1987), starring Michael J. Fox, is a comedy film that featured the song "The Secret of My Success" by Night Ranger. The song was nominated for the 45th Golden Globe Awards for Best Original Song. Foster also composed the score for Stealing Home (1988), starring Jodie Foster and Mark Harmon. The album features "And When She Danced (Love Theme from Stealing Home)", performed by Marilyn Martin and David Foster.
In 1985, David Foster launched a charity project in Canada to support famine relief efforts in Africa. Inspired by USA for Africa, the project was unique in its own right. Foster contributed the song "Tears Are Not Enough" and brought together renowned Canadian artists to produce and release it. This song was included on the album We Are the World. By 1990, the project had raised $3.2 million for famine relief in Africa. Ten percent of the funds raised were set aside to support Canadian food banks. Around this time, Foster began to engage more actively in charitable work. The following article contains information about the artists who contributed to it, Tears Are Not Enough performers.
That same year, Foster produced the song "Somewhere" for Barbra Streisand's The Broadway Album. Streisand frequently performs the song live, and the song has been described as an epic piece. Foster won the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal.