Diane Warren on roping in singers for her album: It was like casting in a film

MUMBAI: Iconic songwriter Diane Warren is going to have an all-star line-up of singers for her upcoming debut album. She says the process of tapping singers for each song was like casting a role in a film.

About a month ago, the Grammy, Emmy and Golden Globe award winner put out a video of her singing her first single, "Times like this", from her upcoming album "Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions Vol. 1". The album originally features Darius Rucker singing the song, which is full of hope.

Asked if a singer is hidden in her, Warren told IANS: "No, not a very good one. Darius Rucker sounds a lot better than me... a lot."

"'Times like this' you should be playing it. It's a great song. We can all use an angel. We should be kind to each other and be each other's angels," she added, referring to the lyrics of the number.

The project will also feature vocals of popular singers like John Legend, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige and Jason Derulo.

"The artistes are doing all the work. I am more of a curator. I wrote the songs. It's not me singing or anything. It's really great singers singing them. I thought it was a great way to get these songs heard. Deejays and producers like Mark Ronson and Calvin Harris do this. A songwriter hasn't done it. I thought why not me. So I went for it," she said about putting together the album.

As for selecting singers for different tracks, she shared: "It was like casting a role in a movie. It was like 'who is the perfect artiste for the song?' Like John Legend had recorded the song six years ago. I always loved it. I said I loved the song so much I can build a record around that. I have some great new songs, so I went to different artistes."

While it is scheduled for release in 2021, her fans can enjoy more songs from her.

"I have written (the former Beatles member) Ringo Starr's 'Here's to the nights'. It's an anthem and is so important for us right now. We can't really be with our friends right now, here's a song celebrating that (friendship)," she said.

Earlier this year, her song "The Change" was used as part of the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaign.

"It was sung by JoJo. It's not a political song, but the Biden campaign used it. I was really honoured with that. Its a great song and I'd love to see an Indian version of it. That would be cool. That would be awesome," said the songwriter, who is behind hits like "Because you loved me" (Celine Dion), "Can't fight the moonlight" (LeAnn Rimes), "Can't take that away" (Mariah Carey) and "I don't want to miss a thing" (Aerosmith).

Over the year gone by, she said the biggest lesson she learned was that "you can't plan anything. I just hope it gets better for everyone".