Allee Willis (born November 10, 1947) is an American songwriter, artist, set designer, multimedia artist, writer, collector, and director. In 1995 Willis was nominated for an Emmy for her #1 hit, "I'll Be There for You", the theme from Friends, one of the best selling television themes of all time. She also co-wrote the Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway musical, The Color Purple. (More from Wikipedia)
Black Russian had some assistance with the lyrics, perhaps because English is not their native language; they hardly spoke the language at all at the time that they defected. Lyricists who lent a hand include Allee Willis, who co-wrote the lyrics for their beautiful first single "Leave Me Now". Willis has had a long career as a writer, songwriter, set designer, and artist. Her musical credits are as wide-ranging as can be imagined; together with Stephen Bray and Brenda Russell, Allee Willis wrote the music for the 2005 Broadway musical The Color Purple, based on the 1982 novel, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and the 1985 movie, The Color Purple that was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Rae Dawn Chong. Allee Willis was also one of the writers of the song by the Rembrandts, "I'll be There for You" that was the theme song for the massively popular sitcom Friends and one of the best selling TV theme songs of all time. Willis won a Grammy Award in 1985 for Best Soundtrack for Beverly Hills Cop.
From Wikipedia: "[Allee Willis]' songs have sold over 50,000,000 records, including 'September' and 'Boogie Wonderland' by Earth, Wind and Fire, 'Neutron Dance' by the Pointer Sisters, 'What Have I Done to Deserve This?' by Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield, and 'Lead Me On' by Maxine Nightingale. Willis has collaborated with hundreds of leading artists and composers from all fields of music, including Bob Dylan, Patti LaBelle, James Brown, Herbie Hancock, Deniece Williams, and Motown legend Lamont Dozier."
(April 2015/1)
