Category: News

Carole honored as a BMI Icon!

Songwriting Legends Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Stoller To Be Honored as BMI Icons at 70th Annual BMI Pop Awards

Carole was honored as a BMI Icon on Tuesday, May 10th, 2022 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.




An excerpt from the article from bmi.com

BMI is thrilled to be honoring two iconic songwriters, Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Stoller, alongside the creators of some of today’s most-performed songs,” said Cane. “As we commemorate BMI’s 70th Pop Awards, we pay homage to the craft of these two musical legends and their timeless contributions to BMI and the great American songbook. We’re proud to present them with the BMI Icon Award for their lasting impression on fans worldwide and on the songwriters following the path they’ve laid out to musical greatness, which is second to none.”

With a career spanning over five decades, GRAMMY and Academy Award-winning songwriter Carole Bayer Sager is responsible for lyrics to some of the most popular songs of our time, including “Nobody Does It Better,” “A Groovy Kind of Love,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” and the Oscar-winning theme from the movie Arthur, “Best That You Can Do.” She’s written more than 400 songs that transcend generations and has worked with some of the biggest stars in music, such as Ray Charles, Celine Dion, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Melissa Manchester, Reba McEntire, Bette Midler, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and many more.

Sager has received many accolades and honors throughout her illustrious career, including 26 BMI Awards, and she was named BMI’s Pop Songwriter of the Year in 1977. She’s also received an Oscar, two Golden Globe Awards, a GRAMMY win for Song of the Year for “That What Friends Are For,” and a combined 15 nominations. Adding to her collection of prestigious awards, Sager has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in 2019, she was the recipient of the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

As the newest BMI Icon honorees, Carole Bayer Sager and Mike Stoller join an elite group of songwriters who have received BMI’s highest honor for their “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Previous recipients include Barry Manilow, The Bee Gees, Brian Wilson, Carlos Santana, Carole King, Crosby, Stills & Nash, David Foster, Dolly Parton, the Jacksons, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, Mann & Weil, Merle Haggard, Nile Rodgers, Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks, Sting and Willie Nelson, among others.

BMI’s family of songwriters and publishers will also be celebrated throughout the evening with the revealing of the 50 most-performed pop songs in the United States from BMI’s repertoire of more than 18.7 million musical works.

Full article available at

https://www.bmi.com/press/entry/586481

BMI-Pop-Awards-Press-Release-FINAL-4.12.22

 

WSJ-A look back at “Nobody Does It Better”

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal looks back on the theme song to the James Bond movie

Read the full article at https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-secret-agent-in-carly-simons-nobody-does-it-better-11589031471

The Secret Agent in Carly Simon’s ‘Nobody Does It Better

The singer, the lyricist Carole Bayer Sager and others look back on the Bond theme for ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’—and the duality of James

an excerpt from the article:

In the fall of 1977, Carly Simon’s sultry rendition of “Nobody Does It Better” rose to No. 2 on Billboard’s pop chart, casting James Bond in a new light.

Written by Carole Bayer Sager (words) and Marvin Hamlisch (music) for “The Spy Who Loved Me,” the Bond theme was the first to be titled differently from the movie.

As 007 fans await “No Time to Die”—delayed until November but already teased with a theme by Billie Eilish—Ms. Bayer Sager, Ms. Simon, pianist Michael Omartian and arranger Richard Hewson revisited their hit. Last year, Ms. Bayer Sager received the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Johnny Mercer Award; Ms. Simon’s most recent book is “Touched by the Sun: My Friendship with Jackie.”

Later in the article…

Ms. Simon: As I recorded my vocal, I imagined how the movie would start. Bond films always had plenty of action before the theme song came on.

I also felt Carole’s female perspective in the lyrics. They fit me perfectly. Adding “James, you’re the best” was the perfect homage.

 







 

 

One World Together at Home: The Prayer with Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Lang Lang and John Legend

From the One World: Together At Home Special to Celebrate COVID-19 Workers

So honored to hear this rendition of The Prayer, co-written with my composer friend David Foster, this time, with Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Lang Lang and John Legend combining their talents.




 

Carole Honored with Johnny Mercer Award

Carole at Songwriters Hall of Fame (Getty Images)

Carole received the prestigious Johnny Mercer award for on June 13th…

“The Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Songwriters Hall of Fame, is exclusively reserved for a songwriter or songwriting team who has already been inducted in a prior year, and whose body of work is of such high quality and impact, that it upholds the gold standard set by the legendary Johnny Mercer. Carole Bayer Sager was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987.”

 

https://www.johnnymercerfoundation.org/news/carole-bayer-sager-recipient-2019-johnny-mercer-award/

 

Patti LaBelle, Carole and Clive Davis (Getty Images)

 

Clive Davis awarded Carol Bayer Sager with the highest honor bestowed by Songwriters Hall Of Fame, the Johnny Mercer Award. Carol Bayer Sager went on to perform a stunning rendition of the iconic hit “That’s What Friends Are For,” with guest appearances by Patti LaBelle, Jonas Myrin, Desmond Child and Jordan Smith.

Songhall Article on the 50th Anniversary recipients

Songhall Article on Carole

Variety Article

Billboard

 

 

Carole Co-writing on Barbra Streisand’s New Album, “Walls”

Barbra Streisand’s new album

Carole co-wrote two songs “Better Angels” and “What’s On My Mind,” on Barbra Streisand’s “Walls” Album.

Barbra’s timely album just came out November 2018

Listen to WALLS here: http://smarturl.it/BarbraWalls

Better Angels




What’s On My Mind

 




 

Carole’s collaboration on Kanye West’s “Ghost Town”

Carole collaborated with Kanye West on “Ghost Town” on his “Ye” Album

On the week of Ye being released, “Ghost Town” entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 16. “Ghost Town” also debuted in the UK Singles Chart at number 17 following the release of West’s album

Available on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/ye/1392975931

“On My Own” one of Best Michael McDonald songs of all time

“On My Own,” Co-written by Burt Bacharach and Carole, honored as #2 of the 9 of the Best Michael McDonald songs of all time.

A beautiful duet, sung by Michael McDonald and Patti Labelle

was initially not intended to be a duet at all, but LaBelle decided to invite McDonald to help her turn the song into a duet, as she stated: “The song was sent to me and I did a version of it but somehow it just didn’t quite work. We were going over things I’d done and we talked about turning it into a duet. Someone asked, ‘If you could do it with anyone, who would you sing it with?’, and Michael was my first choice.” (Excerpt from Wikipedia…)

http://www.smoothradio.com/features/michael-mcdonald-best-songs-doobie-brothers/

Collaboration with Jonas Myrin

A lot of exciting news coming up

Carole’s been collaborating with an exciting musical talent and wonderful collaborator, Jonas Myrin.

Their efforts will be heard on Barbra Streisand’s upcoming album, and another song for Celine Dion. We’ll have more details soon!

Carole’s song “Living in the Moment” will be featured in “Book Club”

Carole has co-written the theme from the movie, “Book Club.”

Performed by Katherine McPhee, “Living in the Moment” was written in collaboration with Walter Afanasieff and Jay Landers

Book Club stars Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen and opens in theaters May 18th

Later, we’ll post links to the song, but for now here’s the official trailer:

They’re Playing Her Song – Carole Bayer Sager At USC

On Friday, March 24, the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) and the USC Thornton School of Music spring Master Session Series presented the incomparable 1987 SHOF inductee, Carole Bayer Sager, on the USC campus.

“Carole is the ultimate collaborator,” said Chris Sampson, vice dean of the Division of Contemporary Music and founding director of the Popular Music program. “As a lyricist, her ability to distill powerful emotions into only a few, but essential words is unmatched. Our students also noticed her uncanny ability to fuse a lyric to a melody which has made her songs unforgettable and timeless.”

“Beginning with the 1965 classic hit ‘Groovy Kind Of Love,’ Carole’s unique and impressive catalog contains songs that are embedded in the world’s musical vocabulary,” commented SHOF President & CEO Linda Moran. “This was such a wonderful opportunity for the USC Thornton students to experience her songwriting craft!”

Before class, Sampson announced SONGS Music Publishing founder/CEO and SHOF Board Member Matt Pincus, along with the Songwriters Hall of Fame, will sponsor twenty SHOF student memberships for the second year in a row.

President – North America of Universal Music Publishing Group and SHOF Board Member Evan Lamberg’s introduction of Sager highlighted her prolific and extensive catalog of songs that have helped define the American popular songbook. Sager has won an Academy Award (“Arthur’s Theme”), a Grammy Award (“That’s What Friends are For”) and two Golden Globe Awards (“Arthur’s Theme” and “The Prayer”). She’s also penned some of the most popular songs of the 20th century.

Carole Bayer Sager’s new book, “They’re Playing My Song,” served as a timely syllabus for the afternoon session. Sampson’s interview showcased her stunning array of collaborations, behind the scene stories and insights from collaborating with hit songwriters including Melissa Manchester and Peter Allen (’Don’t Cry Out Loud’), sessions with Bette Midler and Bruce Roberts (“You’re Moving Out”). Her songs have been covered by everyone from Frank Sinatra and Dolly Parton to Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Melissa Manchester, Christopher Cross, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, The Doobie Brothers, Gladys Knight, Roberta Flack, Johnny Mathis, Leo Sayer, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Patti LaBelle, El DeBarge, Bob Dylan, Kenny Rogers and even Carole herself.

Sager described the process behind some of her greatest hits and spoke about her working relationships with SHOF inductees Marvin Hamlisch (“Nobody Does It Better,” and “They’re Playing Our Song”) and Burt Bacharach (“On My Own,” “That’s What Friends are For”), and educated students on how the process for writing songs for artists differs for films and Broadway. She also shared marvelous anecdotes and stories about working and writing with SHOF inductees Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan and David Foster (“The Prayer”) during her extraordinary career, which continues to flourish.

The theme of the day was “collaboration.” Sager relayed her expertise in the role as lyricist explaining the techniques of adapting to each writing session and having a destination and purpose for each song.

As a perfect conclusion to the school year, the extraordinarily talented USC students Madeleine Meyer and Michael Arrom concluded the session with a heartfelt tribute performance of Sager’s hit song, ‘That’s What Friends Are For.”

The Songwriter Hall of Fame and USC’s special bond has been forged and nurtured through the leadership of SHOF West Coast Committee Chair and Board Member Mary Jo Mennella, Events Chair Barbara Cane, who was in attendance, along with West Coast Committee Vice-Chair Kathy Spanberger. Now in its fourth year, the SHOF/USC Master Sessions educational series has included world renowned songwriters, producers and music executives including Bill Withers, David Foster, Billy Steinberg, Benny Blanco, Grahoam Nash, Donovan & Ralph Peer, Carole Bayer Sager, Desmond Child, Dan Reynolds, Evan Lamberg and Lamont Dozier.


as originally posted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame

http://songhall.org/news/entry/theyre_playing_her_song_carole_bayer_sager_at_usc

Celebrity impressionist Rich Little on Frank Sinatra’s ‘You and Me’ – turning to a song by his old friend

Excerpt from WSJ article:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/rich-little-on-frank-sinatras-you-and-me-1487774375

Rich Little, 78, is a comedian and impressionist. He is the author of “Little by Little: People I’ve Known and Been” (Dog Ear). He spoke with Marc Myers.

Back in the late 1980s, I was coming out of the first of my four marriages and was pretty broken up. My wife and I seemed to have it all—but we came apart anyway. During this period, I listened often to Frank Sinatra’s “You and Me (We Wanted It All),” from his 1980 “Trilogy” album.

When you love someone, you hope for the best. When the relationship crumbles, you wonder what happened. That’s what the song [by Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen] is all about to me. Love going sour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few of my favorite things for the holidays-a $400 value!

A gift for you!

This holiday season, I’ve put together a basket of some of my favorite things as my gift for ONE OF YOU. Just enter the giveaway by filling out the form at the bottom and you might win this basket worth over $400. The giveaway ends 12/21 at 5PM PST!

(Entry form is at the bottom of this post)
or click here to jump to the form

Here’s what’s inside

 

 

A copy of my book, “They’re Playing Our Song” ($28)

My book has been out now two months and is now a NY Times best-seller. I hope you enjoy it and if you do, please feel free to recommend it to your friends

They're Playing Our Song Book

A 4 CD collection of my songs, unavailable to the public. (Priceless)

This CD Set is something I made many years ago and features recordings of many of my songs by the original artists who made them famous. This is not available for purchase

carolebayersagerraffle02b

carolebayersagerraffle02a

 

A bag of Minx Potpourri ($25)

I choose the potpourri because it has a beautiful scent that I love. I like to put a little in my lingerie drawer or in a bowl in a room where I spend a lot of time to make the area smell wonderful anytime of the year.

Minx Potpourri

 

White Diamonds Perfume ($35)

White Diamonds reminds me of Elizabeth Taylor, who was a wonderful friend and who created this scent and wore it all the time. Every time I wear this fragrance it reminds me of her.

White Diamonds

Rigaud mini candle ($70)

A Rigaud candle is a favorite of mine this time of year. Medium size, The blend of lavender, the woody, crisp notes of pine needles, creates the aroma of cedar wood and allows me to imagine myself being in the beautiful woods at Christmas time.

Rigaud Candle

 

Amazon Gift Card ($200)

This Amazon gift card for $200.00 is a little something for you to buy something you love

Amazon Gift Card

So Enter!

One of you will win these favorites in time for the holiday. The contest will end on 12/21 at 5PM PST, and I will ship out the basket soon after (assume after Christmas). My best wishes for a wonderful holiday to all the entrants. I wish I had baskets for all of you

Just fill in the form below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Some of Carole’s TV appearances

Carole will be making a few appearances on some shows to talk about her book “They’re playing our song”

Check your local listings for exact times and stations…

Wednesday, November 2, 2016: The Talk on CBS
http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_talk/

Thursday, November 3rd : Charlie Rose on PBS
http://www.charlierose.com/

Friday, November 4, 2016: Tavis Smiley on PBS
http://www.pbs.org/show/tavis-smiley/

Friday December 16, 2016: Larry King (11AM PST) on
www.Ora.TV/larrykingnow as well as http://www.hulu.com/larry-king-now

You can even contribute to questions for Carole’s Larry King appearance.

http://www.ora.tv/larrykingnow/article/2016/11/1/what-would-you-ask-carole-bayer-sager

 

Book Signing! Carole’s at Barnes and Noble at The Grove November 10th!

Come see Carole at the famous Grove in Los Angeles, Thursday November 10, 2016 7:00 PM

Carole will be having a book signing at the Barnes and Noble. Come, say hi, and get your book signed!

Grammy and Academy Award-winning songwriter Carole Bayer Sager shares the remarkably frank and darkly funny story of her life in and out of the recording studio, from her fascinating (and sometimes calamitous) relationships to her collaborations with some of the greatest composers and musical artists of our time. Carole’s memoir is also a deeply personal account.

For more information and event guidelines please visit our facebook page at www.facebook.com/BNEventsGrove or contact Barnes & Noble at The Grove at 323.525.0270.

Kirkus Review: They’re playing our song!

Another great advance review, this one from the trade publication Kirkus Reviews: THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG A Memoir

Author: Carole Bayer Sager

The driven life of an award-winning, hit-producing singer/songwriter.Sager’s star-studded memoir begins with her personal recollections of growing up an indulgent “sneak eater” in the shadow of an anxious, pragmatic mother and a beloved father who died of heart failure just as her first hit song, “A Groovy Kind of Love,” ascended the pop charts in 1965. Music grounded the author from a young age as she found herself writing songs as a teenager in the early 1960s, then abandoning a teaching career to write lyrics full time. Sager’s treasury of chart-topping music includes “That’s What Friends Are For,” the Academy Award-winning “Arthur’s Theme,” and the book’s title, from a Neil Simon-created 1978 Broadway musical based on the author’s enchanted relationship with Marvin Hamlisch. Sager writes forthrightly about the irrationality of fears haunting her throughout her adolescence and into adulthood. Afraid of contracting polio in childhood, she grew into a successful woman battling a crippling fear of flying. These anxieties, she admits, “led me to my long-standing relationship with sleeping pills.” However, these hurdles take a back seat to Sager’s true passion for music, which comes through in enlightening chapters spotlighting her songwriting efforts for artists like Bette Midler and Carly Simon and, in later years, with Hamlisch and Burt Bacharach, whom she married in the 1980s and adored enough to endure a series of body enhancement surgeries “to look like I belonged with [him].” Socially, Sager nurtured a friendship with Elizabeth Taylor and, for better or worse, wrote career-reviving music for Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston. While sensitively chronicling her numerous ups and downs, the author is generous in her sharing of the anecdotes behind the music. The narrative is breezy and accessible, with writing that plays to the strengths of her crisp sense of humor, deep attachment to music, and resonant lust for life. An undemanding yet deeply felt memoir of a life lived through melody, lyrics, and the limelight of hard-won fame.

Carole Bayer Sager Co-Writes Jessica Sanchez’s New Hit “Stronger Together” for Jessica Sanchez and the DNC

Carole Bayer Sager Co-Writes Jessica Sanchez’s New Hit “Stronger Together” for Jessica Sanchez and the DNC

Emotions were high as the balloons dropped and the song “Stronger Together” played, wrapping up the iconic final night of the Democratic National Convention.

Sung by American Idol finalist, Jessica Sanchez, the song was written by Bruce Roberts, Carole Bayer Sager, and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds in support of the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC.

Jessica, who just turned 21 on August 4th, is very excited about encouraging young people to get out to vote. In what will be her first election Jessica, who is half Mexican-American and half Filipino-American, feels she can speak to the Latinos asking them to support Hillary Clinton.

The song was released today on Republic Records, and already trending on Shazam and social media with over 50,000 views on YouTube without a video. It is now available for streaming or purchase on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon and Spotify.

A great song with a great message, co-writer Sager expressed her delight and pride in hearing their song “Stronger Together” played in those iconic final moments of the DNC.

From THR: Colin Farrell, Carole Bayer Sager Continue Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion Project

Colin Farrell, Carole Bayer Sager Continue Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion Project

“Her message is timeless,” said Farrell during an intimate luncheon for The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Elizabeth Taylor was highly favored by Hollywood, but the actress truly thrived from an equally important cause.

Plans to further Taylor’s legacy were continued by her close friend, actor Colin Farrell (True Detective, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) along with major Hollywood philanthropy players who gathered at the Bel Air home of famed songwriter Carole Bayer Sager on Monday afternoon. The intimate luncheon wasn’t a flaunt of paparazzi-filled glamour, but a down-to-business discussion — fitting since Farrell spoke of Taylor as an iconic woman of her time who cared most about using her courtship of celebrity to help those in need.

“Elizabeth was always interested in those who were not being taken care of, those who were isolated, those who were marginalized, those who were polarized. I think her message is timeless,” Farrell told The Hollywood Reporter.

Sager, a good friend of Taylor’s, hosted directors, officers and ambassadors from power philanthropy organizations including PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief), the Burkle Global Initiative, the Elizabeth Taylor Trust, the Hilton Foundation and Supermax World). She expressed how Taylor’s cause, once a great force in the public eye, could use a boost of awareness, particularly from the younger generation. Sager brought up names like Jay Z, Kanye and Kim Kardashian West as those who could continue the message, as well as anyone in the industry who has a positive voice and a social-media footprint.

For the whole article, go to http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/colin-farrell-carole-bayer-sager-861244

 

They’re Playing Our Song

If you like, you can read all about my life, my songs my collaborators, including the composers and artists I’ve worked with, Melissa Manchester, Peter Allen, Marvin Hamlisch, who I wrote “They’re Playing My Song” with, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and the one I married, (Burt Bacharach), Carole King, Carly Simon, Barbara Streisand, and more in my upcoming memoir, it also is the story of my journey from darkness to light, xxx

Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager Penning Memoir

‘They’re Playing Our Song’ publishes Oct. 16.

Carole Bayer Sager, the songwriter of such hits as “Nobody Does It Better,” “A Groovy Kind of Love,”  “Don’t Cry Out Loud” and the theme from the movie Arthur, “Best That You Can Do,” is writing her memoirs, publisher Simon & Schuster announced Monday. They’re Playing Our Song will publish Oct. 18.The title comes from the long-running musical of the same name, which was inspired by Sager’s relationship with Marvin Hamlisch. She was also married to Burt Bacharach and close friends with Elizabeth Taylor. Over her five-decade career, she has collaborated with Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Bob Dylan, Clint Eastwood, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Melissa Manchester, Bette Midler, Carly Simon and Frank Sinatra.Simon & Schuster promises a “surprisingly frank and darkly humorous story of a woman whose sometimes crippling fears and devastating relationships inspired many of the songs she would ultimately write.”Amanda Urban at International Creative Management repped Sager on the book deal.

hollywoodreporter.com

Off the Wall 40th Anniversary Special

The title of Spike Lee’s “Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown to Off the Wall,” an exhilarating new documentary premiering Friday on Showtime, could not be any plainer or more accurate. It’s the story of how a child prodigy and pre-teen idol became a world-conquering solo artist, from the Jackson 5, to the Jacksons, to the man who was Michael.

Every artist is at least two people, intertwined yet also separate — the person who makes the art and the person who does everything else. It’s impossible not to confuse them, and we like to read the life in the art, just as we tend to let the art glorify the life; but sometimes the art is made in spite of the life, or made without regard to it.

Michael Jackson may have been a mixed-up kid who became a mixed-up adult, but he was also an artist who knew his stuff, who thought a lot about craft, asked questions, made plans.

Read more >

The Los Angeles Times

 

Hollywood Reporter on Carole’s “New Works” show

Carole was featured in an article in the Hollywood Reporter:

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian were among the star-studded crowd at the opening for Sager’s third solo show at William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica on Thursday.  Asked about his thoughts on the show, West was uncharacteristically short-spoken: “It’s awesome!”

As an award-winning songwriter and singer, Sager has shared the stage with an incredible array of talent over the years, and a number of them were on hand at the gallery to celebrate Sager’s work, including Barbra Streisand and husband James Brolin;Goldie Hawn and Kurt RussellKenneth ‘Babyface’ EdmondsJerry BruckheimerDavid FosterBrad andCassandra GreyBarbara GuggenheimJanuary Jonesand Jaclyn Smith.

Sager spoke with The Hollywood Reporter at the beginning of the reception and shared a few details about the inspiration behind her favorite painting subject: food.

“I didn’t realize until after I had painted about five food paintings that it was the area for me, because as a young child I was chubby and my mother and I had issues about it.  So food was a major thing; dieting, eating too much. And there was something about painting it and abstracting it that I find very enjoyable — to play with the paint and the subject. “

In addition to her studio work, Sager has become an avid supporter of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in recent years. LACMA director Michael Govan and his wife Katherine Ross were also in attendance at the opening for the new show. Sager was one of a handful of major donors to the museum to host a private dinner in her home for this year’s Collector’s Committee fundraising events for the museum.

Sager’s exhibition will be on view at the William Turner Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica until Nov. 8. For more information visit the gallery online at www.williamturnergallery.com.

ource: Hollywood Reporter

CAROLE BAYER SAGER: NOTHING LESS REAL THAN REALITY

By Peter Frank

Contemporary realism conceptualizes painting. It prompts us to consider how the camera has reshaped our view of our world by applying the visible conditions of the photograph to the physical conditions of the canvas. Much contemporary realism — including but not only Photo-realism – doesn’t really look at subject matter at all: it looks at how we see  subject matter as a result of looking at such subject matter through various lenses. It is a sophisticated exercise in perception, at least in the hands, and eyes, of those who understand what’s going on between the seeing and the seen. It is a discussion between painter and viewer about what is painted and, even more, how it is viewed.

Carole Bayer Sager doesn’t paint food, she paints how we look at and see food. In each of her paintings Bayer Sager depicts a field of vision. The identifiable thing — the nut, the cake, the sandwich – disappears in this field of vision, much the way something does when you stare at it with unyielding intensity. The peanut shell recedes into a blanket of shards, the popcorn kernel absorbs back into the field of burgeoning white shapes, the trail of jelly no longer seems to be emerging from the bread but now functions as a vertical pinion pushing back the horizontals of the bread, as if in a Mondrian abstraction. This isn’t still life. It isn’t still, and it isn’t life. This is seeing –how we see and how our sight has been reorganized by a device (or family of devices) that have been available for as long as anyone alive remembers.

In her statement, Bayer Sager tells us that, in effect, she thinks of her work as abstract, that is, as a matter of forrnal decisions and moves that either fall together or don’t. She revealingly compares the process to her songwriting, letting us in on a little secret: a song doesn’t get you because you because the lyrics are what you want to hear or because the music is so engaging, but because the music and the lyrics drive each other in just the right way. Everything has to work together or nothing works at all. Similarly, everything has to work together in a Bayer Sager painting, not because she wants you to look at food and get all ravenous, nor because she wants you to look at some handsome abstract structure and be seduced by its forms and rhythms, but because that abstract structure has to make the food stand out and disappear into it at the same time. She gets you salivating but transcendìng your hunger. If the picture works, it can feed you, not just make you want to be fed.

Bayer Sager is, if anything, more invested in the sensuality of the paint than in the sensuality of the subject matter. The paint itself is rich, thick, tactile, the surfaces often glazed. If the goodies she depicts inspire nostalgia for gustatory indulgence, the rich feel of the paint awakens a deeper, more directly and intensely felt sensation, one activated not simply by association but by direct observation. After all, the snacks and baked goods have been magnified, cropped, telescoped, and framed – all photographic techniques which Bayer Sager exploits (and thus comments on, as a contemporary realist), but which result in the subject matter’s distortion, often to the point of unrecognizabilìty. The food no longer looks like food, it looks like images of food; it inspires oral desire the way a billboard of a burger does, through association rather than observation. What we see before us are pictures of food–emphasis on “pictures” — not food itself. The works don’t smell of cooking oil, they smell of linseed oil – and anyone who likes their art fresh will tell you that linseed oil is an even less resistable aroma.

In this regard, Bayer Sager tweaks the conditions of photo-realism as well. We don’t think of the photo-realist style as painterly. But in fact it is, and perhaps should be; While so many photo-realists are masters of the airbrush, certain of them (one thinks, for instance, of Richard Estes, and even Robert Bechtle) investigate the relationship of painting to photography by making sure their surfaces stay painterly, even while the pictures themselves are unmistakably photographic. In this way such painters underscore the conceptual clash between the sensual medium of painting and the anti-sensual medium of photography. A distinctive figure like Wayne Thiebaud also figures in this discussion: Thiebaud’s images don’t look like photographs at all, in part because of his ferociously juicy brush, but they rely at least indirectly on photography–and photographic manipulation — in the cold isolation of their subjects. Bayer Sager does not emulate Thiebauds painterly manner (much less his candy-toned palette); but she keeps Thiebaud in her sights by creating a tactile – a rather oddly, disturbingly tactile photo-inflected realism, one driven by the presence rather than the absence of a painterly surface.

Mention of Thiebaud, of course, reminds us that Bayer Sager is hardly the first contemporary realist to concentrate on food. But she does not mimic their strategies. She does not artificially break up the picture with painterly devices, but ends abstracting qualities in the images themselves. When she overloads the visual field, the subject matter goes in and out of focus by itself, and we find ourselves rubbing our eyes not in order to refocus, but in order to move in and out of the painting so as to the proper relative scale – which her cropping and tilting never quite allow.

Carole Bayer Sager’s paintings are not about our desire for the subjects she depicts. They are about our perceptions. They challenge not our ability to resist our appetites but our ability to understand how we see things. This involves our psychological motivations and our sensory responses, to be sure, but it also involves the shaping of those responses and, for that matter, those motivations – by the technology that shapes our universe. The camera helped determine our consumer culture by directing our desires and even our needs for certain stimuli. And the camera was able to do so because it had long ago won our confidence. We depend upon the camera to know our world. But how dependable is the camera? Perhaps the only thing that clever machine has revealed is that our eyesight is not dependable, either. But, then, we learn that, over and over again, from art in general. Art such as Bayer Sager’s còntinues to remind us that, as the Zen koan puts it, things are not as they seem, nor are they otherwise.

Huffington Post Review By Katherine Brooks

Hyperrealist Paintings Of Food Transform Melting Cheese Into Mouthwatering Art

Painting, as a practice, has a long history of capitalizing on the sensual, intimate aspects of people and objects. From a lounging nude figure to a flourishing, still bouquet, artists have managed to depict both the beautiful and the banal in strikingly new lights.

For Carole Bayer Sager — yes, the Carole Bayer Sager — even a grilled cheese sandwich and a melting Hershey Kiss can qualify as the subject of an aesthetically gratifying work of art.

Sager, the singer-songwriter who’s collaborated with Bette Midler, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond and Quincy Jones over her vast musical career, has been exhibiting her hyperreal renderings of savory foods since 2011. Capturing the delicious debris of carnal feasts, from crushed hard candy to crumbling cake, she transforms portraits of mouthwatering snacks into equally sensory-arousing, two-dimensional tributes.

Feast your eyes, and taste buds, on Sager’s works below, set to go on view at William Turner Gallery on September 18.

Carole Bayer Sager’s upcoming show will be on view at William Turner Gallery from September 18 to November 8.

Source: Huffington Post

Carole featured in Art Studio America

Carole, her art and her studio are featured in “Art Studio America”

From the article in “The Art NewsPaper”:

The premise of the book is simple; a Route 66 kind of journey across America’s multifarious landscapes, stopping on the way to chat to a wide range of the country’s artists and getting a good snoop around their studios in the process
Follow the links for the entire articles:

art-studio-america-1-thumb-620x377-70970

Art Studio America

Cool Hunting:Art Studio America

The Art Newspaper:Up Close and personal

Scarlet Cheng Article from Huffington Post

Carole Bayer Sager at the William Turner Gallery

Love, loss, and fortitude are often the subject of Carole Bayer Sager’s lyrics — you’ve heard them before, sung by everyone from Petula Clark to Chaka Khan. But five years ago Sager turned to a new career — painting on canvass — and she’s been at it feverishly ever since. Her first major show at a commercial gallery, “New Works,” is at William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica, CA, through Jan. 5, and it’s a knockout. The paintings range from medium to large — up to 7-foot tall — and are astonishingly luscious celebration of snack foods. Yes, drippy, gooey mounds and falling cascades of peanuts, popcorn (caramel and plain), ice cream, and peanut butter and jelly. Things you really shouldn’t be eating, of course, but rather crave.

Last fall I had a chance to visit Sager’s studio, an elegantly modern, light-infused space which she had special-built for her artmaking. (She has a separate music studio, attached to her house up the hill.) The paintings were mostly done, hanging on the walls, with an easel in the middle of the room and a desk in the corner. “I like to be able to step back and look at these paintings,” she says.

Born and raised in New York City, Sager started writing songs as a teenager. “A Groovy Kind of Love,” the song she co-wrote with Toni Wine, became a hit while she was still attending the New York City High School of Music and Art. Recorded by the British group The Mindbenders, the song reached #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. The song was also recorded by Petula Clark, Sonny & Cher, and Phil Collins. For 10 years Sager was married to the legendary Burt Bacharach, with whom she wrote “On My Own” (which became a Patti Labelle hit) and “That’s What Friends Are For” (which won the Grammy’s Song of the Year in 1987). Admittedly, writing songs has been a way to navigate a painful and difficult personal life. “Writing songs just saved my life,” she says. “I always need to be doing something creative.” (She is now happily married to Robert Daly, former chair of Warner Brothers.)

Five years ago Sager picked up the brush, and she hired private tutors to learn from. Since I happen to know one of them, I can see she hired the best in the Realist tradition. On the computer Sager shows me her portfolio, and she has done portraiture — Steve Martin and Mr. Chow among them — but clearly the hyper-real still-lifes that surround us are her passion.

The paintings reflect her delight in experimenting with color, composition, and texture. “Portrait of Two Popcorn” features two popped kernels on a black background, with a ghostly reflection upon the surface on which they are sitting. One can’t help but to anthropomorphize them because of the way they’re presented — like two star performers standing side by side on a stage, taking their applause. In “Popping” she sends dozens of kernels flying – they are caught suspended in midair, again with a black background to highlight their vanilla forms. In “Big Pop,” she has us looking into a bowl of popcorn, creating depth and three-dimensionality through composition and color values, and bold application of blues and purples.

Somehow it seems appropriate that a pop songwriter is so fascinated by a Pop art style — the giant blow-ups of common food being part of the lexicon of such Pop greats as Andy Warhol with his Campbell soup cans and Claes Oldenburg with his giant sculpture of ice cream cone, hamburger, and so on. During my visit Sager also reveals that these were the kinds of food forbidden to her when growing up – she was plump and much criticized for it by her mother. So now she gets to indulge a little! (Calorie-free, of course…)

Sager certainly knows how to trigger our own cravings — we are dazzled by the prospect of sweet, gooey things with contrasting mouthfeel. “Global Warming” is one of my favorites — its very title reflects a wry, self-aware humor. It features a ball of vanilla ice cream sitting on a thick cookie, drenched with dripping hot fudge. Beneath that chocolate coating are bumps of peanut. Take a bite (in your mind), and you can savor the warm and cool, the soft melt-in-your mouth of ice cream and fudge, contrasted with the crisp crunch of baked cookie. Another spellbinder is “Drippy” with its closeup of layers of crunchy peanut butter, grape jelly, and biscuit, some of that soaked in jelly juice. To add a bit of tension, a giant jelly drip is cascading down the side. At four-foot-square in size, the subject becomes epic, and Sager captures it all with a lively, confident brush and consummate wit.

Source: Huffington Post

Happy Holidays and a video present for you!

Hope you enjoy this video describing of Carole’s artwork featuring Michael Govan, William Turner and Steve Martin and a glimpse of Carole’s Studio!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZq4PTTA6Mk

Carole Bayer Sager offers splended nosherai @ William Turner Gallery thru Dec 15

A nice post-event array of photos from the opening in arts•meme.  arts•meme is a cultural blog written by Debra Levine

When the baseball stadium vendor cried out “peanuts, popcorn, cracker jacks,” little Carole Bayer Sager, as a kid, took that sing-song offering seriously. The prodigious lyricist/songwriter is also proud creator of a fun and poppy collection of super-sized snacks in serious, searing colors. The show’s early November opening at William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica brought out an impressive who-is-who of Los Angeles art lovers, among them film industry cognoscenti. Sager’s impressive output lends new meaning to the term, nosherai.

artsmeme.com

photos courtesy William Turner Gallery

Scarlet Cheng’s review of Santa Monica Exhibit

Carole Bayer Sager’s “New Works” is a joyous exhibition, a visually luscious celebration of all the snack foods you love to eat – but probably shouldn’t. Things like peanuts, popcorn (caramel and plain), ice cream, and peanut butter and jelly. Of course, Sager is better known as a song-writing maven with a career that has spanned decades. Her lyrics have been sung by everyone from Petula Clark to Sonny and Cher to Dionne Warwick. Five years ago, she took up the paintbrush, and she’s been going at it feverishly ever since. She has done portraiture, but it seems to me these hyper-real still-lifes are her passion.

Ranging in size from medium to large (up to 7 feet tall), these paintings show her experimenting with color, composition, and texture. In “Portrait of Two Popcorn,” she features two popped kernels on a black background, and adeptly puts in a bit of ghostly reflection on the surface upon which they are sitting. In “Popping” dozens of kernels are caught suspended in midair, again with a black background, as if they were flying through deep space. “Big Pop” depicts popcorn as if you were looking into a bowl of the stuff, successfully creating a sense of depth and three-dimensionality through composition and color values, and the saucy addition of blues and purples.

Sager instinctively knows how our cravings get triggered – we love the promise of sweet, gooey things with contrasting textures and golden colors. “Global Warming” is a close-up of a ball of vanilla ice cream sitting on a thick cookie and covered with gooey, dripping-down hot fudge. There are bumps of peanuts underneath that chocolate coating. As you take a bite (in your mind) you can savor the warm and cool. Another spellbinder is “Drippy” with its layers of crunchy peanut butter, grapey red jelly, and biscuits. On the right, one giant drip of jelly is cascading down the side, and the crumbs in the biscuit are so beautifully painted, you can feel them rolling around on your tongue (William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica).

Scarlet Cheng From ArtScene

DuJour Coverage at Carole’s Opening-Photos

DuJour: THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR: A PARTY TO CELEBRATE CAROL BAYER SAGER’S NEW WORK

The multi-faceted artist gathers a famous crowd for her newest exhibition in Los Angeles

Although she’s primarily known for her songwriting, Carole Bayer Sager has become an artistic talent of another kind: a painter. On November 1, Bayer Sager hosted an opening-night reception at the William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica for a new exhibition of pop-culture inspired paintings titled New Works. The paintings include lifelike images of everything from popcorn and peanuts to buttered corn and PB&J sandwiches.

“I have been surrounded by pop culture my entire life. I live it and add to it when writing songs,” the artist explained. “In my recent paintings, I am fascinated by studying small and often overlooked every day subjects, and enlarging them beyond their natural states, transforming them into something entirely new.”

New Works will be on exhibit until December 1, 2012. (Extended to December 15, 2012)

Read the article to see some pictures of Carol Bayer Sager and friends from the opening-night party.

Kelly Meyer, Carol Bayer Sager and Rita Wilson

Source DuJour
http://dujour.com/2012-12/664/thats-what-friends-are-for-a-party-to-celebrate-carol-bayer-sagers-new-work

Show Extended through December 15, 2012 At William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica

New Works: Paintings by Carole Bayer Sager

William Turner Gallery is pleased to announce that New Works, an exhibition of paintings by artist Carole Bayer Sager, has just been extended through December 15th. The show opened on Thursday, November 1st.   The exhibition features Bayer Sager’s evocative new series of paintings, which focus on abstracted subjects. Rich in color and sensual surface textures, the paintings range from micro to macro views of peanuts, popcorn and cracker-jacks, amongst others. These intimate and expansive perspectives create an intentional ambiguity, allowing viewers to more freely tap into their own associations.

According to Bayer Sager, “I have been surrounded by pop culture my entire life. I live it and add to it when writing songs. In my recent paintings, I am fascinated by studying small and often overlooked every day subjects, and enlarging them beyond their natural states, transforming them into something entirely new.”

Bayer Sager’s artistic progression began five years ago with mastering portraits and the human form. “When I first saw the portraits Carole was making and then found out how short a time she has been painting, I was very impressed,” says friend and painter Eric Fischl.  “Having taught painting, I know how rare it is for someone just beginning to be able to control the luminosity of flesh. Carole is one of those rare exceptions: a natural talent.”

William Turner adds, “That deep creative vein Carole has mined so successfully in music, turns out to have an incredibly strong branch of expression in visual art. “Carole’s gift for words has found a new source of expression in the sensuality of paint.  We are very pleased that the reaction to the work has been so positive, and that we are able to extend the run of the show.”
For more information about Bayer Sager and her artwork, visit www. carolebayersagerart .com.

Additional Information:

William Turner Gallery: 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica, Calif.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11a.m. to 5p.m.
Exhibition on view through December 15, 2012.
Visit www. williamturnergallery .com for more information.
Contact: Christine Anderson
Communication Arts + Design, Inc.
(310) 869-8597 or ca @ communicationartsinc.com

Carole’s work featured in the Huntington Post

In the Huffington Post, the feature was titled “We Want To Eat These Paintings”

“Last time we oohed and ahhed over the artwork of songwriter/painter/epic multi-tasker Carole Bayer Sager she was focusing on portraits of high profile friends like Steven Spielberg and Steve Martin. For her newest exhibition at William Turner Gallery in Los Angeles, Sager switched tacks and painted the simple pleasures of popcorn, peanuts and the perfect PB&J.”

Click on the photo or click here to read the rest of the article

An Evening with Carole Presentation Video

The video presentation from “AN EVENING WITH CAROLE BAYER SAGER: ART AND MUSIC”

The GRAMMY Museum is pleased to welcome one of the most prolific and poignant writers in pop history, Carole Bayer Sager, to the Clive Davis Theater.




Sager’s songbook spans almost 40 years and contains some of the period’s most popular and successful songs. From the GRAMMY-winning That’s What Friends Are For, the Oscar-winningArthur’s Theme, and the Oscar-nominated The Prayer, to Don’t Cry Out Loud and On My Own, Sager’s songs have become pop standards. Her songs have been recorded by celebrated artists such as Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston among many others. With her talents, it is no surprise Sager has won a GRAMMY Award, an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hear Sager, with GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli, discuss her accomplished career including her latest passion: painting. From portraits to abstracts, Sager’s work has received notice in the art world and beyond, including her successful debut solo art show at the LA Arthouse in Los Angeles in 2011.

Carole Bayer Sager Art Exhibit November 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christine Anderson
Communication Arts + Design, Inc.
(310) 869-8597 or ca@communicationartsinc.com
>New Works:   Paintings by Carole Bayer Sager
November 1st – December 1st, 2012
William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica

(Santa Monica, Calif.) August 14, 2012 – William Turner Gallery is pleased to announce New Works, an exhibition of paintings by artist Carole Bayer Sager. The show opens on Thursday, November 1st, with a reception for the artist from 6:30 – 8:30 PM.  The exhibition will feature Bayer Sager’s evocative new series of paintings, which focus on abstracted subjects. Rich in color and sensual surface textures, the paintings range from micro to macro views of peanuts, popcorn and cracker-jacks, amongst others. These intimate and expansive perspectives create an intentional ambiguity, allowing viewers to more freely tap into their own associations.

According to Bayer Sager, “I have been surrounded by pop culture my entire life. I live it and add to it when writing songs. In my recent paintings, I am fascinated by studying small and often overlooked every day subjects, and enlarging them beyond their natural states, transforming them into something entirely new.”

Bayer Sager’s artistic progression began five years ago with mastering portraits and the human form. “When I first saw the portraits Carole was making and then found out how short a time she has been painting, I was very impressed,” says friend and painter Eric Fischl.  “Having taught painting, I know how rare it is for someone just beginning to be able to control the luminosity of flesh. Carole is one of those rare exceptions: a natural talent.”

William Turner adds, “That deep creative vein Carole has mined so successfully in music, turns out to have an incredibly strong branch of expression in visual art. “Carole’s gift for words has found a new source of expression in the sensuality of paint.”

For more information about Bayer Sager and her artwork, visit www.carolebayersagerart.com.

Additional Information:

William Turner Gallery: 2525 Michigan Avenue, Santa Monica, Calif.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11a.m. to 5p.m. Exhibition on view through December 1st, 2012. Visit www.williamturnergallery.com for more information.

###

Carole Bayer Sager: Singer, Artist, And Grammy Winner Is Honored (PHOTOS) (Huffington Post)

Posted on the Huffington Post : 03/26/2012

Carole Bayer Sager is a prolific songwriter, and has spent the past 40 years writing and performing her hits, which have also been recorded by artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and the indomitable Barbra Streisand, among others. She’s also blogged for The Huffington Post about her art work, philanthropic efforts, and the pernicious power of Sarah Palin.

On March 27, Sager will be honored at the Clive Davis Theater in Los Angeles. During “An Evening With Carole Bayer Sager: Art And Music”, a selection of Sager’s paintings will be on view, showing a side of her that her fans might not necessarily be familiar with. In her art work, Sager “employs a variety of mediums to create realist and abstract interpretations of her life and surroundings.” However, her life and surroundings are anything but mundane — we see a portrait of Stephen Spielberg relaxing in an easy chair with a dog on his lap, a dapper restaurateur with royal blue pants by the name of “Mr. Chow” and a frenetic image of “Benny,” Sager’s beloved dog.

Steven Spielberg Oil on canvas 36” x 48” | 2009

An Evening With Carole Bayer Sager: Art And Music will take place on March 27th at the Clive Davis Theater in Los Angeles.

 

 

 

Art As a Second Career

huff
By Carole Bayer Sager

It’s difficult for me to explain how I, a songwriter for 40 years of my life, am now equally, if not more excited to write today about my painting.

It’s odd. I had no idea that I had any real talent for painting. Honestly. I had tried it five years ago and after a few months of lessons and a few unexciting paintings I gladly returned to my music room.

It was now, well over a year ago when my close friends, Margie Perenchio and Ani Moss asked: if they built and opened a studio/gallery, would I support the gallery by painting there? It was so far in the future it was easy to say yes. You know that kind of ‘yes!’
Read More »

Carole Bayer Sager’s passion for music…

times
By Mark Sachs

Carole Bayer Sager’s passion for music has given the world scores of memorable songs, including her collaborations on “Nobody Does It Better,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” “That’s What Friends Are For” and the Oscar-winning “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do).” And to think it all started back in the ’60s when, as a high-schooler, she wrote “A Groovy Kind of Love.”

But now it’s a love of art that has captured her imagination, and she’s channeling that passion into L.A. Art House on Beverly, where she’s curating an exhibit running into July called “Wounded,” featuring works by new Chinese artists.read more ›

Outside the Lines: Songwriter Carole Bayer Sager finds a new voice in painting.

conf
By Carole Bayer Sager
download pdf >

If somebody had told me a year ago I would be painting as often as possible, with the same passion I once reserved only for my songwriting (creatively speaking), I would not have believed them.

But that was before my close friends Margie Perenchio and Ann Moss urged me to join them in painting on a regular basis at their atelier, LA Art House, which opened last September in Beverly Hills.read more ›

Carole Bayer Sager