Press

13
May
2022

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

 

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7
Apr
2017
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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

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28
Feb
2017

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5
Sep
2016

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.

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4
Aug
2016

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.

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7
Jun
2016

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

 

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20
Apr
2016

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

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31
Mar
2016

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

 

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18
Dec
2013

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

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3
Dec
2012

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

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3
Dec
2012

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

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3
Dec
2012

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

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3
Dec
2012

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

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31
Oct
2012

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

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18
Aug
2012

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.

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