Diane Warren, one of the most iconic songwriters of the last 30 years, has storytelling abilities that can’t be denied. She has penned songs for biggest names in music from Whitney Houston and Beyoncé to Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, among countless others.
At Pen America’s 2019 LitFest Gala in November, Warren will be presented with the Artistic Expression Award. She defines the crowning achievement exclusively to Rated R&B as “expressing yourself artistically the best way you can.”
Warren, whose catchy words are sung by Mary J. Blige for ABC’s The View, is working on new music with the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. While celebrating the 20th anniversary of Blige’s Mary album, Warren hinted on social media that she loves her “Give Me You” contribution, but her “favorite is the one that hasn’t come out yet. But it will.”
Aside from Blige, Warren mentioned to Rated R&B she is “working with a lot of artists right now,” including Ciara. She was spotted in the studio with Ci Ci in July, “cooking up something very cool.”
Like her Instagram post, Warren continued to keep their follow-up to 2015’s “I Got You” hush during her conversation with Rated R&B. She did, though, add that fans can “expect something awesome and exciting.”
As far as the tempo of the song, Warren confirmed to Rated R&B that “it’s not a ballad.”
Aside from her upcoming songwriting work, Warren is part of history on the Billboard Hot 100. Her emotionally-charged ballad “Un-Break My Heart,” performed by the legendary Toni Braxton, peaked at number one on the Hot 100 for 11 consecutive weeks. The Grammy-winning song is on the shortlist of songs that feature R&B artists to deadlock the popular singles chart for 10-week consecutive run and beyond.
When asked how she feels to be part of this elite crowd, Warren says to Rated R&B, “It’s great. I don’t think that makes the song great [though]. Some of my best songs didn’t even go top 10 [on the Hot 100], but the fact that this song cut through and became a real classic is cool.”
