|
|
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 542
|
|
WHEREAS, For more than four decades, East Texas native |
|
Will Jennings has enjoyed great acclaim as a lyricist and |
|
songwriter; and |
|
WHEREAS, Born in East Texas, Mr. Jennings received a music |
|
scholarship to attend Tyler Junior College, where he played |
|
trombone in the school band, performed in theater productions, |
|
wrote poetry, and studied journalism; he went on to earn |
|
bachelor's and master's degrees in English at Stephen F. Austin |
|
State University, and he returned to Tyler from 1967 to 1968 to |
|
teach English; and |
|
WHEREAS, Intent on pursuing work as a songwriter, |
|
Mr. Jennings moved first to Nashville and then to Los Angeles, |
|
and by the mid-1970s he was enjoying considerable success; he |
|
cowrote two hits by Barry Manilow, "Looks Like We Made It" and |
|
"Somewhere in the Night," and he worked on three albums with |
|
Steve Winwood, cowriting the songs "Back in the High Life Again" |
|
and "Higher Love"; in 1991, he and Eric Clapton wrote the |
|
Grammy-winning classic, "Tears in Heaven"; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Jennings has also cowritten two Oscar-winning |
|
songs for the movies, "Up Where We Belong," from the motion |
|
picture An Officer and a Gentleman, and the iconic "My Heart Will |
|
Go On" from Titanic, which won him two Grammys as well and has |
|
since become one of the most frequently played songs in the |
|
history of popular music; and |
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Jennings has helped write countless other |
|
hitsforsomeoftheleadingartistsofourtime,including |
|
Dionne Warwick's "I Know I'll Never Love This Way Again," Whitney |
|
Houston's "Didn't We Almost Have It All," and Faith Hill's "Where |
|
Are You, Christmas?"; moreover, he has collaborated with |
|
musicians Emmylou Harris, Roy Orbison, and Rodney Crowell, and |
|
his compositions have been recorded by such artists as Dusty |
|
Springfield, Bonnie Raitt, B. B. King, Joe Cocker, and Diana |
|
Ross; in 2006, Mr. Jennings was inducted into the Songwriters |
|
Hall of Fame; and |
|
WHEREAS, Over the course of a remarkable career spanning |
|
more than 40 years, Will Jennings has penned some of the most |
|
memorable songs of our time, and his work will continue to move |
|
and inspire music lovers for generations to come; now, therefore, |
|
be it |
|
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th |
|
Legislature, hereby honor Will Jennings for his successful |
|
career in the music industry and extend to him sincere best |
|
wishes for the future; and, be it further |
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be |
|
prepared for Mr. Jennings as an expression of high regard by the |
|
Texas Senate. |
|
|
Hughes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
President of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
I hereby certify that the |
|
|
above Resolution was adopted by |
|
|
the Senate on April 4, 2019. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
________________________________ |
|
|
Member, Texas Senate |