On Sunday, Diane Warren will be up for her eighth Oscar nomination for her powerful collaboration with Lady Gaga, Til It Happens to You. The simple, raw ballad soundtracks director Kirby Dicksdocumentary, titledThe Hunting Ground, that explores rape on college campuses in the United States. For Warren, this could be the one that breaks her Oscar losing streak after being nominated for massive songs such asCeline Dions Because You Loved Me, LeAnn Rimes How Do I Live and Aerosmiths I Dont Want to Miss a Thing. Warren spoke withRolling Stoneabout real deal Gaga, her Oscar history and her work with Big Sean.
How did you and Gaga come together to create Til It Happens to You for The Hunting Ground?
I thought she would be really the right person, the right artist. I couldnt think of anybody better, soI basically called her, and she was into it. I played what I had on the phone, and it couldve gone either way. It couldve been something too personal or she didnt wanna get near it, or it couldve been something that touched her. It was the latter, and she was pretty emotional. I still didnt know if she was for sure doing it or would be involved. Then I thought, You know what? Im gonna fly out there. If she doesnt want to work on it with me, Im gonna have some fun in New York for a couple of days. If not, this is gonna be the best thing Ive been a part of. Fortunately it turned out to be that.
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Both you and Gaga have had eclectic careers and a group of diverse people youve worked with over the years
Well, heres the thing about Gaga. Shes the real deal, an all-timer. Shes no joke. This girl is gonna be around in 50 years. Shes a seriously trained classical musician, trained vocalist. She has the goods underneath all the crazy Gaga stuff, which makes her Gaga as well, which is awesome. Underneath that, you have a real fucking amazing artist with the chops to last. Serious chops. She can tour along with Tony Bennett. If you can give me somebody in the current pop landscape that can do that, let me know. Or who can go and sing the National Anthem flawlessly, then a week later do a David Bowie tribute, and next week is the Oscars.
Shes gonna blow people away at the Oscars. You know whats really weird? I was nominated a year ago for a song I did for a movie called Beyond the Lights with Rita Ora, and it lost. Gaga and I had already gone in the studio. Shed already made this beautiful, stunning record a few weeks before that. Anyway, so I just lost my seventh Oscar, and she came out and didThe Sound of Music, and I tweeted. You can find the tweet, its from February 22nd, and I said, Just lost #7. Ill be back here with lucky #8 with the woman thats on stage killing it right now. Isnt that crazy?
The song is definitely one of Gagas best vocal performances.
Isnt it amazing? I mean, this song became a Number One dance record, you know? A woman named Tracy Young did her remix and all these people started doing remixes. This is without any label support. The label really hasnt done anything, but the song has. This thing has got a life of its own. Yesterday it hit 26 million views [on YouTube] and Gaga is not even in the video. Its starting to get all over on the radio, but literally on its own. This is a once in a lifetime record song, and it was never even gonna come out.
What do you mean?
It was only gonna be in the movie. There were no plans for this song ever to come out, but I believed [in it] from day one.
Before working with her, what was you first encounter with Gagas music?
I loved her first album. I loved those first hits. They were just great pop songs, and to me theres nothing better than a great pop song. But what really blew me away was when I went toMusicCaresa few years ago. It was when they honored Carole King. Gaga just sat at the piano and did Youve Got a Friend, and itwas one of the best things that Ive ever heard or seen. Ever. Ever.
I remember standing up in the middle of it. It was just so stunning. Everybody just stood up. It was like, Oh my God! This is like this girl is for real. We know shes for real but hearing that, wow. She doesnt need to wear a meat dress. You know what I mean? [Laughs] By the way, Im an animal activist. Id prefer tofu dress.
I remember telling her that night, We gotta do something together. We gotta work together.And then this was the song.It was meant to be this song.
I know that immediately after the Oscar nominations, Linda Perry had offered some critiques on Gagas involvement
I dont even deal with that. Lets let the drama stay where the drama is buried.Its about what the song is doing and the message of it and how its helping so many people and how positive it is. What Gaga brought to it is very valuable, and Im not gonna let someone question that.If they want to, they can. But thats their thing, not mine.
Howdid you get involved with the TheHunting Groundand writingthe song for the documentary?
A friend of mine, Bonnie Greenberg whos the music supervisor on it called me and was telling me about the film, and these girls stories. It was infuriating to me, and it was just pissing me off withwhat goes on onthese college campuses and what these girls had to go through. I had my own experience with my own molestation when I was younger, and it just pisses me off because its such a terrible thing, especially when someone is young and theyre innocent. I felt compelled to write a song and to get involved,and it has become this anthem for this whole movement. Its really giving voice to something that was hidden and not talked about and in shadows and in closet. Threeyears ago, people werent talking about it. The power of musicand this song is making people able to talk about it.
When I get notes hundreds of notes it always readswhat happened to me. It becomes a song about anything traumatic you go through, whether youre bullied, depressed, maybe you lost your job, maybe youre suicidal, maybe youre sick. Gagabrought this warrior sensibility to this. She made such an amazing record.She produced that herself. She starts out so vulnerable and it keeps building and it gets more pissed off until the end where shes standing there with the machine gun and youre not gonna fuck with her.[Laughs]
Its sodefiant and the video that Catherine Hardwicke did is genius too because it follows the same course where you see all these poor girls and the aftermath. At the end, you see them marching down the hall and the looks on their faces, its like, Youre not fucking with us. Were not victims. Thatspretty powerful.
Yeah, the intent of the song is clear but also extremely malleable
I do that on purpose, by the way. With any song I write, I want it to be whatever you want it to be about, you know? So for some songs,it can be about whatever you want it to be about if you go throughsomething thats tough. That just becomes your song.
Would you say that this song has elicited oneof the most powerful responses from people listening tosomething youve written?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Ofall the songs Ive done for artists and written in my life, I have never, never gotten this kind of a response.Itsreally healing people. Its really helping people. Im hearing from everybody. People I grew up that lived on my street, Vice President Biden. Hewas talking to me about [the song] with tears in his eyes. Itsvery humbling.
Letstalk a little bit about your personal history with the Oscars. This isyour eighth nomination
Yeah, eighth:Havent won yet, but lets see what happens Sunday. Hopefully it changes. [Laughs]
Is there a songthat you wish had won above all the others?
The one I, in all honesty, thought I was gonna win and I was hoping to was when I did Because You Love Me. Every other one I was nominated for I was kinda like All right, um Im probably not gonna win this one. Especially last year up against Glory. Because You Loved Me isa song that hasreally lasted. When you talk about songs that have different meanings,heres a song Michelle Pfeiffer was singing to Robert Redfords character whod passed away. Then it becomes a wedding song.Songs have all these lives and become what you never thought it would be.
I remember when I took Clive Davis as my Oscar date that year ,and I was really bummed out, so I ate like two orders of French fries that night. [Laughs]I drowned my sorrows in French fries.I remember the cameras were on everybodys faces, and I went Fuuuck! And of course the cameras were off because they dont give a fuck about you at this point. You dont exist. Notto be clich, its still pretty fucking great to be nominated.I mean, think of how many songs come out in a year.Grammys are great, but there are like a million Grammy song nominations. And then theres only one Oscar song nomination.Thats pretty awesome.
What drewyou to the world of writing songs for movies, and how did that come to be a part of your careeras a songwriter?
I just like songs, thats my main thing. My first big hit wasthe song called Rhythm of the Night thatwas actually from a movie called Berry Gordysthe Last Dragon. Thatwas a powerful movie. I dont know, I think some of my songs are cinematic, and I think Im good at that. I think Im good at kind of tapping in to the emotion of the movie. Like we were talking about before, also making it where its not so spot on so that it can be about whatever you want it to be about outside of it.
I know that youve been working with a few newer stars lately, like Nathan Sykes
Yeah, Im working on Nathans record. I just did a couple of really great songs on Big Sean that Im excited about.
And I know youve also been in the studio with Zendaya
I did two really amazing songs on Zendayas record. Im really excited about that too. Its all different, and the Big Sean stuff is really different. I love it. I think one can be Song of the Year. Its the biggest hit ever.Theres a lot of fun stuff that Im doing. Im working with Paloma Faith again, and I wrote her biggest hit last year. Shes really great.I did some stuff with Adele that I hope sees the light of day. There are a couple of great songs that I know she still loves. I had a lot of stuff going on. I dont even know what Im doing.Im just excited. I just love doing this.
And are you gonna be working with Gaga anymore?
Yeah,weve done a few really great songs.Shes great to work with, man. Were so different. Our working styles are different.Shell make me more weird, and Ill make her less weird.Even though Im probably more weird than she is, if that makes sense.
What can we expect on Gagas performance on Sunday for the Oscars.
Well, you can expect for her to blow your fucking mind. [Laughs] Justlook back to last year, you know with The Sound of Music.I think shes gonna take it to a whole other level. I kind of know what the shows gonna be like. Its gonna be so powerful and mind-blowing and shes gonna knock it out of the park as she always does. I mean, thats what she does.I cant wait to be sitting in that audience a year from when I tweeted that Id be back with her in the stage singing it, and it happened. Its crazy.Isnt that crazy?
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