{"id":6681,"date":"2024-05-14T22:35:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T05:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=6681"},"modified":"2026-08-30T20:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T03:38:26","slug":"allan-rich-chart-topping-and-not-stopping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/allan-rich-chart-topping-and-not-stopping\/","title":{"rendered":"Allan Rich: Chart-Topping and Not Stopping"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chic<\/span><\/div>
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This article was printed in<\/em>
\nChic Compass Magazine - Issue 18<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Photo<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Photo of Allan Rich with his dog Charlie by Jaime Lim (Liquid Star Photography)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Allan Rich: Chart-Topping and Not Stopping<\/h1>\n

BY STACEY GUALANDI<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cBesides watching Whitney Houston record Run to You, this is one of the greatest nights of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

With tears in his eyes, Allan Dennis Rich thanked the cheering crowd on behalf of himself and lifelong co-songwriter Jud J. Friedman.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur lives are flashing in front of us,\u201d Rich says.<\/p>\n

Both were the special guests at The Composers Showcase inside Myron\u2019s at the Smith Center in downtown Las Vegas, where a powerhouse lineup of singers performed their greatest hits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we can get through this song because both of us have been crying,\u201d Friedman says before the duo performs their Dave Koz single That\u2019s the Way I Feel About You.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Photo<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Photo of Allan Rich standing beside Jud J. Friedman at The Composers Showcase by Jonathan Scott.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

As prolific as this pair is when it comes to writing songs, they couldn\u2019t have composed a better tribute to their phenomenal body of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an out-of-body experience, but we\u2019re humbled and grateful,\u201d Rich says.<\/p>\n

The name Allan Dennis Rich might not ring a bell, but this songwriter\u2019s colossal catalog of cuts will.<\/p>\n

Rich is the two-time Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter behind such blockbusters as Whitney Houston\u2019s Run to You from The Bodyguard to Natalie Cole\u2019s I Live For Your Love to the No. 1 hit single I Don\u2019t Have the Heart by James Ingram.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody always thinks the artist wrote the songs,\u201d Rich jokes.<\/p>\n

The A-list of names who have recorded his songs is endless: Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Luther Vandross, Dolly Parton, Barry Manilow, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, and Gladys Knight, just to name a few. Oh, and a little boy band named NSYNC.<\/p>\n

\u201c[In \u201897] my publisher said, \u2019We got a cut of I Drive Myself Crazy [co-written with Ellen Shipey and Rick Nowels] with this group NSYNC,\u2019\u201d Rich says, \u201cI said, \u2018Who are they?\u2019 Ten million records later, I found out.\u201d<\/p>\n

At last count, Rich\u2019s songs have sold almost 70 million copies!<\/p>\n

\u201cOn one hand, I feel like I\u2019ve succeeded beyond what I thought. On the other hand, I feel like I haven\u2019t gone as far as I\u2019m capable of,\u201d Rich says.<\/p>\n

The curators of the Hollywood Museum would beg to differ. Now featured prominently on the second floor of the historic Hollywood and Highland building is a spectacular glass-enclosed, floor-to-ceiling literal shrine devoted to the legendary lyricist.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Allan<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Allan speaks with Stacey Gualandi with many of his award-winning and chart-topping titles on display. Photo by Jaime Lim (Liquid Star Photography)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

It\u2019s part of the museum\u2019s PRIDE exhibit and features many famous faces he\u2019s worked with, gold and platinum records, lyric sheets, photos, BMI awards, performance costumes, and more. When Rich and I met there for our interview, I quickly realized I was in the company of songwriting royalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am blessed, and I feel very privileged and humbled. I really do,\u201d Rich says. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the greatest moments of my life to be in a museum, but I\u2019m just sorry that my parents didn\u2019t get a chance to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in Brooklyn, Rich and his siblings, twin brother Lawrence and younger sister Nadeen, were raised on music appreciation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Sunday, my dad would make us breakfast, and then he would pull out the Victrola,\u201d Rich says of dad Norman. \u201cThe first song I ever heard was Hush Now, Don\u2019t Explain<\/em> by Billie Holiday. Nothing excited him more than when he played his records for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

His mother, Evelyn, also spent endless hours teaching the twins song and dance routines they would perform from classroom to classroom. (Rich says their big hit was Side By Side\/Oh, We Ain\u2019t Got a Barrel of Money<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no guarantees, but I knew I was going to do this since I was a little kid,\u201d Rich says of someday being a music star. \u201cI was called the \u2018weeping one\u2019 because I always sounded like I was crying when singing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Allan<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Allan Rich with his twin brother Lawrence and sister, Nadeen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

At 18, Rich entered a contest to find the \u201cBest New Talent in the Catskill Mountains.\u201d He won the title for singing a medley with a \u201creal live band\u201d for the very first time in front of 1,000 people. His cautious parents quickly realized that he should pursue a music career.<\/p>\n

In 1980, he moved to Hollywood and continued to struggle as a singer-turned-songwriter by selling shoes and, you guessed it\u2026waiting tables. He worked at the celebrity-friendly The Source Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, where his boss often told him he would never leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him, \u2018Like, hell, I\u2019m not! I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m gonna do it, but I know I am,\u2019\u201d Rich says.<\/p>\n

He served famous musicians like then-unknown Michael Feinstein, who was playing in piano bars; hit songwriters like Barry Mann and Steve Tyrell; and young stars like Steve Martin, Charlie Sheen, Tom Cruise, and even Muhammad Ali. He once told a customer in Booth #2, popular singer Syreeta Wright (who was once married to Stevie Wonder), that he, too, was a songwriter.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Allan<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Allan Rich, Whitney Houston, David Foster, and Jud J. Friedman.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

\u201cAfter I moved to California, my dad came to me when I was 31,\u201d Rich says. \u201cHe said, \u2018Allan, I think you gave it your best shot, but I\u2019m worried about your future. I think you need to think about getting a job and making a living.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so crushed,\u201d Rich admits. \u201cBut if I had listened to my father, I would\u2019ve missed my big break one year later.\u201d<\/p>\n

That big break came in 1982 while on the Venice Beach boardwalk selling shoes\u2014and his songwriting skills\u2014to award-winning music producer Howie Rice.<\/p>\n

Rice liked what he heard, and soon, the Brooklyn boy with the big dreams was co-writing songs for such iconic performers as Barry Manilow, Patti Labelle, and Gladys Knight. But it took another seven years before he had a bonafide pop hit with Natalie Cole called I Live For Your Love<\/em>, co-written with Pam Reswick and Steve Werfel.<\/p>\n

Then came a full circle moment for Rich. Remember that encounter he had with Syreeta Wright years before?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Syreeta and Smokey Robinson did a duet of a song I co-wrote,\u201d Rich boasts of Love Brought Us Here Tonight<\/em>. \u201cI was invited to the recording session, and when I knocked on the door, Syreeta answered it. I asked, \u2018Do you remember where you know me from?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She told him he looked familiar but couldn\u2019t place the face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I was your waiter at The Source restaurant, and now I\u2019m coming to watch you record my song with Smokey Robinson.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rich says Syreeta screamed, wrapped her arms around him, gave him a big hug, and then signed his lyric sheets. She wrote, \u201cDear Allan, Remember: music will prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really is magic,\u201d Rich says. \u201c[A song] comes from connecting to a higher power and just being open to hearing what the universe has to say to you. I know it sounds airy fairy, but it\u2019s not something tangible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rich admits he is a conventional songwriter who likes to write conversations\u2014with a little twist\u2014that says something in a way you\u2019ve never quite heard before. \u201cIn fact, if it\u2019s not too crass, I call myself a \u2018missionary position\u2019 songwriter because I\u2019m very traditional in the sense that I\u2019m not a poet, and I don\u2019t write stream of consciousness. It looks easy when you read it down the page, but making it look easy is very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little did Rich know that in 1989, when peermusic head Kathy Spanberger introduced him to fellow songwriter Jud J. Friedman, they would become writing partners for life and go on to make beautiful (and award-worthy) music together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first song we ever wrote was number one in America,\u201d Rich says of the James Ingram ballad I Don\u2019t Have the Heart<\/em>. \u201cI think that\u2019s the best song I\u2019ve ever written in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Allan<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Allan Rich with Jud J. Friedman at the BMI Awards.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

The second song they wrote was the number one Adult Contemporary song I Just Had to Hear Your Voice<\/em> by Oleta Adams in 1993.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that doesn\u2019t tell you we were meant to be together\u2026\u201d Rich says of their over 30-year partnership. \u201cWhen I\u2019ve written a lyric, Jud would elevate it to make me look like a genius. That\u2019s a rare thing to find in somebody, and I always say he\u2019s my Burt Bacharach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost overnight, this talented twosome found their own voice. \u201cThere\u2019s always a tearfulness and a tenderness in our songs,\u201d Rich says. \u201cSometimes my lyrics look so simple on the page, but there is a magic in that simplicity, and sometimes I may need to take it up a notch, and Jud will always let me know\u2014but always in a constructive way,\u201d<\/p>\n

Rich admits, \u201cWe all have to find our own process, and when I trust that process and don\u2019t judge it, I succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1990, he didn\u2019t know exactly why but trusted his instincts and turned down a European songwriting trip. Instead, he stayed home and wrote the first draft of the original lyric for Whitney Houston\u2019s Run to You<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote it with Jud for Whitney, but the reality of the song is it coincided with a 10-year breakup in my own life,\u201d Rich says. \u201cI haven\u2019t written many songs from real-life experiences\u2026but I\u2019m happy for the pain I\u2019ve felt because it has helped me write some great songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Run To You<\/em> on The Bodyguard<\/em> soundtrack went on to earn Rich and Friedman their first Academy and Grammy Award nominations. Rich says that, by far, the biggest highlight of his career was being nominated and becoming a member of the Academy.<\/p>\n

Four years later, the dynamic duo writing team received another Oscar and Grammy nod, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for their 1997 Kenny Loggins ballad For the First Time<\/em> co-written with legendary film scorer James Newton Howard for the movie One Fine Day<\/em> starring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Photo of Allan Rich by Gene Reed<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

Rich was proud to have his family by his side at the Golden Globes and still laughs about how excited he was to wear a new burgundy velvet Nehru jacket he bought for the awards ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Oh my God, I love this jacket. It looks so different and so unique, and I felt like a million bucks.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t take long for someone to burst his fashion bubble.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed to go to the men\u2019s room, so I was walking through the tables in the ballroom, and suddenly, I saw a hand raised and a finger snapping, \u2018Waiter, more wine, please.\u2019\u201d Rich jokes, in retrospect. \u201cI whispered, \u2018I\u2019m not your waiter; I\u2019m a Golden Globe nominee!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

(Rich got rid of the jacket the very next day.)<\/p>\n

Writing a song for the one-and-only Barbra Streisand more than made up for any award show slight that same year.<\/p>\n

Rich and his co-writers Dorothy Sea Gazeley and Marsha Malamet waited five years for Streisand to record the song Lessons to Be Learned<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of my most beautiful songs we\u2019ve ever written,\u201d Rich says. \u201cMy favorite line in the song does tear me up because I wish I could live the line:<\/p>\n

No matter how many times you stumble or fall<\/em>
\nThe greatest lesson is loving yourself through it all.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a holy grail moment, and ever since, I\u2019ve been trying to get a second song recorded by Barbra. It still hasn\u2019t happened yet.\u201d (He got to introduce his Jewish mother to Ms. Streisand at the Academy Awards, which he calls another career highlight.)<\/p>\n

With so many writing credits and numerous chart-topping hits, Rich hopes his songs\u2019 messages have helped move and touch people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone could hold onto that [message] and maybe not feel so bad, then I\u2019ve done my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make no mistake. This chart-topping writer isn\u2019t stopping. Rich believes there is still another big hit in his future.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Jud and I] were classic R&B\/Pop balladeers, but getting a song to break through on the charts is very difficult today,\u201d Rich laments. \u201cI still feel I have so much I want to say.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Photo of Allan Rich by Jaime Lim (Liquid Star Photography)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

But Rich isn\u2019t just resting on his lyrics. He is currently the executive producer of the documentary \u201cViva Verdi\u201d about the Verdi Opera House in Italy, and he received a Daytime Emmy nomination as the co-executive producer (with his twin brother!) on Season 2 of the multiple Emmy Award-winning Kevin Spirtas\/Michael Slade-scripted digital series \u201cAfter Forever\u201d on Prime.<\/p>\n

This former singer now performs his songs on cruise ships and also mentors younger students at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, giving honest advice from a career well-lived.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can be a songwriter for your whole life and still never break through, so you\u2019re really taking a chance,\u201d Rich admits. \u201cWhere I thought I fell short is I didn\u2019t take the music business as seriously as a business as I should have.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the ever-so-humble Rich certainly made his mark in the music industry, and he has gold and platinum records to prove it. He would make a copy for each one and send it to his parents, who would then hang them on the wall outside their bedroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Dad, why did you put all the gold and platinum records on THAT wall?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father said, \u2018So even when I\u2019m sleeping, I could see them.\u2019That, to me, was his way of saying he was proud of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

All it took was a five-year-old Jewish boy from Brooklyn listening to his father\u2019s Victrola to leave such a rich musical legacy. Fortunately, his coda is still being written.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The name Allan Dennis Rich might not ring a bell, but this songwriter\u2019s colossal catalog of cuts will. Rich is the two-time Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe-nominated songwriter behind such blockbusters as Whitney Houston\u2019s Run to You from The Bodyguard to Natalie Cole\u2019s I Live For Your Love to the No. 1 hit single I Don\u2019t Have the Heart by James Ingram<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4520,4138],"tags":[4173,3128],"class_list":["post-6681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-issue-18","tag-allan-rich","tag-stacey-gualandi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6681"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6681\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6844,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6681\/revisions\/6844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}