Wilbur "Will" Jennings is a famous songwriter who began his music training in the band at Chapel Hill High School. He went on to attend Tyler Junior College and the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. Will began his Hollywood career in 1976 with The Commitment, and later teamed with composer Richard Kerr to author Barry Manilow's 1977 pop chart-topper "Looks Like We Made It." Two years later Manilow returned to the Top Ten with Will's "Somewhere in the Night." Will earned his first Academy Award song nomination for "People Alone" from 1980's The Competition. He then partnered with Steve Winwood for several songs on the singer's acclaimed 1981 album Arc of a Diver. They reunited the following year for Talking Back to the Night which generated the hit "Valerie." Along with Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie, Will won his first Oscar for "Up Where We Belong," the Joe Cocker/Jennifer Warnes hit from the film An Officer and a Gentlemen. Working with Jimmy Buffett on 1984s Riddles in the Sand and its follow-up Last Mango in Paris, he reunited with Winwood for 1986s enormously popular Back in the High Life, earning a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year for the number one smash "Higher Love." Also in 1984, he wrote the lyrics for; "Love Came For Me", the theme song to the movie, "Splash", a box office hit directed by Ron Howard and starring Daryl Hannah, and Tom Hanks. Will teamed with Eric Clapton in 1991for the award winning song "Tears in Heaven." In 1997 Will had his greatest hit, the theme from the movie Titanic, "My Heart Will Go On"; for which he wrote the lyrics along with composer James Horner and sung by Celine Dion. The song earned an Oscar and Grammy as Song of the Year, and is the most-played song in the history of radio. Will has written songs for motion pictures and popular singers including Steve Winwood, B. B. King, Peter Wolf, Randy Crawford, Barry Manilow, Jimmy Buffett, Rodney Crowell, Roy Orbison, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Frankie Miller, Whitney Houston, Tim McGraw, Linda Ronstadt, Gregg Allman, Aaron Neville, Céline Dion and Diana Ross. Those of us who remember Will as a classmate are justly proud of his accomplishments and salute him. Go Bulldogs!

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