Diane Warren is the songwriter behind countless songs, spanning multiple genres. Among her many massive hits are Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me”, “If I Could Turn Back Time” by Cher, “How Do I Live” by both Trisha Yearwood and LeAnn Rimes, Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing”, and others.
But Warren stands out for more than just her songwriting success. With most songwriters writing with at least one other person, and sometimes multiple people, Warren prefers to write her many, many hits by herself.
Videos by American Songwriter
“I do better sitting in a room by myself and just wrestling that song to the ground,” Warren tells Vulture.
Most songwriters especially like writing with artists, since it increases their likelihood of getting a song recorded. But Warren says she is actually the opposite.
“That’s another reason I don’t do it,” Warren says. “If I’m going to write a song with an artist, I’m probably going to end up doing most of the work anyway, to be honest. And then if they don’t use the song, I have their name on it for something I wrote, or I wrote a lot of, and I’d probably be a lot more likely to care more about something that wasn’t that song.”
What Diane Warren Says About Writing By Herself
Warren could likely have her choice of songwriting partners. But for Warren, it might ruin the magic she already has when she writes by herself.
“I really don’t like to co-write,” she says. “It’s not what I do. I think my best songs are the ones I write by myself. The most success I’ve had is with songs I wrote myself. They just mean more to me.”
There may still be another reason: her office. Warren admittedly spends 12 hours a day, six days a week, writing songs in her office. It’s a place that works for her, but might not be suitable for anyone else. She rarely allows visitors to her office.
“I’m just, like, in my own world,” Warren says. She adds that she is superstitious enough not to clean it, and leaves it in a permanent state of disarray. “When I write with other people, the experience is different. You have to compromise, which I have problems with. I’d rather listen to my own mind”.
Warren also owns her own publishing company, one that has just one writer: herself.
“[There are] no other writers,” she says. “I don’t have the desire to sign anybody else. That’s not what I’m in this for.”
Photo by Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty Images