♪ ♪ >> Welcome to Canada Files .

I'm Valerie Pringle.

My guest today is David Foster.

Musician, song-writer, composer, arranger, producer and recording artist.

He has won 16 Grammy awards and been nominated 47 times.

He's worked with artists from Streisand to Celine.

Whitney to Chicago and Bublé to Bocelli.

Now at the age of 75, he is in his third round.

I spoke with him in Los Angeles.

>> Valerie: Hello David.

>> David: Hello.

>> You've had phenomenal success as a musician, producer, songwriter.

What do you want to accomplish in your third round?

>> I've always said, at least in my own mind, that people get basically three rounds, as you alluded to.

I sort of can point definitively to my first two and what I did.

My round three, it points to Broadway.

To trying to take...more time off which hasn't happened yet.

But I haven't been in the studio making records for 10 years.

It doesn't seem like it's been that long but it has.

And it feels great because I was in there for 40+ years.

Like in a submarine environment --no windows.

Slide the music out.

Slide the food in.

Slide more music out.

The artist got to go and enjoy the fruits of our labour and I just made more music.

So now I tour and get to experience what the audience is listening to--the songs that I wrote, co-wrote or produced.

It's been a great round three so far.

>> Well, it was Ronnie Hawkins, right?

Who gave you the advice.

>> Really.

>> He was the one who said if things aren't working then retreat and attack from another direction.

>> Yeah, Ronnie, as we all know, was an amazing guy.

And yes, he did say that.

When it gets tough, retreat and attack in another direction.

Because there's so many people in every walk of life that when things start going bad, they just keep hammering at the wall.

I'll get through the wall.

No, you're not going to get through the wall.

Go around the wall.

I've done that a couple times in my life.

Most recently, at the end of the 90s, when I stopped writing hit records.

That's when I found Josh Groban and Michael Bublé.

And hooked up with Andrea Bocelli.

And that carried me through right to almost now.

>> You've had some great mentors though.

Quincy Jones obviously was a really important one to you.

What did he teach you?

>> Quincy was so unique on every level.

I've heard since his passing, a lot of people saying well now you could be the new Quincy Jones.

Or this guy's going to be the new Quincy Jones.

No, there's no new Quincy Jones.

It's never ever going to happen.

He was a movement.

He wasn't just a record maker.

He was a movement.

There was nobody like him.

>> He said to you, "Don't compromise, never compromise".

>> He said compromise breeds mediocrity.

Yeah.

I handed him an album that I had done.

I immediately started making excuses for it.

I was newly a producer and so proud.

Hey Quincy, look at me!

I said, "Oh, track #1 is not that good.

Track #2 is great.

Track 7, the vocals are out of tune."

He's like, "Your name's on it!

What are you doing?

Why are you making excuses?

If your name's on it, it better be great.

Or as great as you know how to make it."

I never forgot that.

>> You were born with perfect pitch.

Tell me the story about how that was found out.

>> Well the story-- I don't know if it's even true or not.

And my parents aren't around to verify it.

Apparently my mother was dusting the piano.

I said that's an E. She didn't know what an E was so she called my father.

My father was a great amateur musician.

Got him home at lunch hour and he said, "Yay, that's an E. How did he know that?"

I don't know how I knew it but that's the story they always told so I'm sticking with it.

>> They were always hugely supportive of you as a musician.

>> I often think about kids, young adults, teenagers that don't have the support of their parents and I wonder what that would feel like.

To be talented--or to be good at something which every kid... >> Or just to love it.

>> Yeah.

And my parents were so supportive.

>> They spent their last dime.

>> Literally.

>> Trying to propel my career.

They obviously saw something.

I don't know what that would feel like to have not had that support.

Also, my sisters-- I have six sisters.

To this day--five of them are still alive, my sisters are amazing.

They're not jealous.

They support me.

They're happy for and share in my success but from afar.

They never want me to go out of my way for them.

Which I love to do for them.

You know, they're Canadian.

Everything's I'm sorry.

>> You had a music teacher early on who said to you having perfect pitch doesn't make you a musical genius.

So that isn't just the key to huge success.

So what was?

>> Right.

First of all, I want to clarify.

This is not me being humble.

I know I'm great.

Okay?

>> I'm so glad you could say that.

>> But I have 16 Grammys.

I know the work that I've done.

But I'm not a genius and I never was.

Geniuses are people that can play Mozart at age five.

I was an okay classical pianist but I wasn't a great classical pianist.

I'm an okay piano player now.

I'm not a great piano player.

I managed to make the most of the talents I had.

Through networking and having an ear for pop music, and being exposed to a lot of music since childhood, thanks to my parents and some friends, I put it all together.

But I'm definitely not a genius and I really mean that.

>> But what was your question?

>> (Laughing) >> It was about being a musical genius.

One of the stories I loved was you hearing the Beatles for the first time and your head blew off basically.

>> It was--I was enwrapped in classical music for my parents' wishes.

I was starting to hate it--not because I didn't like the music.

But I didn't like playing other people's music.

So I was going off classical music.

I heard them--I was 13.

I heard She Loves You .

My head literally exploded.

I was like whatever that is, I want to do that!

>> Now you spent years as a studio musician--a pianist.

And thinking I could produce.

What made you think you could produce?

Why did you want to produce?

>> Being a control freak, which I was and I am.

Often I would take over, if the producer was weak.

I would take over and I was like, I could do this.

What I didn't know, Valerie, is that to be a great record producer.

you have to have a great song sense.

I didn't have a great song sense in the beginning.

I was more focused on let's make this great track.

I'll get the best bass player, drummer and piano player.

That's going to be the record.

It's going to be a huge hit.

'Cause I got the best people.

It has nothing to do with that at all.

You have to have great song sense.I didn't have it early on.

Which is why when I quit being a session player-- and we were making really good money.

This was in the late 70s.

We're making over $100,000/year.

Which is a lot of money-- still is.

I quit and went down to zero.

The first three albums I produced were-- they didn't do anything.

I was like, "Oh my God, I'm terrible at this".

I thought I was going to be great at it.

Because I didn't have song sense.

>> Where did you get song sense?

>> I guess I was forced to learn it.

It was like do or die.

I didn't even really listen to lyrics which is insane.

To think that I wouldn't listen to lyrics.

But then I just sort of developed it.

I think maybe when I got with Earth, Wind and Fire.

It's maybe when I started really paying attention to songs.

Maurice White, from Earth, Wind and Fire, was such a great mentor.

He taught me so much including song sense.

>> When you talk about-- and I'd love you to tell these stories.

Because they're so good.

Five songs that really changed your life.

The first one is Earth, Wind and Fire.

>> I'm sure everybody that's watching, in their career they have those jump-out moments.

Mine was Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago, Natalie Cole in Unforgettable, Celine Dion.

The Bodyguard , Whitney Houston, Bublé, Groban, Bocelli.

These are like 8-10 stand-out propelling moments.

>> Tell me about Natalie Cole.

Because you were saying you weren't even sure when you took Unforgettable as a song.

She wanted to do this duet with her dad.

How that would go--but you did it for the love of the music.

>> Well, to be truthful about it and my career-- I like to be truthful about my career--the ups and downs.

I'd had this tremendous run in the 80s.

With, like I said, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Chicago.

Alice Cooper, Kenny Loggins, Kenny Rogers, Celine.

Everything was going gang-busters.

At the end of the 80s, my career started to tank a little bit.

It was like--gawd, I started doing weird projects that didn't work.

So when Natalie came along with the Unforgettable album, I was like, well I love the music.

This is not going to do anything.

Nobody's going to buy this because it's 40s music.

But I love the music.

Let's do it and she was a friend of mine.

A couple of days later is when she told me, "By the way, I want to try & do that as a duet with my father."

I was like--me, that, duet, Nat.

Of course as I've explained before, that the technology was not what it is today.

It was a slugfest to make it work.

But we made it work and it just quietly set the world on fire.

I would play it for people before the record came out.

Their mouths would just drop at the perfection of the 2 voices.

>> What did Barbra Streisand say about you?

"I'm funny and easy to work with in the studio and David Foster is not."

But you're both perfectionists.

That must have been-- >> I've always said about Barbra that I don't think she's a perfectionist.

I just think she needs to know every option that's available to her.

So now, she's still making records.

Still sounds good.

But now the technology is so amazing that she can have all those options.

Back in the day, we would-- on the Back to Broadway album, there was this one song, full orchestra.

God knows how many thousands of dollars it cost.

We do the whole thing.

Midnight I get a call, "Um, the intro's too fast."

That means we gotta go all the way back with the full orchestra again, just to make a slower intro.

There was no technology in the 80s.

Now she has all this technology at the push of a button.

She's in heaven.

>> Whitney Houston and The Bodyguard .

And I Will Always Love You .

That song and how it turned out.

There are great stories about the a cappella beginning and Kevin Costner finding that song.

Dolly Parton telling you about the third verse that you didn't know was there.

>> It's a story I've told so many times.

But very briefly, the a cappella thing.

Kevin says, "I want her to start with no music."

"For the movie, it's going to be great."

I said, "Kevin, it's a stupid idea but if you want it for your movie, you're the boss.

So here you go.

But when I get it back in my studio, I'm going to put music around it."

Then we're in the Waldorf Hotel in Miami where she's filming it and singing it live.

She goes ♪ If I... ♪ It's like, holy crap.

This is like-- As her mother who was standing beside me said, "You're witnessing greatness right now."

>> And you were.

>> And I was.

Yeah.

Nothing to do with me.

It was Kevin's idea.

>> Seeing Celine Dion which you did in a little tent in rural Quebec singing, was witnessing greatness too.

>> Gawd, when I saw her singing, it was like-- I've described it before.

It's like in those movies, when the sound just goes whoooosh.

And that's all I could see.

There was kids running around on tables-- it was a picnic or some weird thing.

And she was singing I Will Survive .

>> Gloria Gaynor, I think.

>> In French?

>> In English.

But she didn't know any English so she was singing it phonetically.

Because when I met her afterwards, she really couldn't more than say hello.

...that was just one of the many incredible things about her.

She learned English so fast.

She went to Berlitz and she just learned it.

She's magnificent!

>> You found Michael Bublé as the wedding singer.

I mean these stories are part of the legend.

But they're great stories.

>> They are.

I bet you at this point that Michael Bublé-- if he turns on the tv and sees this at this point, would you stop telling this story, okay?

It's enough already.

Okay, so you found me.

Big deal.

Look what I've done.

Leave me alone You can't keep talking about Celine's tent, the Bublé wedding and Josh Groban in high school.

>> Yay, but that is so important.

Who had the ear?

Who did that-- you...actually were saying you wish you'd found more-- brought along more talent.

What greater accomplishment is there?

>> Well, yes.

Bublé was... again like Josh and Celine, I didn't know the magnitude of these people.

I just loved their voices.

I thought I think millions of people are going to love this.

Which doesn't make me an elitist or a genius at finding talent.

It makes me a commoner..truly.

I think millions of people are going to love this.

And I'm right!

I was right about them.

Our great prime minister, Brian Mulroney, who we all love.

Well most people loved, I think.

I certainly did.

And his beautiful wife, Mila.

Just a great family.

At the wedding, it was Caroline's wedding.

Brian was a big guy and he was grabbing my arm.

Wait until you see this guy.

In my mind, I'm thinking gosh, Mr Prime Minister, I really just want to enjoy the wedding.

I really don't want to see a singer.

I don't care about a wedding singer.

I've seen 1,000 wedding bands.

Please!.But I didn't say that.

He drags me up-front and this kid comes out.

He goes, (snap, snap, snap) ♪ When the shark bites ♪ Only not like that.

And I was again (whooosh), the whole wedding went away.

All I could do was see this kid.

Michael and I have different stories about what happened after that.

But in my mind, I got him to LA really quickly.

I lent him some money.

We got him signed to Warner Brothers.

And made a lot of records together.

>> What do you think is the best song that you wrote?

>> I think maybe the song that's had the most impact on people is that song that Carole Bayer Sager and I wrote called The Prayer for Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli.

With Italian lyrics by Tony Renis.

It's a moving song.

Interestingly, Valerie, it gets played at weddings and funerals.

Think about what has to happen musically to cover that spectrum.

The saddest day and the happiest day--same song.

I know Ave Maria does the same song.

I know Wind Beneath My Wings does it.

There's like--I can only think of five examples total in the world that can be played at both events.

So that alone separates that from a lot of the other crap that I've written.

I've written some crappy songs, let's be honest.

>> So what do you think your greatest talent is?

>> That I've maximized-- being a piano player.

>> Does that even make sense?

>> Yay, it does!

>> I'm a piano player.

When I go to the doctor's office, I put, on when it says occupation, I say musician.

That's what I feel like I am.

>> I think I heard you say your favourite song was Send in the Clowns .

>> True.

Why?

I do know why.

>> Yeah, why?

Sondheim, interesting.

>> Yay.

I love it because of the lyrics.

There's just something about --don't know, maybe something as you get older, you're up there, I'm down here.

It's almost over.

The lyrics just move me in a way.

Plus musically, it's great.

>> You say your biggest regret is you were a workaholic.

With all this success-- not spending enough time with your kids when they were growing up.

>> It's probably a common theme, I think.

To cut to the chase, you would say hey, do you want a great life or do you want me around?

Because you probably can't have both.

But you can't say that to kids, of course.

I don't know--I did something right with my kids.

Even though they're upset about those times, my kids are all flourishing-- all doing great.

>> They're all off the payroll.

>> Your daughters are killing it!

>> Amy is co-writer with Michael Bublé writing those songs.

Sarah, Erin and Jordan--they have the tv show on Netflix.

>> Called Nobody Wants This .

>> Which is huge.

>> They have their clothing line, Favourite Daughter.

My youngest daughter, Jordan, is the clothing designer for that company.

My oldest daughter, Alison, is on the board of my foundation.

>> They're all thriving.

>> They're hard-working-- not little LA princesses.

>> Interesting.

>> The thing you can't give your children is poverty.

When you're in a position like myself.

You can't give them poverty-- which is something I had.

>> It's the greatest gift of all.

>> To learn.

>> Yay, but you can also not give them much.

I elected to not give them much.

>> Well, you also--is it true that you said if they married before they were 25, they wouldn't inherit any money from you ?

>> Gosh, where d'you get that?

That is true!

Did I write that in the book?

Oh my god.

It's true.

And none of them did.

>> Because you didn't want them to make a bad marriage.

>> Like I did.

>> I was going to say... >> Oh here we go.

>> No, you had a really strong mom, six sisters.

Five daughters, five wives.

You've spent your life immersed in estrogen.

So what has it taught you?

What have you learned?

>> Well, I think it has helped me work with people like Celine and Natalie.

I think most of the people I've produced over the years are women, I think-- Chaka, Whitney, Toni Braxton.

A pretty endless list of women.

Maybe I understand women.

At least to work with them.

Maybe just not live with them.

>> Now you've a little boy with your wife, Katharine McPhee.

Are you a different dad?

>> I am and to my daughters' great credit, they're happy that I'm sort of a hands-on dad with him.

It wasn't that I wasn't a hands-on dad with my daughters.

But because I got married two or three times during that period, they were always having to deal with step-children.

My step-children are great but they always had to slide into second position.

>> Which must have been an awful feeling for them.

>> Uhhmmmm.

>> I think they've reconciled and recovered from that now.

It certainly took a long time and I understand.

>> But your little boy is... >> He's amazing.

He's a drummer and yeah, it's great.

>> Tell me the story of your mom calling you -- it's almost like 40 years ago.

From Victoria, BC, where you grew up.

You were living in LA and she said there's a little girl from Victoria in hospital in LA named Rachel and I want you to go and see her.

>> My mother didn't want me to see her because I was anyone important.

Just because I was from Victoria and the girl was from Victoria.

And I was by then, like 34-35.

I felt this urge it was time for me to start giving back.

But I didn't know how to do it.

I was so busy working, I thought to heck with it.

I'll just wait another year or two.

I'll eventually get to being a good person and giving back.

Then I went and visited this girl-- I asked her what she wanted, if I could help with anything.

Thinking she might say I want to go to Disneyland or something like that.

She says, "I want to see my sister.

I haven't seen my sister in two months."

Her sister was back in Victoria, of course.

She was in LA.

>> She was waiting for a transplant.

>> She was waiting for a liver transplant.

Obviously I flew the sister down--it was easy to do.

Those two connected in the hospital room.

I was there.

Hanging back, I was like, "God, I know what I'm supposed to do.

I know.

This is it!

And I haven't looked back.

>> To help families who are dealing with transplants, medical costs and complications.

>> There's a lot of people-- " celebs" who put their name on something and it helps absolutely.

This, for me, is a real mission.

This is not a fly-by-night thing for me.

We like to say we're the only bright spot in a family's worst day.

Because they get this news.

Well not so much now, but when we started, quite often, it was a death sentence.

Now of course, there are much improved success rates.

Ya, we're going to take care of everything.

All you've got to do is concentrate on your sick child.

We're going to pay the mortgage, car payments.

Because they have to move, basically create a second household.

One parent has to stay home, take care of the siblings.

The other has to go, sometimes 1,000s of miles away, and sit for months sometimes.

It's just heartbreaking and the divorce rate is just insane.

It's hard on siblings.

It's hard on everybody.

So we fill all those holes.

And it's, as you can imagine, incredibly rewarding.

We're very solid now.

We've done our work.

We have money now to go for a long time.

>> You'd go, Mom, you'd be so proud of me.

>> I know.

Our office is-- we bought a house in Victoria.

It's called Eleanor's House.

Which is the name of my mother.

Yeah, she would be, not proud of me, just happy for me.

Happy for herself, she should be.

Because it was her impetus that made that happen.

>> Are you satisfied now?

Mellow?

>> No.

(laughter) I have a Broadway musical.

It's, you know, on Broadway.

...We'll see if it's a huge hit or not.

I hope it is.

I have another one in the works.

We're constantly touring.

>> You and your wife, Katharine.

That's working well?

>> Kat's an amazing singer who doesn't really need to tour with me.

But we have a great little banter together.

She'll probably end up on a tv series again, like she's done many times or on Broadway or in movies.

Now that she's given birth and COVID is over.

But for now, we're touring and we love it.

It's just really fun.

The 22 hours around the touring is not so much fun.

But the two hours on stage is great.

We tell great stories and how we met 20 years ago.

Yeah, we have a good time.

>> So that is a happy ending.

>> Well, it's not over yet.

But it's happy so far, yes.

>> The final question we ask is what does being Canadian mean to you.

>> Well, I don't know if you know this or not.

But I am the biggest flag waver of all.

I should have been wearing my Order of Canada pin.

I had it on yesterday in Toronto.

I am a huge flag waver.

I'm so proud to be Canadian.

Which that feeling is shared by a lot of Canadians.

Because growing up, we always felt like we had to work twice as hard to be taken half as seriously.

Sort of felt the thumb of America on us.

Like you just had to work extra hard.

Of course, I love America.

I love to say Canada is the greatest country to be from.

And America is the greatest country to realize your dreams.

So I've got it both.

I've got the best of both.

I love going back to Canada.

I take my Canadian passport everywhere.

And I don't hesitate to go I'm Canadian.

My upbringing on Vancouver Island was nothing short of a miracle to me--how great it was.

I mean...I lived the Canadian and the American dream.

<< Well, such a pleasure to spend time with you.

>> Thanks Valerie.

>> Thank you so much.

We'll be back next week with another episode of Canada Files .

♪ ♪