David Foster spent his 75th birthday how he has undoubtedly spent many before it: working. Sunday night (Nov. 3), Foster celebrated his milestone at a sold-out Hollywood Bowl show (to be fair, his actual birthday was Nov. 1) with many of the artists who he has worked with as a songwriter, arranger or producer. According to a sign flashed on the giant screens at the Bowl, the music he has helped create has sold more than half a billion records.
From Whitney Houston and Celine Dion to Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Toni Braxton, Barbra Streisand and so many more, Foster is practically responsible for his own lush, romantic adult contemporary genre. Or as he put it, “I write songs you make babies to.”
The evening, which he said, “sort of feels like my funeral while I’m alive,” featured many of those bold-type names (sorry, no Dion or Streisand), but it was Foster’s birthday, and he could do whatever he wanted. And what he wanted to do was spend some of the first hour of the nearly three-hour show focusing on new talent (he did discover Groban when Groban was still a teenager, after all). That included Britain’s Got Talent 2024 winner Sydnie Christmas performing “My Way,” which she sang on the series’ semi-finals (the song’s writer, Paul Anka, was on the poster as a guest, but wasn’t there. Same with Kenny G), as well as an 18-year old pianist Brandon Goldberg, who performed a jazzy version of Chaka Khan’s “Through the Fire” with trumpeter Chris Botti, and Jasmine Rogers, who will play Betty Boop in Foster’s forthcoming Broadway musical, Boop!, previewing a spirited number from the show.
While those are for sure names to watch given Foster’s pedigree for working with young talent, it was the established names that provided the fireworks and really showed over and over that among all his many, many talents, first and foremost may be Foster’s gift for working with great singers.
Below are some of the highlights of the evening.
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Music Hath Charms to Soothe the Savage Breast
As the country heads into the tumult and turmoil of what is likely to be a contentious Election Day, Foster prefaced “The Prayer,” which he co-wrote with Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa, and Tony Renis for the 1998 film Quest for Camelot, by saying he hopes it provides some balm in these hard times. It was then stunningly delivered by Andrea Bocelli and Foster’s wife, Katherine McPhee, stepping in for Dion. It was a tender rendition, and it wasn’t the only song of the night that felt like it was spreading some much-needed good vibes. Josh Groban’s glorious “You Raise Me Up,” which Foster produced, provided the same uplifting moment, as did Bocelli’s soaring “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot.
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Utility Players
They may not have been the biggest names on the bill, but Pia Toscano and Brian McKnight proved to be the night’s most versatile players, stepping in to perform hits for artists who couldn’t be there. McKnight has always had a silky smooth voice and after he opened the evening with the Foster co-penned Earth, Wind & Fire tune “In the Stone,” Pia Toscano joined Colombian singer Fonseca for the Diane Warren-penned “Could I Have This Kiss Forever,” originally recorded by Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias.
McKnight returned for another EW&F signature hit co-written by Foster, “After the Love is Gone,” while Toscano earned a well-deserved standing ovation for her back-to-back performances of Dion’s “The Power of Love” and her remake of Eric Carmen’s “All by Myself.” McKnight, of course, has been a star for decades, but it feels like former American Idol contestant Toscano, who was signed to Interscope for a hot minute more than 10 years ago and tours with the likes of Bocelli now is ripe for a major moment.
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Jennifer Hudson Always Shines Bright
Hudson appeared behind the soundboard in the audience for two Foster-produced songs: a killer version of “I Will Always Love You” (to her credit, she has been the heir apparent to the song ever since she sang it on the Grammys the night after Houston died and she still belts it like it’s the first time) and her always breathtaking version of “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going,” which she also made her own from the film version of Dreamgirls. There’s a reason she’s an EGOT winner. Hudson may enjoy hosting her talk show, but it feels like every minute she’s not singing is a waste of her talent.
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A Generous Host
Foster was more than happy to cede the spotlight most of the evening and seemed genuinely a little uncomfortable when the focus was squarely on him when Kristin Chenoweth presented him with a cake and roasted him in song as he sat upon a throne. Nowhere was his generosity more evident than during sets by Josh Groban and Michael Bublé, two of the acts he’s most closely associated with after Dion. His and Groban’s affection was obvious through Groban’s two numbers and he and Buble should take their act on the road.
Show closer Bublé is an entertainer of the first order and Foster let him shine as he delivered a beautiful version of Nina Simone’s “Feelin’ Good,” before Bublé joked, “There are 18,000 people here only for me and all my opening acts were so good.” It turns out the tribute was Bublé’s idea, who proposed it to Foster a year ago. Foster first said no, but Bublé convinced him that artists needed to come out and “kiss the ring.” The sold-out crowd was undoubtedly glad he did.
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