Saturday, July 4, 2026

RIP Allee Willis, Famed Songwriter of Earth, Wind & Fire Hits, “Friends” Theme Song, “Color Purple” on Broadway

Share

★ Make Showbiz411 your Preferred Source on Google

Tributes are pouring in this morning for Allee Willis, the famed and beloved songwriter of many pop hits. She was 72, and died of a heart attack suddenly.

Willis collaborated on many Earth, Wind & Fire hits including “September” and “Boogie Wonderland.” She also co-wrote the “Friends” theme song, “I’ll Be There for You.” She was nominated for a Tony Award for working on “The Color Purple” on Broadway.

Willis’s connections through the music industry were vast. She wrote songs with and for dozens of famous artists, and was a bit of an icon in that world. She also had Grammy and Emmy awards, and was a recent inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. On her Instagram page, she’s smiling broadly in every photo. This is a big loss for the music community.

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News