Eric Carmen’s All By Myself: The Perfect #1 Hit That Almost Wasn’t

The iconic pop music singer Eric Carmen died peacefully in his sleep over the weekend at the age of 74. For fans, it was a punch in the gut. It feels like we lost a longtime, personal friend. In some respects, he was the soundtrack of our lives.

The world of music's who's who has shared their appreciation for this musical genius. Names like have shared their condolences on social media.

But with all of this very well deserved recognition, Eric Carmen himself would be the first to say that even he had to be his biggest salesman. But why?

Before we dig in, we have to examine the incredible staying power of Eric Carmen. First as leader as the 70's band The Raspberries, Eric had international hits like I Wanna Be With You, and Let's Pretend. We can't forget his biggest band hit, Go All The Way, which had a modern day resurgence. It was used on the Guardians Of The Galexy movie soundtrack, reaching an entire new audience.

It was reported that even the iconic Beatle John Lennon would visit Eric and The Raspberries while recording to watch and offer a helping hand. One such report says that an uncredited Lennon helped mix Raspberries hit Overnight Sensation.

Believe it or not, his biggest hit, All By Myself, was all alone, when it came to support from Eric's own record label. When it came time to showcase his first solo album, label executive's did not like All By Myself. They made it clear that they didn't want to release it first, because "it was a ballad." Add to that the record label's own in house research said the song was in fact "not a hit." Upon this shocking news, there were only two people that disagreed. Arista head Clive Davis, and Eric himself.

Clive insisted that Eric Carmen's All By Myself be released first.

It became the biggest hit of Eric's career.

The lesson: we must trust ourself. Even the experts get it wrong. See the wonderful story in Eric's own words.

Diane Warren is not a "household name." However, there's a very good chance you know plenty of the songs she's written.

Simply put: Warren is the keeper of some of the biggest ballads and bombastic tunes of the past five decades. (Google her once you're done reading this and prepare to be in awe.) The accomplished songwriter has written for a diverse roster of artists. Counted on that roster are some of the biggest divas of all time including Cher, Celine Dion, Patti LaBelle, Gloria Estefan, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

Additionally, Warren has also dipped her toes into the rock waters. She's written songs for Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, KISS, Chicago and Cheap Trick.

Besides churning out hits, Warren has been nominated a bunch for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. In fact, she's been nominated a whopping 15 times. Unfortunately and surprisingly, none of those nominations have yielded a win.

Warren was honored at the 13th Governors Awards in January 2023 with an Honorary Oscar. The award was presented to her by Cher. Her speech can be seen here, but it does contain NSFW language. So, consider yourself warned. Per Billboard, she's one of only five people in history to win an Honorary Oscar and be nominated for a competitive Oscar in the same year.

Despite not winning a competitive Oscar (yet), Warren isn't frustrated. She told The Hollywood Reporter about her remarkable streak, "They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and hoping for a different result. So, I guess I'm certifiably insane." The songwriter also noted how she never loses her excitement for the Oscar nominations every year.

Warren is nominated, again, for Best Original Song at the 96th Academy Awards. With the Oscars taking place this Sunday (March 10), here's a look at all 15 songs Diane Warren has written/co-written that have been nominated for Best Original Song.

Co-written with frequent collaborator Albert Hammond, this ballad from Starship was featured in Mannequin, which starred Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall. (Fun fact: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was the first song Warren wrote that became a number-one hit.) The song that took home Best Original Song in 1988 was another megahit: "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

"Because You Loved Me" was another song Warren wrote that topped the charts. Celine Dion lent her legendary vocals to this ballad featured on the soundtrack for Up Close & Personal, which starred Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. The song that won Best Original Song in 1997 was "You Must Love Me," a new ballad written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice for the film adaptation of Evita.

Warren wrote this ballad for the Nicolas Cage movie Con Air. The song was written with LeAnn Rimes in mind, but the film studio wanted a more mature singer for the song. (Rimes was just 14 at the time.) Trisha Yearwood was then tapped to record the tune, and her version is featured in the movie. However, it didn't stand a chance against the frontrunner and eventual winner of Best Original Song in 1998: "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic.

Frankly, Warren was robbed in 1999. She penned the massive power ballad "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" that Aerosmith recorded for Armageddon. Instead, "When You Believe" from The Prince Of Egypt took home the Oscar.

This Warren song was sung by Gloria Estefan and one of the biggest boy bands of the time, *NSYNC. The song was featured in Music of the Heart, which starred Meryl Streep and Angela Bassett. However, taking home the Oscar for Best Original Song was "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins.

Faith Hill lent her beautiful voice to "There You'll Be," which was featured in Pearl Harbor. While Warren didn't win the Oscar in 2002, she was beaten by Randy Newman for "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters, Inc. It was Newman's first Academy Award win after being nominated 11 previous times.

"Grateful" was sung by Rita Ora and featured in Beyond The Lights, which starred Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker. In 2015, though, there was no stopping "Glory" from the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic Selma which was written and performed by Common and John Legend.

Warren co-wrote "Til It Happens To You" with Lady Gaga, who also performed the moving ballad. The song is featured in the documentary The Hunting Ground which delves into rape crimes on college campuses in the United States. Winning Best Original song in 2016 was "Writing's On The Wall" from the James Bond film Spectre co-written and performed by Sam Smith.

Warren co-wrote "Stand Up For Something" with Common, who is featured on the track with Andra Day. The song was featured in Marshall, the biopic of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall who was portrayed Chadwick Boseman. The Oscar for Best Original Song ended up going to "Remember Me" from the Disney/Pixar film Coco.

Following being involved with the Thurgood Marshall biopic, Warren wrote a song for a documentary about another legendary Supreme Court Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Featured in RBG was Warren's "I'll Fight," which was sung by Jennifer Hudson. Despite being a moving song, it was defeated by "Shallow," the monster hit from A Star Is Born sung by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.

Warren entered the 2020s as a constant contender for Best Original Song. In 2020, she was nominated for "I'm Standing With You" from the film Breakthrough. The song was sung by This is Us actress Chrissy Metz, who also stars in the film. Winning Best Original Song in 2020 was "I'm Gonna Love Me Again" from the Elton John biopic Rocketman.

Warren co-wrote "Io Si (Seen)" with lyricist/singer Laura Pausini for the film La vita davanti a sé/The Life Ahead starring Sophia Loren. This year, the Academy Award went to "Fight For You" from Judas and the Black Messiah sung/co-written by H.E.R.

In 2022, Warren was nominated for "Somehow You Do." The song was sung by Reba McEntire and featured in the film Four Good Days starring Glenn Close and Mila Kunis about a mother helping her daughter battle substance abuse. The winner of Best Original Song that year was "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish for the James Bond film of the same title. Eilish co-wrote the song with her brother, Finneas O'Connell.

Rounding out Warren's lengthy list of songs she wrote/co-wrote nominated for Best Original Song is "Applause." The song is sung by Sofia Carson and is featured in Tell It Like A Woman, which features an all-star cast of Eva Longoria, Marcia Gay Harden, Cara Delevingne and EGOT Jennifer Hudson. "Applause" faces some stiff competition against the other four nominees for Best Original Song: "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; "This Is A Life" from Everything Everywhere All at Once; "Naatu Naatu" from RRR; and "Hold My Hand" from Top Gun: Maverick.

Warren's latest nomination is for "The Fire Inside," which is performed by Becky G. The track is featured in Flamin' Hot. Directed by Eva Longoria, Flamin' Hot tells the story of Richard Montañez, a janitor at a Frito Lay factory who went on to create Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Flamin' Hot is available to stream on Hulu.