After the death of rock songwriter and producer Jim Steinman at age 73 on Tuesday (April 20), two of the women behind some of his biggest hits — Celine Dion and Bonnie Tyler — are remembering their collaborator fondly.
Dion recorded the Steinman-penned song “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” as the opening track of her 1996 album Falling for You, and the power ballad reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition to writing the song, Steinman also co-produced it for Dion.
“I’m so sorry to hear about the passing of Jim Steinman,” Dion wrote via Instagram late Tuesday. “He was a musical genius… an amazing producer and songwriter… and having the opportunity to work with him was one of the greatest privileges of my career. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”
Steinman wrote and produced Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in 1983, which was the U.K. singer’s first and only Hot 100 No. 1 hit. The song earned Tyler a Grammy nomination for best pop vocal performance, female. Tyler reconnected with Steinman on the Footloose soundtrack song “Holding Out for a Hero,” another top 40 Hot 100 hit, peaking at No. 34 in 1984.
“I am absolutely devastated to learn of the passing of my long term friend and musical mentor Jim Steinman,” Tyler shared on Twitter and Instagram, alongside a sweet photo of the late musician. “Jim wrote and produced some of the most iconic rock songs of all time and I was massively privileged to have been given some of them by him. I made two albums with Jim, despite my record company initially thinking he wouldn’t want to work with me, thankfully they were wrong, and can say without any doubt that Jim was a true genius.
“He was also a funny, kind, supportive, and deeply caring human being and the world is a better place for his life and his work and a worse one for his passing. I will always be grateful to him for the opportunity to work with him and also to know him too. … Rest In Peace Jim my friend.”
Steinman’s cause of death remains unknown.
