The Musical Genius Behind the “Friends” Theme Also Wrote “September”
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- Опубликовано: 7 окт 2018
- At the beginning of 1978, Allee Willis was living off of food stamps. But by the end of the year, she’d sold 10 million records … and that’s just part of the story. The musical genius, is responsible for over 1,000 songs, incluidng hits like Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September,” the entirety of Broadway’s “The Color Purple,” and the iconic, unforgettable “Friends” theme song. Oh, and she did this all without being able to write music or play a single instrument.
UPDATE: We are sad to note that Allee Willis passed away in December, 2019. She was 72.
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That's the kind of Grandma every kid wants
Rich.
She's like Doug's cool grandma
September will always be lit AF
Relax Grandma's, you been reading too much teen Vogue again
September I meant LITEM🅱️ER
Great big story....."I'LL BE THERE FOR YOU"
I hope that I can someday look back at my own life and achievements with the same well-deserved confidence and say "yep I did a lot of stuff, I was really good at it and it was awesome." Cool lady and a real inspiration!
Yaxoi wow, you nailed it right on the head
She was one of a kind. Completely unique. My favorite kind of person. RIP Ms. Allee. You will be missed.
Aww too bad she's gone - what a talent! How can you write 1000 songs when you can't play an instrument or read music??
She created september, she's automatically my favorite.
September is the greatest vibe of the last century
She also had a hand in “Boogie Wonderland” and “In The Stone”, etc. 🎯
Sad news: Allee passed away this Christmas Day in 2019.
RIP Allee
She did it her way. What a cool, cool person!
She is a very cool woman.
unleashing spam - insincere comments
Rest in Peace.
Ms Willis, you are the Queen of American social soundtracks! You rock!
Thank you for the beautiful music. 🎼 Musical Genius & Icon.💎 RIP❤
another legend left this world
I remember her videos on yt and you cannot not like her I felt.
She also wrote "Boogie Wonderland"...RIP Allee
Just found out about her passing on the 2019 In Memoriam. Rest in Peace to such an amazing artist and party thrower. My condolences to her partner.
Condolences to her family. Rest In Peace Allee Willis. Loved your songs.
May you live a long life
RIP Allee Willis.
so long Allee...your music will live on.
September is a staple to any wedding reception.
Rest in peace, Allee
‘What Have I Done to Deserve This’ and ‘September’ are two of the greatest songs ever created. Very talented and wonderfully eccentric woman. R.I.P.
Enjoyed the video. She seems really cool. But aside from her not knowing how to play instruments nor read or write musical notation, we aren't given anything about her creative process.
J G : there are several great artists over the time who never even knew how to read or write sheet music, like this little known guy named Elvis.
There were even people who were deaf. You might have heard about this other little known guy called "Ludwig van Beethoven" who wrote a ton of incredibly advanced pieces without being able to hear after a while, or in other words, being totally deaf.
Most of the music Michael Jackson did, was composed in his head.
None of the Beatles members knew fuck all about sheet music. Even when going popular, the still couldn't write it.
So ... how does it not make sense? Can you not sing or improvise music without reading?
J G : oh, forgot about Eric Clapton. He never learned basic sheet music. Not ever.
@@Atlas_Redux I think you forgot the bit where the comments said she can't play an instrument, along with reading or writing music. The people you talked about knew how to atleast play an instrument.
Jerm : OR. Notice the word, OR. Not NOR. Never was it said NOR. And just so you know, tons of vocalists don't know anything about instruments, I just pulled out people who uses instruments. You want vocalists and composers who don't know how to play instruments? Wow, the list just grew 100X larger
in fact, one of my favorite channels is SpectreSoundStudios, a sound engineer that several times has said you DO NOT NEED TO KNOW AN INSTRUMENT OR SHEET MUSIC to be a great musician.
And before you say I don't know what I'm talking about, I've played the violin since I was 6. Piano since I was 11, started singing at 12, wrote my first song at 12, added keyboard at 20. Never had the love for playing guitar, but man do I love listening to it, drums are pretty awesome too.
@@Atlas_Redux Yeah, its true he didn't say nor. I was thinking the same thing(lol). His point still got across though. I also agree that you don't need to know any of the above to be great at making music. I still don't get how the woman in the video became successful, since they didn't really go into detail. Also, guitar is great! I've been playing it casually since I was 8 and started to play it classically when I was 16, I'm now 20. If you ever get the urge to play the guitar, then please do! It's fun, and it'll definitely be a handy "tool" to have in your arsenal of instruments!
September always brings me back to my kindergarten graduation video the good old days! 😁☺️
Rest In Peace
I'm very interested to know what her process is like, as she doesn't play or read music. Or did she just write the lyrics?
Micheal Jackson also wasn't able to play any instruments or read music. He would just sing into a tape recorder, and then send it to the musicians, and they would figure out the corresponding notes.
yeah Cassel.....one would think that would be very limiting not playing "any" instrument and being a song writer. The biggest hurdle would be getting anyone important to listen to some raw vocal part on a tape. What producer would ever do that....I am thinking she must have "known someone" in the buisness
What about the tonality and texture then? The sessionists and producer come up with those?
@itheuser First Vocal Part os NOT always the most important part of music. There is instrumental music, classical music and iconic sounds too, that work without vocals. Smells like teen spirit, smoke on the water, popcorn, scores by john williams (indiana jones, superman, harry potter, star wars, jaws) and many others are popular music recognizable best without their vocals.
In my country (indonesia) there are 2 women like her, one is quite old, doesn't know how to play or read music, but they created some of the iconic songs...many movie producers and singers ask them to write songs...
She is everything
RIP Alle Willis
I wish this was brought back by WBD! This series was so informative. Quick and concise. Everything that young people like? Please bring it back! What an amazing person. Sad she is no longer with us.
R.I.P Allee Willis
Wow this lady has done some amazing things in her life so far. That is awesome! September is an AMAZING song that will always be loved by many generations.
So no one told you Life was gonna be this way
👏👏👏👏👏
@@naasiroow there's only 4 claps I believe
Jaime's Adventures // Gaming
CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
your job’s a joke, you’re br0Ke
@Ruffels Your love life's a DOA
Wow! How AMAZING!! LOVE your music!!
*Well it's stuck in my head for the rest of the day now!*
I wish this story was longer!
♡great story. Talented lady.
That was awesome!
Good Memories 😢😢😢
Amazing!
she is so awesome.
Awesome story!
RIP Allie Willis
Never has "March to the Beat of your own Drum" been so distinctly defined until I saw this video. This woman embodies that through and through.
I fucking LOVE "September" by Earth, Wind, & Fire!!!!!!!!
R.I.P. Allee. I bet you’re banging the sides ❤️
RIP to a Legend
Rest In peace Queen!!!
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!
Rest in Peace
Stir it up! And September...
Amazing Lady ^^
I instantly started whistling the Start Trek Voyager theme song. That song is amazing!
Wow! Cheers to you Ma'am.
September has been one of my favorite songs since it was first released.
She has a RUclips channel.
I subscribed when I found out.
SEPTEMBER!!! THANK YOU ALLEEE!!!
i love september ... its iconic af
Wow, very awesome
An inspiration indeed.
Being best at not knowing what your doing has its perks. you see a lot of that here in America.
Yeah like Donald Trump.
At what your what is doing?
I WANT MY SLAW!! Nah, more like Hillary and Cortez Lul. Many people.
You are literally awesome great big story😍😍😍
Possibly the coolest person to ever exist
Mind Blown
I love Allee!
WOW!!! Me is impressed!
She is at the pinnacle of cool
This woman is literally everything
Inspirational. And upbeat.
R.I.P 😔
Rest in the peace Alee Willis
I was just listening to September in a radio earlier
What a cool lady. Awesome
Awesome
September is my most favorite song to dance to and to sing to its so goovy man
Thank you!
She is so coooll......
RIP Allie...😢😭
can i live with her
Absolute mad lad
Bad ass woman! Love her style. You can tell she has a young spirit.
She’s awesome! Good to hear about a woman who did something that big
too short!! i want more of her
RIP.
Man I wanna tour of her home, she has some awesome stuff!
so badass
What a fantastic woman
her personality is fucking awesome
ICON
This lady is my inspiration
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾r.i.p she lived a good and creative life... just as she wishes .
Awesome woman just being awsome
She loved a funky life, R.I.P Allee Willis
The coolest grandma
Native Detroiter!!!! Went to Mumford High School! 🙌
I love friends
This is who I wanna be when I grow up
its just like hayao miyazaki who never formally learned story boarding but made incredible films
: 1:09 I don't know how to do anything.
Me: BE MY GRANDMA
R.I.P Allee willis
Oh wow.
RIP
R.i.p
One hella grannie! 😍