Michael Omartian

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Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945 in Evanston , Illinois ) is a three-time Grammy- winning American music producer and multi-instrumentalist .

Life

Omartian began playing the piano at the age of four, and soon after he started playing drums . He studied at Tarkio College, Missouri and Northwestern University . In 1970 he moved to California to pursue a career as a musician. He initially worked as a studio musician for Steely Dan , Billy Joel and the Four Tops , among others. The instruments he played included keyboards , tabla , accordion , tambourine and steel drum . In 1974 he released his first solo album. However, neither this nor his other solo releases had commercial success. In 1975 he got a job as a music producer with ABC Records . In the same year he formed the band Rhythm Heritage with producer Steve Barri , which had a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1976 with Theme from SWAT . The following year he moved to Warner Brothers Records . From the beginning of the 1980s he worked as a freelance music producer.

He had his greatest successes as a music producer together with Christopher Cross . He produced his albums Christopher Cross and Another Page and the singles Sailing , Ride Like the Wind and Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) . Omartian received three Grammys in 1980, Best Background Arrangement and Grammy Award for Record of the Year for the single Sailing and Album Of The Year for the album Christopher Cross . He subsequently produced artists such as Kenny Loggins , Jennifer Rush , Rod Stewart , Cliff Richard and Jermaine Jackson , including albums such as Solitude / Solitaire by Peter Cetera , which included a worldwide hit with Glory of Love .

He was also the co-producer of We Are the World alongside Quincy Jones . As a composer he has worked for Vince Gill , Amy Grant , Al Jarreau and Richard Marx , among others . Together with Donna Summer , he wrote her hit single She Works Hard for the Money . As an arranger, he worked on recordings of Gladys Knight , The Righteous Brothers and Dusty Springfield, among others .

Omartian has been married to Stormie Omartian, a Christian book author and former background singer for Glen Campbell , Neil Diamond and Ray Charles , among others , since 1973 . Together they released five albums of Christian pop music . The couple has three children.

Compositions (selection)

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personal data
SURNAME Omartian, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American music producer and multi-instrumentalist
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Evanston , Illinois