David Foster Net Worth: How Did David Foster Become Famous?

By Neha Mann Last updated Feb 1, 2023

David Walter Foster OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and music executive who served as the president of Verve Records from 2012 to 2016.

He has received 47 Grammy nominations and has won 16 of them.

His musical career spans more than five decades, with the majority of it beginning in the early 1970s as a keyboardist for the pop group Skylark.

Early Life

David Walter Foster was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada on November 1, 1949. Maurice (Maury) Foster was a maintenance yard superintendent, and Eleanor May (née Vantright) was a housewife.

He enrolled in the music program at the University of Washington when he was 13 years old, in 1963.

He then auditioned for the position of band leader in an Edmonton nightclub in 1965. Tommy Banks, a well-known jazz musician, owned the establishment and took Foster under his wing, mentoring him in the music business.

Foster moved to Los Angeles with his band Skylark in 1974 after playing with Ronnie Hawkins and as a member of Chuck Berry’s backup band in Toronto.

Career

Foster was the keyboardist for the pop band Skylark. Eirik Wangberg discovered them, and their song “Wildflower” became a top-ten hit in 1973.

Foster remained in Los Angeles after the band disbanded and formed the band Airplay with Jay Graydon. In addition to performing his own music, he began working as a songwriter, producer, and arranger for a variety of projects.

For example, he was a studio player and arranger on Earth, Wind, and Fire’s album “I Am” (1979), and co-wrote six of the album’s songs. Foster’s song “After the Love Has Gone,” which he wrote with Graydon and Bill Champlin, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1980.

Throughout the 1980s, he worked as a producer and songwriter. During this time, he worked on multiple Chicago albums, Kenny Loggins’ songs “Forever” (1985) and “Heart to Heart” (1982), and Kenny Rogers’ albums “What About Me?” (1984) and “The Heart of the Matter” (1985).

He also wrote songs for the films “The Secret of My Success” (1987) and “Stealing Home” (1989). He also wrote “Winter Games,” the theme song for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.

Foster signed a deal with Warner Brothers in 1995, allowing him to launch his own boutique label, 143 Records, as a joint venture with Warner. The Irish folk-rock band The Corrs was one of the first acts signed to 143 Records. Foster, however, had sold the label back to Warner by 1997 and had instead become a senior vice president at the corporation.

Notable songs produced by Foster in the 1990s include “The Power of the Dream,” the official song of the 1996 Summer Olympics, which he co-wrote with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, as well as the Diane Warren songs “Un-Break My Heart,” sung by Toni Braxton, “Because You Loved Me,” sung by Celine Dion, and “Have You Ever?” sung by Brandy.

What is David Foster’s Net Worth?

David Foster is a 16-time Grammy Award winner who has sold millions of records worldwide. But how does that all add up when we look at his net worth? Actually, it’s quite well.

He is worth approximately $150 million.

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How Did David Foster Become Famous?

David has had an interest in music since he was a child. He enrolled in the University of Washington music program when he was only 13 years old.

By 1965, he was leading the band at a local club in Edmonton, British Columbia, and a year later he was working with Chuck Berry. By 1974, he and his newly formed band Skylark (in which he played keyboards) had relocated to Los Angeles in search of fame.

Skylark was a successful band in the 1970s, but by 1975, David had formed another band called Airplay. In the years since, he has worked on projects with George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Earth, Wind, and Fire.

David came into his own as a solo artist in the 1980s. He collaborated with everyone from Chicago to Kenny Rogers, and he even wrote scores for films like St. Elmo’s Fire and the Michael J. Fox comedy The Secret of My Success.