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![Songwriter Diane Warren sits in a chair in her office posing for a portrait in front of a wall filled with magazine and album covers Songwriter Diane Warren sits in a chair in her office posing for a portrait in front of a wall filled with magazine and album covers](https://cdn.aarp.net/content/dam/aarpe/en/home/entertainment/music/info-2022/diane-warren-debut-album-the-cave-sessions/_jcr_content/root/container_main/container_body_main/container_body1/container_body_cf/container_image/articlecontentfragment/cfimage.coreimg.50.932.jpeg/content/dam/aarp/entertainment/music/2022/01/1140-diane-warren.jpg)
Although she’s written countless songs, none have been recorded under her name. And yet Diane Warren is such a successful songwriter that she has created a brand for herself, as in, “That’s a Diane Warren song.” Among the 32 Billboard Top 10 hits she has penned for other artists are “If I Could Turn Back Time” (performed by Cher), “Because You Loved Me” (Celine Dion) and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” (Aerosmith).
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Yet, even with all those accomplishments, Warren yearned for a new way to express herself. At age 65, for the first time, she has released an album under her own name. The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1 is named for the overly cluttered and messy office where she writes her songs. But it’s not a conventional solo album. “I am by no means a singer,” she says with a laugh. Instead, Warren gathered a bunch of current star singers across genres — John Legend (pop), Maren Morris (country), Luis Fonsi (Latin), Ty Dolla Sign (rap) — to work with on her new tunes. “Stylistically, it’s all over the place,” Warren says, “but I think what ties it together is that, hopefully, they’re good songs.”
Listen here: The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1, on Spotify
AARP chatted with Warren about her impressive second act, how old she feels and why her cat is all the relationship she needs.
Was hitting the milestone age of 65 an impetus for you to take on this challenge of recording your first album?
I don’t even think about age. In my mind, I’m still 15. My theory is that, if you never grow up, you never grow old. It’s only when I look in the mirror that I go, “Oh, s---.”
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