Alta Sherral "Allee" Willis was an American songwriter, multi-media artist, collector, and art director.
20 Facts About Allee Willis
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Allee Willis won two Grammy Awards for Beverly Hills Cop and The Color Purple, the latter of which was nominated for a Tony Award, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for "I'll Be There for You", which was used as the theme song for the sitcom Friends.
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Allee Willis's compositions sold over 60 million records and she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018 as the only woman to be inducted that year.
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Allee Willis was born and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where she attended Mumford High School.
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Allee Willis's mother, Rose, an elementary school teacher, died suddenly while Willis was a teenager.
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Allee Willis had a sister, Marlen Frost, and a brother, Kent Allee Willis.
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Allee Willis attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a journalism major.
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Allee Willis worked at a comedy club and hung posters for four years.
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Allee Willis wrote songs for artists including Debby Boone, Rita Coolidge, Crystal Gayle, Sister Sledge, Jennifer Holliday, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Cyndi Lauper, Crystal Waters, and Taylor Dayne.
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Allee Willis jokingly referred to this song as "the whitest song I ever wrote".
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In 1995 Allee Willis was Emmy-nominated for "I'll Be There for You".
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Allee Willis gave a keynote address at the first Digital World conference in 1992 and lectured on interactive journalism and on self-expression in cyberspace.
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Allee Willis co-wrote the Tony-nominated and Grammy-winning Broadway musical The Color Purple, first performed in 2005.
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Allee Willis launched a series of fundraising events in Detroit in 2010, with marching bands, in support of the city.
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On September 28,2017, Allee Willis premiered "The D", a passion project she wrote, recorded, and produced for her hometown of Detroit, at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
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Allee Willis was the only woman in the year 2018 to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
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Allee Willis's compositions are reported to have sold over 60 million records.
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Allee Willis was noted for hosting spectacular parties at her home just outside Hollywood.
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From 1992 until her death, Allee Willis was in a relationship with Prudence Fenton, an animator and producer.
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Allee Willis died in Los Angeles on December 24,2019, at the age of 72.