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Walter "Wally" Afanasieff (born
February 10,
1958)
[Walter Afanasieff Biography - AOL Music] is a
Grammy-award-winning
record producer and
songwriter who started out as
Whitney Houston's arranger, but rose to success co-writing and co-producing music with
Mariah Carey.
He has also written and produced music for many famous singers such as
Regina Belle,
Mariah Carey,
Lionel Richie,
Luther Vandross,
Céline Dion,
Savage Garden,
Destiny's Child,
Kenny G,
Michael Bolton,
Kenny Loggins,
Barbra Streisand,
Christina Aguilera,
Ricky Martin,
Marc Anthony,
Babyface,
Lara Fabian,
Michael Jackson,
Josh Groban,
Clay Aiken,
Jordin Sparks,
Leona Lewis, and many more.
Life and work
Afanasieff was born Vladamir Nikitich
in
São Paulo,
SP,
Brazil to parents Nikita and Tatiana.
His family is from
Russia and moved to Brazil in the late 1940s.
Afanasieff studied music at the
Conservatory of Music in
San Mateo,
California.
[Walter Afanasieff Biography - Discography, Music, Lyrics, Album, CD, Career, Famous Works, and Awards] Together with his musical mentor (production-wise), 80s top-producer
Narada Michael Walden, his first big production was the title track of the
James Bond movie
Licence to Kill sung by
Gladys Knight. One of his biggest hits as a producer was the
Titanic smash hit
My Heart Will Go On.
Afanasieff is a multi-
instrumentalist; he plays
drums,
guitar,
bass, and
piano. He performs on most of his recordings (mainly keyboards, organ, piano, bass and drum-programming). In the large-scale arrangement he is known for producing, Afanasieff has worked with many well-known musicians and mixing engineers like
Michael Landau (guitars),
Nathan East (bass),
Dann Huff (guitars),
Mick Guzauski (mixing engineer),
Greg Phillinganes (piano), and
William Ross (string/orchestra arranger and conductor). The main productions took place at Afanasieff's own recording studios (
Wally World) in
San Rafael, California where he recorded mainly in digital.
Afanasieff spent the vast majority of his career creating music with
Mariah Carey whom, he considered to be the exceptional voice, his muse. He traveled and toured with her, playing piano live. He appeared in Carey's home videos talking about their creative process. During 1997's
Butterfly album, Afanasieff and Carey reportedly had creative differences and were falling out. They have not worked together since, although on 2001's
Glitter, Carey released one of the songs the pair had co-written during the
Butterfly sessions,
Lead the Way. After Carey's breakdown,
E! Entertainment interviewed Afanasieff, who spoke highly of Carey, noting her hard
work ethic and musical talent.
Beneath the senior
portrait in his
high school yearbook, Afanasieff wrote that his goal was to "write and play better than
Keith Emerson" of
Emerson, Lake & Palmer.citation
Walter Afanasieff currently resides in the
Hollywood Hills in
Los Angeles, California with his girlfriend
Katie Cazorla.
Awards
Notable discographies
Regina Belle discography
Raven-Symone discography
This is My Time
Mariah Carey discography
Mariah Carey
Emotions
- And You Don't Remember (co-written and co-produced)
- Can't Let Go (co-written and co-produced)
- If It's Over (co-produced)
- So Blessed (co-produced)
- Till the End of Time (co-written and co-produced)
- The Wind (co-produced)
MTV Unplugged
Music Box
- Dreamlover (co-produced)
- Hero (co-written and co-produced)
- Anytime You Need a Friend (co-written and co-produced)
- Music Box (co-written and co-produced)
- Without You (co-produced)
- Just to Hold You Once Again (co-written and co-produced)
- All I've Ever Wanted (co-written and co-produced)
- Everything Fades Away (co-written and co-produced)
Merry Christmas
Daydream
- Underneath the Stars (co-written and co-produced)
- One Sweet Day (co-written and co-produced)
- Open Arms (co-produced)
- I Am Free (co-written and co-produced)
- When I Saw You (co-written and co-produced)
- Forever (co-written and co-produced)
- Looking In (co-written and co-produced)
Butterfly
- Butterfly (co-written and co-produced)
- My All (co-written and co-produced)
- Fourth of July (co-written and co-produced)
- Close My Eyes (co-written and co-produced)
- Whenever You Call (co-written and co-produced)
- Outside (co-written and co-produced)
Glitter
- Lead the Way (co-written and co-produced)
Miscellaneous songs
Céline Dion discography
Celine Dion (album)
The Colour Of My Love
- Love Doesn't Ask Why (produced)
Let's Talk About Love
- My Heart Will Go On (co-produced)
- Tell Him (co-written and co-produced)
- Immortality (co-produced)
A New Day Has Come
Ricky Martin discography
- She Bangs (co-written and co-produced)
- Nobody Wants To Be Lonely (co-produced)
Josh Groban discography
Josh Groban (co-produced with
David Foster)
- Gira con me questa notte (produced and arranged)
- Un Amore per Sempre (wrote music)
Closer
- Per Te (co-written with Josh Groban, produced)
- You're the Only Place (bonus track on internet edition only, co-written with Billy Mann)
- Broken Vow (co-written and originally performed by Lara Fabian)
With You
- With You (co-written with Josh Groban, produced)
Jessica Simpson discography
Irresistible
- When You Told Me You Loved Me
- To Fall in Love Again
Lara Fabian discography
Lara Fabian
- You are my heart (co-written)
- You're not from here (co-written)
- Broken Vow (co-written)
A Wonderful Life
- Walk Away (co-written with Kara DioGuardi)
Leona Lewis discography
Spirit
Katharine McPhee discography
Katharine McPhee [1]
- Ordinary World (co-wrote and produced)
Other recordings
- O Come All Ye Faithful (produced)
Clay Aiken discography
Merry Christmas With Love
- O Holy Night (produced and arranged)
- Hark the Herald Angels Sing/O Come All Ye Faithful (produced and arranged)
- Merry Christmas With Love (produced and arranged)
- Mary Did You Know (produced and arranged)
- Don't Save It All For Christmas Day (produced and arranged)
All Is Well
- Christmas Waltz (produced and arranged)
