Michael Masser, songwriter supreme, dies at 74

The songwriter who gave stars including Whitney Houston, Diana Ross and Gladys Knight some of their biggest and well-known hits has died at the age of 74.

Michael Masser worked with music industry greats such as Gerry Goffin and Linda Creed throughout the Seventies and Eighties, composing the likes of Touch Me in the Morning, Ross’s second solo number one in 1973, and Tonight, I Celebrate My Love, the 1983 comeback hit for Flack and Peabo Bryson.

However, it was with Houston that he enjoyed his most successful period, writing the global hits Didn’t We Almost Have It All?, Saving All My Love for You, Greatest Love of All and All At Once. Houston gave Greatest Love of All a new lease of life eight years after Masser wrote it with Creed, who had been inspired by her battle with breast cancer. It had previously been recorded by George Benson and Shirley Bassey, but in 1985 found a new audience on Houston’s eponymous debut album a year before Creed’s death.

Masser’s talent also crossed into the film industry. He was nominated, alongside Goffin, for an Oscar in 1976 for Best Music, Original Song for Do You Know Where You’re Going To?, the theme from Ross’s 1975 romantic drama Mahogany.

The Chicago-born composer, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007, suffered a stroke three years ago and died at his California home on Thursday. Ross led tributes online, writing: “Michael Masser, so many memories. He will live on through his beautiful songs.” Masser is survived by his wife, sister, three children and two grandchildren.