Michael Masser Biography

Fast Facts

• Was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007
• Graduated from the University of Illinois and also briefly attended its law school
• Was a student of celebrated songwriter Johnny Mercer in the early 1970s and soon had a No․ 1 hit with 1973's "Touch Me in the Morning," the Motown single that revitalized Diana Ross's career
• Worked as a stockbroker in New York before making the switch to writing music
• Quote: "Somehow people get very nervous about leaving the comfortable life of rules behind, and never take the chance to develop their own internal voice, to listen to their own consciousness․"
• Quote: "[on seeing the psychiatrist who convinced him to become a songwriter] "It's funny, because that's all I was looking for: permission․ I had been the dutiful son and husband for so long, I had forgotten about living for myself․""
• Best known as a songwriter and composer who wrote several hit songs for Whitney Houston and Diana Ross
• After meeting Whitney Houston in the studio where he was producing Teddy Pendergrass's 1984 album "Love Language," he went on to write her chart-topping singles "The Greatest Love of All," "Saving All My Love" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All․"