Dolly Parton and Carole King among those at memorial for songwriter Cynthia Weil
By Mike Bedigan, PA Los Angeles Correspondent
Dolly Parton, Carole King and Diane Warren were among the famous faces to attend a memorial for renowned US songwriter Cynthia Weil.
The Grammy-winning lyricist – responsible for hit songs including You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, On Broadway, and Walking In The Rain – was honoured at a special service on Sunday.
Weil died earlier this month at her home in California at the age of 82.
The songwriter enjoyed a decades-long partnership with her husband Barry Mann, whom she married in 1961.
The private memorial event was hosted by singer Tony Orlando who performed Bless You, the 1961 hit that gave Weil and Mann instant fame.
As well as King and Warren, other guests included Lou Adler, Carol Bayer Sager, Jeff Barry and Mike Stoller.
US country music star Parton attended the event virtually.
Weil’s daughter, Dr Jenn Mann, remembered her mother as a “loving wife to Mann, devoted grandmother to her two girls, a lover of animals, and a soft-hearted romantic who could surprise people with her non-nonsense business sense”.
Weil and Mann were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Their collaboration, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, previously topped the charts in 1965, was sung by the Righteous Brothers and has been covered by numerous other artists.
