Warren Ray Wiebe (July 18, 1953 – October 25, 1998) was an American vocalist and session musician best known for his work with David Foster, Jay Graydon, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, his recordings on soundtracks and his performances of the national anthem before Los Angeles Kings games.

Early life

Warren Wiebe was born in the in San Diego, California, on July 18, 1953, to Ruby and Abraham Wiebe. He attended Crawford High School, during which time he formed his own band, calling it Mankind. He sang and played bass.

Career

Wiebe contributed bass and vocals to several San Diego area bands and performed five nights a week in venues such as The Wranglers Roost and with Bud Martin & Sound Advice at The Abeline, one of the showroom venues at the Town & Country Hotel in Hotel Circle, and participated in the San Diego Jazz Party. Warren Wiebe was discovered by David Foster and Burt Bacharach in Los Angeles in 1987. He sang the duet "Listen to Me" with Celine Dion for the Listen to Me soundtrack. He was one of several lead vocalists who contributed to the 1991 charity record "Voices That Care". He performed the song "Human Touch", a ballad which was used as one of the ending theme songs for the 1996 anime After War Gundam X. The song was one of a very small number of anime theme songs that not only was performed with English lyrics but was composed by non-Japanese songwriters. An avid ice hockey fan, he was also known for his stirring performances of the US and Canadian national anthems and "America the Beautiful" before Los Angeles Kings games, especially during the time Wayne Gretzky played there. He sang many demos for David Foster including "When I Fall in Love" for the film Sleepless in Seattle and when Celine Dion heard his singing she wanted him instead of Clive Griffin to sing on the track. In addition, he sang on the All-4-One hit "I Swear" and did backing vocals for many artists. He was also featured on Foster's 1990 release River of Love; his vocals were on the title track "River of Love", "Walk Away", "Is There a Chance", "Living for the Moment", "This Must Be Love" and his 1994 subsequent release Love Lights the World performing vocals on the track "Is There a Chance". For Celine Dion's wedding, Wiebe was flown in to Montreal to perform "The Colour of My Love" with a thirty-piece orchestra conducted by David Foster. In 1991, "If Not for Love" (written by Foster & Linda Thompson) was part of the One Good Cop soundtrack that featured Michael Keaton and Rene Russo. On Jay Graydon's Airplay for the Planet, originally released in 1993 by Inside Out Records in Japan, Wiebe would perform two songs: "Roxann" (written by Bill Cantos, Jay Graydon, Valerie Hobel) and "You're Not Alone" (written by Bruce Gaitsch, Janea Chadwick, Janey Clewer, Jay Graydon). Warren performed "Goodbye" as part of the television soundtrack One Life to Live: The Best of Love in 1994. He was referred to by Quincy Jones as the "Soulful Rain Man" and was part of Jones' release Q's Jook Joint in 1995 performing a duet with Gloria Estefan on "Is It Love That We're Missing". The Burt Bacharach collection release, Applause...The Look of Love included Wiebe's duet with Lalah Hathaway called "On My Own". Wiebe was the singing voice of Dean Martin in the film The Rat Pack, released in 1998.

Death

Wiebe committed suicide on October 25, 1998, after battling depression due to the deaths of his mother and a former high school friend. His body was found in his Glendale apartment. He was 45.

Posthumous discography

Compilation and soundtrack album appearances

Guest singles

Music videos