Mega-Pop Career Fully Established, Diane Warren Is Finally Putting Her Name In Front

What do "Un-break My Heart" by Toni Braxton, "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith and "I Was Here" by Beyoncé all have in common? The answer is they were all written by one woman — Diane Warren. Over the years, she has penned some of the greatest hits, working with artists from Tina Turner to Elton John to Britney Spears.

In an interview with NPR's Ari Shaprio, Warren says she had always been most comfortable away from the stage, behind the scenes. But even so, Friday marks a surprising first for her: She has released her debut studio album, The Cave Sessions, Vol. 1. Warren doesn't actually sing lead vocals on this album though; she compares her role to someone like DJ Khaled, who coordinates records featuring various artists.

"It's like I'm DJ Diane," she said. The record has 15 tracks, written by Warren and performed by familiar names ranging from Celine Dion to Ty Dolla $ign. "This is me kind of doing my version of that, curating an album with all kinds of different artists. It's kind of a microcosm of my career, 'cause I've always been in a lot of different genres of music. I [don't] write just one kind of song for one kind of artist..."

Hear our conversation in the audio player above – and stream Diane Warren's latest album below.

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