Michael Masser

Who is Michael Masser?

Michael Masser, a former stockbroker, is a composer and producer of popular music. He attended the University of Illinois College of Law, but left to pursue his interest in music. Masser and his wife Ogniana live in Palm Desert, California.

Masser's first major composition hit, co-written with Ron Miller, was "Touch Me in the Morning," recorded by Diana Ross. He co-wrote several other hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, including three made famous by Whitney Houston, "Greatest Love of All," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," and "Saving All My Love for You."

Other hit songs include "Hold Me", "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", "If Ever You're in My Arms Again", "In Your Eyes", "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You", "Miss You Like Crazy" and "Someone That I Used To Love", "The Greatest Love of All", "So Sad the Song", and "It's My Turn" and "Last Time I Saw Him". A country cover of "Last Time I Saw Him" by Dottie West also became a hit, peaking at #8 on the country charts. Masser was nominated for an Academy Award in 1976 for Best Music, Original Song, for "Theme from Mahogany," which he wrote with Gerry Goffin. The song had actually been first recorded by fellow Motown labelmate Thelma Houston as a planned single but was pulled before release so that Diana Ross could release it as a theme song for her film Mahogany.