David Foster, Katharine Mcphee share love story: Life is a very crazy thing
MANILA, Philippines — Besides SB19’s Stell’s scene-stealing interpretation of All By Myself, another highlight of Canadian hitmaker, producer, and composer David Foster’s recent Manila visit was when he shared the stage with his wife, Katharine McPhee.
There was a lot of husband-and-wife banter and teasing on stage during the “Hitman: David Foster and Friends Asia Tour” at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, allowing the audience a glimpse into the marriage made in music heaven.
It all started on “American Idol.” Specifically Season 5 of the reality singing search — this was way back in 2006 — where Katharine competed and became first runner-up to Taylor Hicks, while David appeared as a guest mentor.
“Kat was a contestant,” David, 74, began after introducing Katharine, 40, to the audience and saying that some people might not be aware that they are actually married.
“Yes, I was (a contestant). But I was very excited for Andrea Bocelli, not David Foster,” his wife quipped.
“So, we met and we toured the world together as friends (at first),” continued David.
“I was actually at your wedding,” he added, reminding his wife.
“You were at my very first wedding,” Katharine confirmed before jokingly adding, “And I was invited to one of David’s weddings,” to the laughter of the audience. “But I wasn’t able to make it.”
“Eventually, we ended up at each other’s wedding,” David and Katharine chorused.
“It was a very sweet thing,” mused Katharine, further reflecting on how “life is a very crazy thing.”
“You never know what’s ahead of you. And we didn’t expect to be touring the world together,” she said.
The couple reportedly wed in June 2019 and they now have a son named Rennie. In a past Instagram post to announce their nuptials, Katharine wrote then: “Exactly 13 years ago today, my very first single, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, was released right after ‘Idol.’ Today… I’m marrying the man who produced it. Life is full of beautiful coincidences, isn’t it? Thank you for taking me over the rainbow, David.”
Coincidence or not but the celebrity couple are now touring Asia on the month of their fifth wedding anniversary. And at David’s two-hour Manila show, Katharine performed and sampled some of the hits that David composed, wrote or produced for divas like Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Donna Summer.
On the 1978 song Last Dance, David shared, “A long time ago, I got asked to play on a record and the producer — I wasn’t the producer at the beginning of my career — so the producer said, ‘Now on this song, I want you to start it slow, like a ballad, then I want you go to fast, like a disco song, then I want you to go slow again, then I want you to go fast again.’ I said to myself, that is the stupidest idea I’ve heard in my life (laughter). It was done by my dear friend, Donna Summer.”
Katharine also did two Whitney Houston singles that David particularly made as soundtrack for the late songstress’ blockbuster movie with Kevin Costner, “The Bodyguard.” One of these is I Have Nothing, which happened to be the first song that David wrote for the romantic film.
Katharine recalled, “I sang the song when David and I first met in 2006. And this was the song I sang for (‘American Idol’ judges) Paula (Abdul), Simon (Cowell) and Randy (Jackson), and Simon told me to never sing it again (laughs). Those were his words of wisdom.” To which David reacted, “Simon’s a (expletive). No, he’s not. He’s a great guy but he was wrong about that.”
The songwriter also managed to convince his wife to share her “incredible” impression of Celine Dion in between numbers. And even if he didn’t compose the song, he had Katharine perform her hit single Terrified from “Unbroken,” her second studio album in 2010, turning the Big Dome into one karaoke session. “Someone told me this song was on a soap opera or something like that,” Katharine said.
The singer-actress would later post on TikTok a reaction video to the crowd singing along to Terrified.
“16,500 people singing my song. Who knew something that came out so long would resonate with so many still. I finally know what Taylor Swift feels like every night!” she said in the video shared on Friday.
“I have learned so much about your culture and love for music the past few days. My son Rennie is now learning Terrified on the drums. I’d love to come back and have a solo show for you all. Rennie will work on his druming skills for this song. Thank you for the support on this song. It’s made me really happy to know you guys love it so much and I would love to do something special for you guys. Soon.”
The Big Dome concert was the latest edition of David’s signature all-star concert series that would feature his friends and frequent collaborators. “It is so good to be back. Why? Because there is no country, I’ve been to many countries, that loves music more than the Philippines. This is true,” David, who was also here last year, told the Pinoy crowd.
The man responsible for writing some of the biggest hits for the “Who’s Who” in the music world was also joined by American R&B quartet All-4-One who did numbers composed/produced for them by David in the ‘90s, such as the wedding anthems I Swear and So Much In Love. Solo artist Brian McKnight, a gifted songwriter himself who churned out the chart-toppers One Last Cry and Back At One, also formed part of the line-up of special guests. At one point, he took over the piano to let David and Katharine duet on the Nat King Cole-Natalie Cole classic Unforgettable.
Aside from Stell, David also featured two other young singers from the Philippines as part of his personal mission to discover and champion new talents, namely, JV Decena, the 2022 PMPC Star Awards Male R&B Artist of the Year, and Joaquin Garcia, 2020 Male Pop Artist of the Year.
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