Walter Afanasieff
AKA: Walter A., Vladimir Afanasieff, Vladimir N. Afanasieff, Walter N. Afanasieff, Walter Nikitich Afanasieff
Walter Afanasieff is a Grammy-winning songwriter and producer best known for turning out inescapable pop-hits in the 1990s for Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. Born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasieff of Russian decent, his often stumbled-over last name is pronounced “affa-NASS-ee-eff.”
He began his career as a jazz keyboardist in the early 80s lending his talents to releases by Teena Marie, Lionel Richie, and Aretha Franklin. It was during this time that he had a fortuitous meeting with Narada Michael Walden who employed Afanasieff to work on Whitney Houston’s debut album.
His first big break would come co-writing with Walden on the James Bond theme song “Licence To Kill” for Gladys Knight in 1989. His biggest hit would come as producer of another movie theme song, Celine Dion’s megahit “My Heart Will Go On.”