John DeNicola (born on October 4, 1955) is an American songwriter and producer who rose to prominence for his involvement in the blockbuster film Dirty Dancing. Hailing from Smithtown, New York, DeNicola started his professional career as the bass player for jazz fusion group Flight, who were signed to Motown records in the 80s. Towards the end of the decade, he decided to focus on songwriting and producing, teaming up with Franke Previte and Donald Markowitz for the singles “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” and “Hungry Eyes,” which were selected as part of the soundtrack for the massive box office hit Dirty Dancing in 1987. The former, which was featured in the movie’s finale, topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and earned DeNicola both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Hot on the heels of the film’s smash success, DeNicola went on to pen songs for Eddie Money, Sugar Jones, and Parliament Funkadelic’s Bernie Worrell. During the 90s, he remained active as a producer and founded the label Omad Records, which discovered and released albums from celebrated pop acts Maroon 5 and The Sighs. In 2019, DeNicola released The Why Because, his studio debut, featuring original material gathered over the years as well as reversions of his Dirty Dancing hits.
