Diane Keaton<\/strong><\/a> is known mostly for her work on the big screen<\/a>, but songwriter Carole Bayer Sager<\/strong> had the chance to foster another one of the late actress\u2019 talents: singing.<\/p>\n In an interview with People<\/a> on Monday, October 13, Sager, 81, opened up about her time collaborating with Keaton \u2014 who died at age 79 on Saturday, October 11 \u2014 on her first and only solo single, “First Christmas.” The song was cowritten with Jonas Myrin<\/strong> and released in November 2024.<\/p>\n “I was just playing the song for my husband [Robert A. Daly<\/strong>, Board of Directors Chair at the American Film Institute]. We were listening to her sing this song [that] Jonas and I wrote, and she loved it so much,\u201d Sager said of the Christmas tune.<\/p>\n Sager recalled of Keaton, “She so loved recording this song and working with me and Jonas … she’d never stopped asking, ‘Are we gonna work on the song? Am I gonna sing?’ \u2026 She just was almost childlike about it. She was wonderful, she was wonderful. She was a magic light, you know, just for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside the Final Years of Diane Keaton\u2019s Life: Christmas Music, Movies, Businesses and More<\/a><\/p>\n The Grammy-winning lyricist told the outlet that she is considering re-releasing the song in honor of Keaton.<\/p>\n “She sings about Christmas without you here, except when I listen to it now, she could be singing about herself, you know, which makes me very teary,” Sager continued. “She had a great life, and she touched so many people with her gift of acting and writing and even singing.”<\/p>\n Sager revealed that \u201cFirst Christmas\u201d came to be after Keaton told her that she \u201cloved to sing\u201d but didn\u2019t consider herself much of \u201ca singer.\u201d<\/p>\n “I said, ‘Well, maybe I can write you a Christmas song.’ So Jonas and I wrote this song. And then she came over and not only fell in love with it, she started crying as it moved her, and she said, ‘Oh, I love this, this is so beautiful,'” Sager recalled. “So I said, ‘Well, why don’t you try and sing it?’ And she was so authentic when she sang it \u2026 she was sort of acting it, you know, because she is a great actress and, and then she’d start to cry when she was singing it.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sager gushed that Keaton \u201cdid such a beautiful job\u201d on the song despite often being \u201cinsecure\u201d about her singing during the recording process.<\/p>\n “She always wanted to do it one more time and she could make it better … she was really obsessed with the song. She talked about it all the time,\u201d Sager added.<\/p>\n Sager told the outlet that it was \u201cvery shocking\u201d to hear of Keaton\u2019s death<\/a>, which was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Father of the Bride actress on Saturday.<\/p>\n “There are no further details available at this time, and her family has asked for privacy in this moment of great sadness,” the spokesperson told People<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jonas Myrin\/Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n Sager said of Keaton, “She just was a great light on this earth and loved life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n