In 1984, Albert wrote and produced a Spanish album for Lani Hall, which won a Grammy for Best Latin Album. Albert also produced another hugely successful project with the recording of “Cantaré, Cantarás,” which, like "USA for Africa" and "Band Aid," was a charity single but for the Spanish market. More than 50 stars contributed vocals to the recording including Gloria Estefan, Sergio Mendes, Placido Domingo, Menudo, Celia Cruz, Irene Cara, Julio Iglesias, Jose Feliciano, Vicente Fernandez, and Ricardo Montalban. The single topped the charts in several Latin countries.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Albert wrote several other highly successful songs including “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” (Starship - nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy), “I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love” (Chicago), “Through The Storm” (Aretha Franklin & Elton John), “Don’t Turn Around” (Aswad, Neil Diamond, and Ace of Base who had a top 3 worldwide hit), “Give A Little Love” (Ziggy Marley & The Melodymakers), “It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Ever Gonna Be” (Whitney Houston & Aretha Franklin), “Don’t You Love Me Anymore” (Joe Cocker), and many of these were written with frequent collaborator Diane Warren. In 1988, Albert, along with John Bettis, had the chance to write the theme song for the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, “One Moment In Time,” which went straight to the top of the charts worldwide by Whitney Houston, and it also won Albert his first Emmy Award.) Other artists in this period to record Hammond's songs include: Tina Turner (I Don't Wanna Lose You, The Way of the World, which Albert produced), Diana Ross (When You Tell Me That You Love Me), Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow, Dolly Parton, Celine Dion, Elton John, Dionne Warwick, Air Supply, Bonnie Tyler, Roy Orbison (Careless Heart - written with Roy along with Diane Warren), Hank Williams, Jr., Agnetha Faltskog (of ABBA), Phil Everly, Bill Medley, and k.d. lang.
The last decade has brought another round of great artists to record Hammond compositions: Josh Groban, Westlife, Michael Ball, Spanish singer José Carreras, Cliff Richard, Nancy Sinatra, Tina Turner, and many others. In 2005, Hammond recorded his latest solo album, Revolution of the Heart, an acoustic recording which earned great critical reviews.
As is obvious from the list above, Albert's songs are timeless classics and several have been hits more than once: “The Air That I Breathe” (The Hollies, Simply Red), “Don't Turn Around” (ASWAD, Ace of Base), and “When You Tell Me That You Love Me” (Diana Ross, and then ten years later as a duet by Westlife and Diana Ross.)
Albert’s achievements were officially rewarded in 2000, when he received the OBE (Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II in London. In 2008, Albert was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. His home country of Gibraltar will soon be honoring him with a commemorative postage stamp series which will feature his image and highlight his biggest international hits. One need only listen to his work from the past forty years to see the mark he has left on popular music - a vast array of modern-day standards that are known the world over and have so deeply touched the lives of us all.
