Diane Warren says it is time for her to finally release a solo album.

The prolific songwriter has penned nine number ones and 32 top 10s during her career but says she now feels ready to drop her own record, rather than offering her songs to other artists.

She told The Hollywood Reporter: "It's me being DJ Diane. I've seen people like Mark Ronson, Calvin Harris [do it], so I thought, 'Why can't I do one of those? I have this great John Legend song [I wrote] on the album, and that basically gave me the idea to do it. I kept giving it to other artists, who would never do it, and it's one of the best songs I've ever written and best performances on any song I've ever written. I was like, 'This song has got to get heard,' so it was like, 'OK, it's going to get heard on my record, then.' I have Ty Dolla Sign and Celine Dion on the same album, so that's fun."

And Diane, 64, says the COVID-19 pandemic has not affected how she works as she has been social distancing for years.

She explained: "It hasn't really been a change because I sit around by myself anyway — I've been social distancing my whole life. I've been super creative through it, super productive. No one's been in my office since last March, so I'm by myself. I can just do whatever I want and no one's here to annoy me — except myself, I just annoy myself. Workwise and productivity-wise, it's been fantastic. And artists aren't really on the road, so I can reach people easier, too."