Plenty of pop stars started out in a quieter spot, writing songs in small rooms for someone else to sing. Their names sat in the credits while other voices carried the choruses.
Some spent years on that side of the glass. Others barely had time to settle in before the spotlight swung around. The nine writers below all had songs on the charts, or in the hands of famous singers, before their own names became familiar.
Carole King
King began as a teenage staff writer in New York, working with her then husband Gerry Goffin. Together they wrote Will You Love Me Tomorrow for the Shirelles, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961. They also wrote (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, which Aretha Franklin recorded in 1967.
King’s own breakthrough came with the 1971 album Tapestry. It turned her from a behind the scenes craftsperson into one of the defining singer songwriters of the decade. It also won her several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
Neil Diamond
Diamond worked in the Brill Building era as a young writer before his own records took off. He wrote I’m a Believer, which the Monkees took to No. 1 in 1966. The Monkees also recorded his A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You that year.
His own recording career was gathering pace at the same moment, with Solitary Man and Cherry, Cherry in the mid 1960s. Cracklin’ Rosie then gave him a No. 1 single of his own in 1970. Few writers can say a hit for a TV band helped fund their own run as a headliner.
Bruno Mars
Before Doo-Wops and Hooligans arrived in 2010, Mars was part of a production and writing team called the Smeezingtons. The team cowrote Nothin’ on You for B.o.B and Billionaire for Travie McCoy, both released in 2010 and both major hits. They also helped write Cee Lo Green’s Forget You.
Those credits gave Mars industry standing before his solo debut. His own singles, including Just the Way You Are, followed quickly and carried him to arena level fame. He has stayed a writer as much as a performer ever since.
Sia
Sia had put out records of her own, but her biggest successes of the early 2010s came from songs she gave to others. She cowrote Titanium with David Guetta, released in 2011, and wrote Diamonds for Rihanna, a No. 1 hit in 2012. She also contributed to Beyoncé’s Pretty Hurts.
Her own commercial breakthrough as a lead artist came in 2014 with Chandelier. The album 1000 Forms of Fear then debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. She has often kept her face hidden, which makes the shift from background writer to star a slightly unusual one.
Lady Gaga
Before Just Dance put her on radio in 2008, Stefani Germanotta worked as a songwriter for other acts. She signed a publishing deal and wrote material for artists such as the Pussycat Dolls and New Kids on the Block. That period gave her studio experience, and it helped Interscope take notice of her as a performer.
Her debut album The Fame arrived in 2008 and produced two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles, Just Dance and Poker Face. The earlier songwriting work was largely invisible to the public. It still shaped how she approached pop structure.
Ne-Yo
Shaffer Smith, known as Ne-Yo, first made his name through other singers. He wrote Let Me Love You for Mario, which reached No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2004. He also wrote for Faith Evans and Destiny’s Child during that stretch.
His own debut album, In My Own Words, came in 2006 and included the hit So Sick. The album topped the Billboard 200. The writing credits had already told the industry he could build a hook that listeners remembered.
Kesha
Kesha was a young writer and background vocalist in Los Angeles before her debut single arrived. She is credited as a writer on Flo Rida’s Right Round, a huge hit in 2009 that reached No. 1 in the United States. She also appeared on the track without much public recognition at first.
Later in 2009 her own single Tik Tok climbed to No. 1 on the Hot 100. Her debut album Animal followed in early 2010. The earlier credit shows how quickly a session job can turn into a career.
Jessie J
Jessie J spent time in the songwriting world before her own singles arrived in 2011. She wrote Party in the U.S.A., which became a major hit for Miley Cyrus in 2009. She also wrote songs for other pop artists around the same time.
Her own debut album Who You Are came out in 2011 and included Price Tag, which reached the top of the UK Singles Chart. She won the Critics’ Choice prize at the Brit Awards that year. The Cyrus hit remains one of the better known songs she wrote for another singer.
Julia Michaels
Michaels built her reputation as a writer in the mid 2010s, working with collaborators such as Justin Tranter. She is credited on Justin Bieber’s Sorry, a 2015 single that reached No. 1 on the Hot 100. She also wrote with Selena Gomez, Gwen Stefani and others during that period.
Her own song Issues arrived in 2017 and reached the top 15 on the Hot 100. The single brought her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist’s category year and cemented her as a performer. Writing for other people had given her a ready made audience of industry insiders before the public caught on.
