Greg Wells
Greg Wells | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | 21 September 1968 |
Origin | Peterborough, Ontario, Canada |
Genres | |
Occupations |
|
Instruments |
|
Years active | 1998–present |
Website | www |
Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, songwriter and record producer[1] based in Los Angeles. Wells has songs on over 120 million albums sold and streaming numbers in the billions. He has produced and written with Adele, Dua Lipa, The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Grace VanderWaal, Rufus Wainwright, Katy Perry, Keith Urban, Twenty One Pilots, Kid Cudi, Deftones, Creeper Lagoon, Mayer Hawthorne, Theophilus London, Weezer, OneRepublic, Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, Pharrell Williams, The All-American Rejects, Otep, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach, Celine Dion, Crash Test Dummies,[2][3] Elton John, Jars of Clay, and the Count Basie Orchestra.
A renowned musician, there are feature articles about Wells' drumming in Modern Drummer,[4] as a pianist in Keyboard, as a synth programmer in Electronic Musician, as a songwriter in American Songwriter and Billboard, and as a producer, mix engineer, and music maker is featured on the cover of Mix with Ryan Tedder in the May 2017 edition.
Early life
Wells grew up in the small city of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, the son of a United Church of Canada minister.[5] At age 11, he developed Perthes' disease and was in a wheelchair unable to walk for two years. Wells attended Adam Scott CVI,[6] learned to play several instruments,[4] and joined many musical ensembles in his hometown from the local orchestra to club bands to being a church organist/choir director, as well as DJ-ing dances and running a weekly radio show on Trent University Radio CFFF-FM. He studied classical piano, drums, pipe organ, orchestral percussion and music theory at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music and attended the Humber College Jazz Music Program in Toronto on drums, piano, and guitar.[4]
Career
After moving from Peterborough to Toronto at age 17, Wells worked as a live and studio musician with Canadian music legends Rob McConnell and Kim Mitchell.[7] He joined the Kim Mitchell Band at age 19. Wells recorded keyboards and backing vocals on Mitchell's, Rockland, toured Canada several times with the band, and won the award for Best Keyboardist at the 1990 Toronto Music Awards as a result of his work with Mitchell (and Wells performed with Mitchell at the awards show on drums).
Wells was awarded a Canada Council arts grant to study in Los Angeles[4] with Clare Fischer, famed composer and string arranger for Prince. He traveled to Los Angeles at age 21 with the intention of returning to Canada, but Fischer began recommending Wells as a pianist. Wells joined k.d. lang's band soon afterward,[3] performing with her on the 1993 Grammy Awards where she won Best Pop Female Vocal.
Working with the support of music manager Miles Copeland and music publisher Barbara Vander Linde at Rondor Music, Wells started producing records and writing songs. His first recorded song as a songwriter was with Aerosmith on Nine Lives, which was followed by "The Reason" on Celine Dion's album, Let's Talk About Love. Wells continued to branch out, producing Rufus Wainwright and Otep. Songwriter Kara DioGuardi started collaborating with Wells in 2003 and partnered with him in several pop projects. Wells then produced, mixed and played most of the instruments on Mika's debut album Life In Cartoon Motion.
In 2007, Wells produced both Timbaland's and OneRepublic's version of the song, "Apologize, one of the biggest hit songs in the history of commercial radio. Wells met and began working with Katy Perry and has written and produced on most of her albums.[8] The two continue to collaborate in 2018 as Wells produced and co-wrote Cozy Little Christmas, which reached #1 on the AC chart in the US.
Wells has designed best selling music software, creating the "El Rey" compressor plugin with Acustica Audio and Studio DMI, and a signature series of plugins with Waves Audio.
Wells is a member of the Mix with the Masters based in France.
The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, produced and mixed by Wells, is the biggest selling worldwide album of 2018.
Philanthropy
Wells donates three annual music scholarships to the Humber College Music Program where he attended in Toronto.[9] Wells also gives away a new drum kit from his Instagram and Twitter account every 3 months[10] to people around the globe who want drums but don't own any, and partners with Roland Corporation to give away a keyboard every three months.[11]
Awards
Wells has received three Grammy nominations for his work with Katy Perry, The Greatest Showman Soundtrack, and Mika. Wells received the Pensado Giant Award at the 2017 Pensado Awards for achievements in the field of record-making.[12]. In June 2015, Wells was awarded an honorary degree from his alma mater music college, Humber College in Toronto. Wells was nominated as producer of the year at the 2000 Canadian Juno Awards.[13]
Personal life
Wells is married to Swedish songwriter Nina Woodford. He has five children. He works out of his studio in Los Angeles that he built called Rocket Carousel Studio.
Songwriting and production credits
Notes
- The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – produced and mixed, number one in the US album sales chart for three weeks, number one in the UK album sales chart for 25 weeks, number one album on iTunes in 77 countries, with Wells produced worldwide hit "This Is Me" winning a 2018 Golden Globe and nominated and performed on the 2018 Academy Awards. The album is the biggest selling album of 2018 worldwide.
- Adele – "One and Only" on Adele's worldwide number one Grammy-winning Album of the Year, 21. 35 million units sold.[14]
- Twenty One Pilots – produced and mixed Twenty One Pilots platinum album Vessel.[4]
- Keith Urban – produced and co-wrote number one smash hit "Wasted Time".
- Grace VanderWaal – produced and mixed debut extended play Perfectly Imperfect, number nine on the US album chart.
- Katy Perry – produced, mixed, and co-wrote #1 hit Cozy Little Christmas on US AC chart Dec 2018; performed "By the Grace of God", co-written and produced by Wells, at the 2015 Grammy Awards; produced her US top 10 single "Waking Up in Vegas"; produced and co-wrote with Perry "Ur So Gay", and produced and co-wrote "Not Like the Movies" performed live by Katy and Wells at the 2011 Grammy Awards.
- OneRepublic – produced both versions of worldwide number one hit "Apologize", both the Timbaland remix released first and the OneRepublic original version.[15]
- Mika – produced, mixed, and played electric guitar, drums and bass guitar on Mika's chart-topping debut single "Grace Kelly" from the album Life in Cartoon Motion which stayed at number one for seven weeks in the UK.
- Kim Mitchell keyboards on Mitchell's double platinum-selling Rockland.
Title | Year | Artist | Album | Songwriter | Producer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Naked" | 1997 | Jon Bon Jovi | Destination Everywhere | ||
"The Reason" | Celine Dion | Let's Talk About Love | |||
"It's Killing Me" | 1998 | DC Talk | Supernatural | ||
"Polite" | 1999 | Bijou Phillips | I'd Rather Eat Glass | ||
"I'm a Mountain" | |||||
"Little Dipper" | |||||
"Grace" | Jars of Clay | If I Left the Zoo | |||
"She's a Mystery" | 2000 | Bon Jovi | Crush | ||
"Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" | 2001 | Rufus Wainwright | Poses | ||
"Reveal" | 2003 | Celine Dion | One Heart | ||
"Desperately" | Michelle Branch | Hotel Paper | |||
"Where Are You Now?" | |||||
"Lay Me Down" | |||||
"Strong Enough to Break" | Hanson | Underneath Acoustic | |||
"Hey" | |||||
"I'm Ready" | 2004 | Cherie | Cherie | ||
"Beautiful Soul" | Jesse McCartney | Beautiful Soul | |||
"Stumble" | Natasha Bedingfield | Unwritten | |||
"French Kisses" | Jentina | Jentina | |||
"Kinda Love" | Darius | Live Twice | |||
"Ever (Foreign Flag)" | 2005 | Team Sleep | Team Sleep | ||
"Princeton Review" | |||||
"Our Ride to the Rectory" | |||||
"Elizabeth" | |||||
"Ever Since WWII" | |||||
"11/11" | |||||
"Supergirl" | Hilary Duff | Most Wanted | |||
"Flirt" | The Pussycat Dolls | PCD | |||
"Mother Mother" | The Veronicas | The Secret Life Of... | |||
"Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father)" | Lindsay Lohan | A Little More Personal (Raw) | |||
"Black Hole" | |||||
"I Live for the Day" | |||||
"My Innocence" | |||||
"If You Were Me" | |||||
"Who Loves You" | |||||
"A Beautiful Life (La Bella Vita)" | |||||
"Apologize" | 2006 | OneRepublic | Dreaming Out Loud | ||
"Good Day" | Jewel | Goodbye Alice in Wonderland | |||
"Relax, Take It Easy" | Mika | Life in Cartoon Motion | |||
"Screwed" | Paris Hilton | Paris | |||
"Not Leaving Without You" | |||||
"Ni Freud Ni Tu Mamá" | Belinda | Utopia | |||
"Pudo Ser Tan Fácil" | |||||
"Noche Cool" | |||||
"Grace Kelly" | 2007 | Mika | Life in Cartoon Motion | ||
"Apologize (Remix)" (featuring OneRepublic) |
Timbaland | Shock Value | |||
"Lollipop" | Mika | Life in Cartoon Motion | |||
"My Interpretation" | |||||
"Love Today" | |||||
"Any Other World" | |||||
"Billy Brown" | |||||
"Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" | |||||
"Stuck in the Middle" | |||||
"Happy Ending" | |||||
"Over My Shoulder" | |||||
"Ring Ring" | |||||
"Erase" | |||||
"Your Sympathy" | |||||
"No Work, All Play" | Hilary Duff | Dignity | |||
"Indiana" | Jon McLaughlin | Indiana | |||
"We Got the Party" (solo / featuring Jonas Brothers) |
Miley Cyrus | Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus / Jonas Brothers |
|||
"Hook Me Up" | The Veronicas | Hook Me Up | |||
"Takes One to Know One" | Belinda | Utopía² | |||
"If We Were" | |||||
"Stop and Stare" | OneRepublic | Dreaming Out Loud | |||
"Say (All I Need)" | |||||
"Mercy" | |||||
"Goodbye, Apathy" | |||||
"All Fall Down" | |||||
"Tyrant" | |||||
"Prodigal" | |||||
"All We Are" | |||||
"Someone to Save You" | |||||
"Ur So Gay" | Katy Perry | One of the Boys | |||
"Running with the Devil" | 2008 | Alexz Johnson | Weight | ||
"Swallowed" | |||||
"Mail Man" | |||||
"Saving the Train" | |||||
"Weight" | |||||
"We Rock" | Various artists | Camp Rock: OST | |||
"Waking Up in Vegas" | Katy Perry | One of the Boys | |||
"Mannequin" | |||||
"Fingerprints" | |||||
"Gotta Find You" | Joe Jonas | Camp Rock: OST | |||
"Why Did I Ever Like You" | P!nk | Funhouse | |||
"I Do Not Hook Up" | 2009 | Kelly Clarkson | All I Ever Wanted | ||
"When It All Goes Away" | David Hodges | The Rising EP | |||
"Fearless" | Colbie Caillat | Breakthrough | |||
"Discount Store" | Dan Bryk | Non-album single | |||
"We Are Golden" | Mika | The Boy Who Knew Too Much | |||
"Blame It on the Girls" | |||||
"Rain" | |||||
"Dr. John" | |||||
"I See You" | |||||
"Blue Eyes" | |||||
"Good Gone Girl" | |||||
"Touches You" | |||||
"By the Time" | |||||
"One Foot Boy" | |||||
"Toy Boy" | |||||
"Pick Up Off the Floor" | |||||
"Lady Jane" | |||||
"Lover Boy" | |||||
"Lonely Alcoholic" | |||||
"As a Blonde" | Selena Gomez & the Scene | Kiss & Tell | |||
"Just One of Those Things" | Jamie Cullum | The Pursuit | |||
"Love Ain't Gonna Let You Down" | |||||
"Mixtape" | |||||
"Brick by Brick" | Katy Perry | MTV Unplugged EP | |||
"Strut" | Adam Lambert | For Your Entertainment | |||
"Pick U Up" | |||||
"Broken Open" | |||||
"Down the Rabbit Hole" | |||||
"Can't Let You Go" | |||||
"No One Else" | Allison Iraheta | Just Like You | |||
"Gave It All Away" | 2010 | Boyzone | Brother | ||
"Love Is a Hurricane" | |||||
"Ruby" | |||||
"Too Late for Hallelujah" | |||||
"Separate Cars" | |||||
"One More Song" | |||||
"Right Here Waiting" | |||||
"Nothing Without You" | |||||
"Til the Sun Goes Down" | |||||
"Time" | |||||
"Let Your Wall Fall Down" | |||||
"Hey You" | Miranda Cosgrove | Sparks Fly | |||
"Pearl" | Katy Perry | Teenage Dream | |||
"Not Like the Movies" | |||||
"Where's My Sex?" | Weezer | Hurley | |||
"One and Only" | 2011 | Adele | 21 | ||
"Guns for Hands" | Twenty One Pilots | Regional at Best | |||
"Holding On to You" | |||||
"Ode to Sleep" | |||||
"Car Radio" | |||||
"Forest" | |||||
"Glowing Eyes" | |||||
"Kitchen Sink" (featuring Zack Joseph) |
|||||
"Lovely" | |||||
"Trees" | |||||
"Elle me dit" | Mika | The Origin of Love | |||
"I Do" | Colbie Caillat | All of You | |||
"Before I Let You Go" | |||||
"Dream Life, Life" | |||||
"What Means the Most" | |||||
"Maria" | |||||
"Angel at My Door" | NEEDTOBREATHE | The Reckoning | |||
"The Greeks Will Inherit the Earth" | I Fight Dragons | KABOOM! | |||
"My Future is a Big Wide Open Space" | Wax | Eviction Notice | |||
"Isabella" | Dia Frampton | Red | |||
"The Broken Ones" | |||||
"Dreamer" | 2012 | Elizaveta | Beatrix Runs | ||
"Meant" | |||||
"Armies of Your Heart" | |||||
"Snow in Venice" | |||||
"Nightflyers" | |||||
"Orion" | |||||
"Beatrix Runs" | |||||
"Odi et Amo" | |||||
"Victory" | |||||
"Goodbye Song" | |||||
"Beekeeper's Daughter" | The All-American Rejects | Kids in the Street | |||
"Kids in the Street" | |||||
"Someday's Gone" | |||||
"Fast and Slow" | |||||
"Heartbeat Slowing Down" | |||||
"Walk Over Me" | |||||
"Out the Door" | |||||
"Bleed into Your Mind" | |||||
"Gonzo" | |||||
"Affection" | |||||
"I for You" | |||||
"Drown Next to Me" | |||||
"Do Me Right" | |||||
"Just Be" | Paloma Faith | Fall to Grace | |||
"My Oh My" | Tristan Prettyman | Cedar + Gold | |||
"Origin of Love" | Mika | The Origin of Love | |||
"Stardust" | |||||
"Make You Happy" | |||||
"Underwater" | |||||
"Overrated" | |||||
"Step with Me" | |||||
"Popular Song" (featuring Priscilla Renea or Ariana Grande) |
|||||
"Emily" | |||||
"Karen" | |||||
"I Was Gonna Marry You" | Tristan Prettyman | Cedar + Gold | |||
"Second Chance" | |||||
"Say Anything" | |||||
"Quit You" | |||||
"Bad Drug" | |||||
"Come Clean" | |||||
"Glass Jar" | |||||
"When You Come Down" | |||||
"Deepest Ocean Blue" | |||||
"The Rebound" | |||||
"Never Say Never" | |||||
"Migrane" | 2013 | Twenty One Pilots | Vessel | ||
"House of Gold" | |||||
"Semi-Automatic" | |||||
"Screen" | |||||
"The Run and Go" | |||||
"Fake You Out" | |||||
"Truce" | |||||
"Tomorrow" | Wax | Continue | |||
"Stupefied" | |||||
"Toothbrush" | |||||
"She Used to Be Mine" | |||||
"Adventure Time" | BRY | Grow EP | |||
"Where Does This Door Go" | Mayer Hawthorne | Where Does This Door Go | |||
"Small Clone" | |||||
"Designer Drug" | |||||
"The Same" | Birdy | Fire Within | |||
"By the Grace of God" | Katy Perry | Prism | |||
"Choose Your Battles" | |||||
"To Find You" | 2014 | Lea Michele | Louder | ||
"Boum Boum Boum" | Mika | No Place in Heaven | |||
"Legends Never Die" (featuring Katy Perry) |
Ferras | Ferras EP | |||
"Running Behind" | 2015 | Holychild | The Shape of Brat Pop to Come | ||
"Talk About You" | Mika | No Place in Heaven | |||
"Last Party" | |||||
"Nasty Girls" | Holychild | The Shape of Brat Pop to Come | |||
"Money All Around" | |||||
"Diamonds on the Rebound" | |||||
"Regret You" | |||||
"U Make Me Sick" | |||||
"All She Wants" | Mika | No Place in Heaven | |||
"Oh Girl You're the Devil" | |||||
"No Place in Heaven" | |||||
"Good Wife" | |||||
"Rio" | |||||
"Ordinary Man" | |||||
"Promised Land" | |||||
"Black Heart" | Carly Rae Jepsen | Emotion | |||
"Even If" | Ella Eyre | Feline | |||
"Wasted Time" | 2016 | Keith Urban | Ripcord | ||
"Stay" | Theophilus London | Non-album single | |||
"Too Good to Last" (featuring Terence Blanchard) |
Kandace Springs | Soul Eyes | |||
"Queen of Swords" | Idina Menzel | Idina | |||
"Light the Sky" | Grace VanderWaal | Perfectly Imperfect EP | |||
"Astronautti" | Koli-C | Non-album single | |||
"Small World" | Idina Menzel | Idina | |||
"Everybody Knows" | |||||
"Show Me" | |||||
"Cake" | |||||
"Extraordinary" | |||||
"Perfect Story" | |||||
"Everything" | BRY | BRY | |||
"I Don't Know My Name" | Grace VanderWaal | Perfectly Imperfect EP | |||
"Clay" | |||||
"Beautiful Thing" | |||||
"Gossip Girl" | |||||
"Deep Water" | 2017 | Alisan Porter | I Come in Pieces EP | ||
"Kiss You While I Can" | Rascal Flatts | Back to Us | |||
"Garden" | Dua Lipa | Dua Lipa | |||
"Beneath the Streetlights and the Moon" | JP Cooper | Raised Under Grey Skies | |||
"This Is Me" | Keala Settle | The Greatest Showman: OST | |||
"The Greatest Show" (with Keala Settle, Zac Efron and Zendaya) |
Hugh Jackman | ||||
"Just a Crush" | Grace VanderWaal | Just the Beginning | |||
"A Better Life" | |||||
"Lungs" | |||||
"Machine Heart" | Kelsea Ballerini | Unapologetically | |||
"Come Alive" (with Keala Settle, Daniel Everidge and Zendaya) |
Hugh Jackman | The Greatest Showman: OST | |||
"The Other Side" (with Zac Efron) |
|||||
"Rewrite the Stars" (with Zendaya) |
Zac Efron | ||||
"From Now On" | Hugh Jackman | ||||
"This Is Me" | Kesha | The Greatest Showman: Reimagined | |||
"Coming Back Around" | 2018 | Ferras | Non-album single | ||
"Hold Me Down" | Family of the Year | Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Nighttime | |||
"Bad Love" | The Aces | When My Heart Felt Volcanic | |||
"Let Her Go" | Family of the Year | Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Nighttime | |||
"My Wave" (featuring Shy Carter) |
Keith Urban | Graffiti U | |||
"Latchkey Kids" | Family of the Year | Goodbye Sunshine, Hello Nighttime | |||
"Bitter Mind" | |||||
"I'm the One" | |||||
"Girl Who Washed Ashore" | |||||
"The Coast" | |||||
"Where Was I" | |||||
"Raw Honey" | |||||
"Mexico" | |||||
"Put It to Bed" | JHart | TBA | |||
"Cozy Little Christmas" | Katy Perry | Non-album single | |||
"A Million Dreams" | Pink | The Greatest Showman: Reimagined | |||
"The Greatest Show" | Panic! at the Disco | ||||
"A Million Dreams (Reprise)" | Willow Sage Hart | ||||
"The Other Side" (with Ty Dolla Sign) |
MAX | ||||
"This Is Me" (The Reimagined Version) (with Kesha and Missy Elliot) |
Keala Settle |
References
- ^ GRAMMY.com
- ^ James H. Marsh (1999). The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia. pp. 583–. ISBN 978-0-7710-2099-5.
- ^ a b Larry LeBlanc (February 27, 1999). "Dummies Hand In their Latest Set". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 18–21. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ a b c d e "Features: Greg Wells". Modern Drummer, Stephen Belans, July 2016.
- ^ "Musician returns to church that seeded career". Peterborough Examiner, By Jessica Nyznik, March 7, 2016
- ^ "Peterborough’s music pedigree a secret no more". My Kawartha, Dec 12, 2014 by Paul Rellinger.
- ^ Larry LeBlanc (February 27, 1999). "Dummies Hand In their Latest Set". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 18–21la. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ Jo Berry (March 31, 2011). Katy Perry: California Gurl. Orion Publishing Group. pp. 29–. ISBN 978-1-4091-3362-9.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ [4]
- ^ Larry LeBlanc (February 12, 2000). "Morissette leads Canada's Juno nomination list". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.: 45–. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ Belmont and Belcourt Biographies (March 2012). Adele: An Unauthorized Biography. Price World Publishing. pp. 16–. ISBN 978-1-61984-065-2.
- ^ Billboard.com delivers Music Chart Coverage- Find Digital Music Charts Archived May 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine