The majority of hit songs in recent years have been written by committee. But prior to 2000, many songs were the work of just one songwriter — a talented scribe who, all by him or herself, came up with both music and lyrics (imagine that!). Show Here’s a complete list of the 18 songwriters who are the sole writers of three or more No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. This dates from the launch of the Hot 100 in August 1958 to this week’s Hot 100, dated Oct. 31, 2020. (Actually, we could have closed it out in December 2017, when Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” hit No. 1; that’s the most recent song written by just one songwriter to reach the summit.) Diane Warren and Lionel Richie are tied for the lead, with eight No. 1 hits written all by themselves. Warren is the only female songwriter who has written three or more No. 1 hits all by herself. Three female songwriters — Dolly Parton, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Gibson — have each written two. Lionel Richie, 8: Commodores’ “Three Times a Lady” (1978) and “Still” (1979); Kenny Rogers’ “Lady” (1980); Diana Ross & Richie’s “Endless Love” (1981); Richie’s “Truly” (1982), “All Night Long (All Night)” (1983), “Hello” (1984) and “Say You, Say Me” (1985). SHOF: 1994 READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT BILLBOARD.COM Karl Martin Sandberg (Swedish: [ˈmǎʈːɪn ˈsânː(d)bærj, - ˈsâmːbærj]; born 26 February 1971),[1][2] known professionally as Max Martin, is a Swedish record producer, songwriter, and retired singer. He rose to prominence in the late 1990s making a string of hit singles such as Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time" (1998), the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" (1999), Céline Dion's "That's the Way It Is" (1999) and NSYNC's "It's Gonna Be Me" (2000).
Max Martin Karl Martin Sandberg Stockholm, Sweden Jenny Petersson (m. 2011)Children1AwardsFull listMusical careerGenres
Martin has written or co-written 25 Billboard Hot 100 number-one songs, most of which he has also produced or co-produced, including Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" (2008) and "Roar" (2013), Maroon 5's "One More Night" (2012), Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" and "Blank Space" (2014), and The Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" (2019) and "Save Your Tears" (2020). Martin is the songwriter with the third-most number-one singles on the chart, behind only Paul McCartney (32) and John Lennon (26).[3] In addition, he is tied with George Martin for the most Hot 100 number-one songs as a producer, with 25 as of 2021.[4] In early 2019, his single sales were tallied by The Hollywood Reporter to be at over $135 million.[5] According to Variety, his net worth was approximately $260 million in 2017. The previous year his corporate entity generated revenue of $54 million, with a profit of $19 million.[6] Martin has won the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award a record eleven times.[7][8][9] Sandberg was born and grew up in Stenhamra, Ekerö Municipality, Stockholm County. His mother was a middle school teacher and his father was a police officer.[10] As a child, Martin was a student of Sweden's public music-education program, and once said he had "public music education to thank for everything".[11] As a teenager he sang in a variety of bands before joining a glam-style metal band called It's Alive in 1985 as their singer and frontman.[12] It's Alive was formed by ex-Lazy members Per Aldeheim and Kim Björkgren on guitars, and John Rosth who had been a member of Lineout. Martin eventually dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music with his band under the nickname "Martin White". In 1988 It's Alive participated in "Rock-SM", a nationwide talent contest, and had a recedency at a nightclub in Cyprus. The band got a breakthrough in 1991, as Dave Constable of Megarock Records offered them to make a demo record. The later debut album was originally pressed in 1,000 copies and later on given away as a free cover tape in the UK by the Metal Forces magazine. The decision to focus on a music career paid off as they landed a record deal on producer Denniz PoP's label Cheiron Records, a BMG affiliate. After recording their second album Earthquake Visions, they released three singles in conjunction with the record and toured through Europe in 1994 supporting Kingdom Come. Earthquake Visions eventually sold a disappointing 30,000 copies, despite being released in as many as 30 countries. More importantly though, Martin also began collaborating on songs with PoP. Recognizing a talent for writing pop songs in the young rocker, PoP renamed his new protégé Max Martin and eventually became Martin's mentor.[13] Working with Cheiron and Denniz PoP
—Max Martin, 19 March 2001.[14] In 1993, Martin was hired by Cheiron Studios and spent some time learning the basics, before the first production collaboration between PoP and Martin: the Rednex song "Wish You Were Here" in 1994. They both worked on Ace of Base's second album, The Bridge (1995), shortly thereafter, as well as on albums by 3T, Army of Lovers[15] and Leila K.[16] To date, The Bridge has sold more than six million copies worldwide, including one million in the United States.[17] When Martin eventually left his band It's Alive in late 1995, he was replaced by Anders Hansson. In 1995, Cheiron Studios was hired by Zomba to work on Backstreet Boys' self-titled debut album Backstreet Boys (1996). Zomba became the main working partner since the success in 1995. Martin took part in the production of "Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)" (1996), co-written with Herbie Crichlow, a single which quickly went platinum and climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the singles "As Long As You Love Me" (1997) and "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (1997). The album was not released in the U.S. until 1997, but was released overseas and caught on all across Europe, eventually selling around 8 million copies worldwide. This led to the Backstreet Boys being relaunched in their home country later on, this time more successfully.[18] Later that year, Martin co-wrote and co-produced Robyn's hits "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What It Takes)" which ended up on the Billboard Hot 100 top 10.[5] In 1998, Cheiron Productions worked on albums by Five and Jessica Folcker. Jessica Folcker had first been hired as a backing singer for tracks with Ace of Base and Dr. Alban, and her debut album Jessica became an instant hit with singles like "Tell Me What You Like" and "How Will I Know Who You Are" which both sold platinum. After Denniz PoP died of cancer that same summer, Martin took over as director of Cheiron Studios. He soon started working with writer/producer Rami Yacoub, who continued to be his partner for many years. Martin also wrote two songs with Bryan Adams during this time, "Cloud Number Nine" and "Before The Night Is Over". In late 1999, Celine Dion released "That's the Way It Is", a song co-written by Max Martin to promote her greatest hits album All the Way... A Decade of Song. The song became a hit, going to number 1 on the adult contemporary charts in the United States and Canada, and reaching top 10 all over the world. Since the song was released in November 1999, it has cycled 500,000 times on almost 1400 radio stations across Canada and the U.S. In 2003 Martin co-wrote and produced three songs for Dion's album One Heart. One of them, called "Faith", was released in 2003 as a promotional single in Canada and reached number 4 on the Quebec Airplay Chart and number 37 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart. Martin, Andreas Carlsson, and Rami Yacoub wrote Westlife's song "I Need You" for the first Westlife album Westlife (1999). Martin, Nick Jarl, Steve Mac, and Patric Jonsson wrote Westlife's song "You Make Me Feel" for their second album Coast to Coast (2000). Max Martin, Rami Yacoub, and Andreas Carlsson also wrote one of Westlife's hits, "When You're Looking Like That", for their second album Coast to Coast (2000). Backstreet BoysMartin wrote, co-wrote, and co-produced 7 out of the 12 songs on the Backstreet Boys' third album Millennium (1999), including all the singles.[19] "I Want It That Way", a hit song Martin co-wrote with Andreas Carlsson and co-produced with Kristian Lundin, became the group's biggest single to date and it is still popular today.[20] ("I Want It That Way" was voted No. 10 in the MTV/Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs".[21]) A VH1 special, 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s, ranked the song at number 3, making it the highest ranked boy-band single and pop song.[22] Millennium sold over 1.1 million units in its first week in the United States, setting a record for most albums sold in its debut week (that record was later beaten by NSYNC's 2000 album No Strings Attached), and was the best-selling album in the world.[23][24] When working on her own solo album, to be released in 2001 on Stockholm Records, Lisa Miskovsky wrote the lyrics for the Backstreet Boys' hit single "Shape of My Heart" with Max Martin and Rami. The song, originally written for Miskovsky's own album, was passed on to the Backstreet Boys by Max Martin when Miskovsky decided that it did not fit her style. The song became the first single off the group's fourth album Black & Blue (2000).[25] In the first week of release, "Shape of My Heart" immediately jumped into the Top Five in Sweden, Norway, Canada, Germany and another 15 countries.[26] Black & Blue, containing several songs produced and written by Martin, sold 1.6 million units in its first week in America. Martin again received ASCAP's award "Songwriter of the Year" both in 2000 and 2001.[27] In April 2013 the Backstreet Boys member Brian Littrell invited Martin to collaborate on their single "In A World Like This". The single peaked at No.6 in the Oricon chart and performed well in the rest of the world. Martin collaborated on the Never Gone songs "Climbing the Walls", "Just Want You to Know", "Siberia" and "I Still...". Martin wanted the album to be more of a contemporary, alternative pop album with a little R&B. The resulting album had a more organic music style with more live instruments, and was a departure from the Backstreet Boys' earlier work. Britney Spears
Spears on working with Martin[28] In 1998, Martin wrote and co-produced Spears' debut single, "...Baby One More Time", for her debut album of the same name. The single was originally offered to the Backstreet Boys and TLC, though both passed on the song.[29] That same year, Martin also co-wrote and co-produced the third single "(You Drive Me) Crazy". By 1999, the album ...Baby One More Time had sold over 15 million copies in the U.S., certifying Diamond Status.[30] Also, within a year of its release, ...Baby One More Time had become the best-selling LP by a teenager in history, selling over 30 million copies.[31] Martin was the first non-American citizen ever to win ASCAP's prestigious award "Songwriter of the Year" in 1999, an award he also won in 2000 and 2001.[32] Martin worked on Spears's follow-up records Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) and Britney (2001). He co-wrote and co-produced the singles "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000), "Lucky" (2000), "Stronger" (2000), "Overprotected" (2001), and "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (2002). The duo ended up parting ways when Spears distanced herself from teen pop. Spears recorded In the Zone (2003) and Blackout (2007). At the request of Spears, Martin produced and wrote for Spears' sixth studio album Circus (2008). Martin co-wrote and produced the provocatively titled electro pop song, "If U Seek Amy", which was chosen by fans to be the third single of the album. Martin then produced the number one hit, "3", for Spears' compilation album The Singles Collection (2009). Martin was one of the executive producers of Spears's seventh album, Femme Fatale (2011). He produced several songs for the album, including the successful singles "Hold It Against Me", "Till the World Ends", "I Wanna Go", and "Criminal".[33][34] Startup of MaratoneFollowing the death of Denniz PoP, Cheiron Studios was closed down in 2000. Martin and Tom Talomaa then started a new production company named Maratone in January 2001 and moved into the famous Cosmos Studios building. The first songs to be written and produced at Maratone were four tracks for Britney Spears's album Britney (2001). The Maratone production crew initially consisted of producers/songwriters Max Martin, Rami, Alexandra, Arnthor Birgisson and Shellback. Following the work with Celine Dion on the album One Heart in 2003, few new hits appeared from Maratone until 2005. In 2004, Kelly Clarkson traveled to Sweden to collaborate with Martin and Dr. Luke on her second studio album, Breakaway. These collaborations resulted in the rock-influenced singles "Since U Been Gone" (2004) and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" (2005). In 2009, Martin co-wrote Clarkson's single "My Life Would Suck Without You", which was a number one hit. In 2005, Martin collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven for the release of her debut album, titled Here I Am, writing and co-writing the songs "Break You", "End of Me", "Here I Am", "Little By Little", "In Spite of Me", and "Six Feet Under". PinkMartin co-wrote and produced three songs on Pink's platinum-selling album I'm Not Dead, including the singles, "U + Ur Hand" (2006), "Who Knew" (2006), and "Cuz I Can" (2007). Martin also collaborated with Pink for her next album, Funhouse (2008). Martin co-wrote the first smash hit single, "So What" (2008), plus the singles "Please Don't Leave Me" (2009) and "I Don't Believe You" (2009). The duo wrote "Whataya Want From Me" during the sessions for Funhouse, but ultimately the song was recorded and released as a single by Adam Lambert. Later, Martin co-wrote hits for Pink including "Raise Your Glass" (2010), "Fuckin' Perfect" (2011), and "Just like Fire" (2016), for various Pink-related projects. For her seventh studio album, Beautiful Trauma (2017), he co-wrote "Revenge", "Whatever You Want", "For Now", and "Secrets". In 2019, for her eighth studio album, Hurts 2B Human (2019), he co-wrote "(Hey Why) Miss You Sometime". UsherIn 2010, Martin co-wrote and co-produced Usher's song "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" that went number-one on the US Rhythmic charts and top-ten on the main Hot 100.[35] Working together again, Martin co-wrote and co-produced on Usher's seventh studio album "Looking 4 Myself" in 2012 making the dance-pop song "Scream" that went number-one on the US Dance Club Songs chart and number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[36] Avril LavigneMartin worked with Avril Lavigne on two songs, "Alone" and "I Will Be", which were released on some deluxe editions of Lavigne's third studio album The Best Damn Thing (2007). Martin also worked on four songs for Lavigne's fourth studio album Goodbye Lullaby (2011): the three singles "What the Hell" (2011), "Smile" (2011), and "Wish You Were Here" (2011), and the album track "I Love You". Jessie JMax Martin first worked with Jessie J on her international hit "Domino".[37] It also achieved top ten success in other countries such as Canada and Australia. Following the success of "Domino", Martin co-produced "Bang Bang" (2014) for Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. Katy PerryMax Martin is also responsible for some of the songs of Katy Perry on four albums: On her debut album One of the Boys (2008), including the number-one single "I Kissed a Girl", and top 5 hit single "Hot n Cold", and following-up album Teenage Dream (2010), including the Billboard Hot 100 numbers-ones hits singles "California Gurls" (2010), "Teenage Dream" (2010), "Firework" (2010), "E.T." (2011),"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" (2011) and the Hot 100 top ten hit "The One That Got Away" (2011). Martin also co-wrote the songs "Part of Me" (2012) and "Wide Awake" (2012), the former of which topped the Billboard Hot 100. For her third album Prism (2013), he co-wrote the No. 1 singles "Roar" (2013) and "Dark Horse" (2013). On her fourth album Witness (2017), Martin co-wrote numerous songs, including the lead single "Chained to the Rhythm" which peaked at number 4. Christina AguileraConfirmed by RCA Executives on 18 December 2011, Martin worked on Christina Aguilera's seventh studio album Lotus (2012) and was the producer of her lead single, "Your Body" (2012), as well as another song titled "Let There Be Love". Both songs reached the top of the Billboard dance/club chart. Taylor SwiftMartin has collaborated with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift on three of her albums. Their first collaboration was the Billboard Hot 100 number 1 hit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (2012) for her album Red (2012). Martin also co-wrote and produced two other singles on the album: "I Knew You Were Trouble" (2012), which peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "22" (2013). Martin also contributed to her follow-up record, 1989 (2014). He co-wrote and co-produced the singles "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", "Wildest Dreams", "Style", and "New Romantics", among other songs.[38] Three of the songs reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[39] Martin later worked with Swift on Reputation (2017), co-writing and co-producing eight songs, including the singles "...Ready for It?", "End Game", and "Delicate". Swift released her second re-recorded album Red (Taylor's Version) (2021). He co-wrote three re-recorded songs, including "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", "I Knew You Were Trouble", and "22 ". He didn’t handle the production of the re-recorded songs. He also co-wrote a song called "Message in a Bottle", one of the newly added "From the Vault" tracks. Ariana GrandeMartin first worked with Ariana Grande on her second studio album My Everything (2014). Martin produced the first single, "Problem", which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as No. 1 in the UK, later becoming one of the best-selling singles worldwide. Other songs from the album Martin produced include "Break Free" (peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100) and "Bang Bang" (peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the UK). Martin contributed heavily to her third studio album, Dangerous Woman (2016), most notably the singles "Dangerous Woman", "Into You", and "Side to Side", all of which peaked within the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100. Martin also contributed to her follow-up records Sweetener (2018) and Thank U Next (2019), co-writing the singles "No Tears Left to Cry", "God Is a Woman", and "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored", among other songs. The WeekndMartin co-wrote and produced three songs from The Weeknd's sophomore album, Beauty Behind the Madness (2015), namely "Can't Feel My Face"—which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100—"In the Night" and "Shameless". He co-wrote and produced four songs from The Weeknd's third album, Starboy (2016).[40] He contributed "Hardest to Love", "Scared to Live", "Blinding Lights", "In Your Eyes", and "Save Your Tears" to The Weeknd's fourth studio album, After Hours (2020). The latter album was both a critical and commercial success. Martin also co-wrote and assisted in the production of Take My Breath, released in August 2021. ColdplayMartin appeared as a keyboardist on two singles from Coldplay's eighth studio album Everyday Life (2019): "Orphans" and "Champion of the World". In June 2021, Coldplay announced their ninth studio album Music of the Spheres (2021), with Martin serving as the album's producer.[41] The album received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, debuting at the top of the UK Albums Chart and becoming the album with most sales in a week in the United Kingdom since Ed Sheeran's No.6 Collaborations Project (2019).[42] Music of the Spheres (2021) included songs such as "Higher Power", "Let Somebody Go", which Selena Gomez appears on, and "My Universe", which BTS appears on. "My Universe" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Martin his twenty fifth number one as a writer and twenty third number one as a producer on the chart.[43] He is tied only with George Martin for producer with most Billboard Hot 100 number ones. OthersFourth runner-up of the eighth season of American Idol, Allison Iraheta has collaborated with Martin on her debut album. Her first single, "Friday I'll Be Over U" was written by Martin.[44] On 17 August 2009, American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert announced via Twitter that he was in New York City with Martin recording a song for his debut album. It turned out to be the song "Whataya Want From Me",[45] that was also written by P!nk. Martin also co-wrote "Into the Nightlife", a popular club track recorded by Cyndi Lauper in 2008 and produced, alongside Zedd, and co-wrote "Beauty and a Beat", on Justin Bieber's 2012 album Believe. Martin also produced several albums for Eurodance act E-type. In 2005, Max Martin wrote the first single-song for pop punk duo The Veronicas, "4ever", with Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald for their debut studio album The Secret Life Of... (2005). Also he wrote "Everything I'm Not", the second single-song of The Veronicas, the same year, again with Gottwald, Rami, Jessica Origliasso and Lisa Origliasso for the same album The Secret Life Of.... In January 2014, Martin produced a two-minute advertisement entitled "Volvo XC70: Made By Sweden",[46] featuring soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović. The video of the advertisement received several million views on YouTube. In early 2014, Martin co-wrote the song "Dare (La La La)" for Shakira's self-titled album. In April–May 2014, Martin produced Jennifer Lopez's song "First Love", alongside Ilya, Shellback and Savan Kotecha. Between 2014 and 2015, Martin executive-produced "Ghost Town" by Adam Lambert. In January 2015, he co-wrote and co-produced Ellie Goulding's "Love Me like You Do", which reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100,[47] while also producing several songs from her album Delirium including the hit single "On My Mind", which was released on 17 September 2015. In July 2015, Martin produced Demi Lovato's song "Cool for the Summer" which reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also contributed to "Confident" and "For You" from their fifth studio album Confident. Martin also worked with Selena Gomez on her second studio album, Revival, producing its third single "Hands to Myself" which became her third consecutive top 10 hit from the album. In November 2015, Adele's album 25 was released and Martin co-wrote and co-produced the record's third single "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" with Shellback, and would eventually become a top 10 hit in the US and the UK. 2016 saw Martin being heavily involved in the making of Ariana Grande's third album Dangerous Woman, with half of its songs (including both singles) being produced by him. The same year, he produced the 10th track for Nick Jonas' third studio album, while also co-producing standalone songs for American singers Pink ("Just Like Fire") and Katy Perry ("Rise"). In 2016, he co-wrote the song "Can't Stop the Feeling!" by Justin Timberlake which is also the title song for the film Trolls with Shellback. The song became Timberlake's fifth and Martin's twenty-second number-one hit in the US.[48] It reached the top spot in 16 other countries. The song gave Timberlake and Martin their first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2019, Max Martin co-produced and co-wrote Ed Sheeran's and Justin Bieber's hit single "I Don't Care".[49] In 2020, Max Martin co-produced and co-wrote "Stupid Love", the first single extracted from Lady Gaga's sixth studio album Chromatica. This marks the first time the two have worked together.[50] In 2022, Max Martin co-produced and co-wrote Måneskin's single "Supermodel".[51] He also co-produced and co-wrote Lizzo's song "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)", off of her fourth studio album, Special. According to Lizzo, "(...) it’s a dream record. (Martin) is an extremely collaborative, open, creative soul".[52] When accepting the Polar Music Prize, Martin highlighted ABBA, Kiss, Prince and Lasse Holm as inspirations.[53] Creative processThe traditional division of work in the record industry often has the artist or songwriter writing the songs and then hiring a producer to help shape the sound. But at Cheiron, it was the other way around; the producers wrote the songs, played the instruments, and engineered and mixed the recordings, and the artist was only brought in near the end of the process to do the vocals. For example, on Britney Spears's second album Oops!… I Did It Again (2000), Cheiron had already written seven songs and had proceeded to record the layers of music before Britney even arrived at the studios in early November 1999. It took her only one week to do the vocals. Martin and his team worked more like a band that alternated singers. Martin explained his working method:
Impact and legacyMartin's influence on the music field is also seen in the effect he has had on co-producers. The music site Stereogum singles out three people as his "disciples", Savan Kotecha, Dr. Luke, and Shellback.[55] Time magazine reported that "There's a cluster of high-powered songwriters who are based in Sweden, and the grandmaster is Max Martin and that when Kotecha worked with One Direction he credited Martin's influence 'We work melody first. That's Max Martin's school. We’ll spend days, sometimes weeks, challenging the melody. The goal is to make it sound like anyone can do this, but it's actually very difficult. In Sweden, you don’t do anything until you do it right.'"[56] The New Yorker reported that Martin was Dr. Luke's "Swedish mentor and frequent collaborator. If Luke is the Skywalker of pop songcraft, Max is the Obi-Wan: the reclusive master. ...The vital spark in the musical emergence of Dr. Luke was meeting Max Martin".[57] Dr. Luke himself says of the chemistry between him and Martin "'It happened really fast. It was magical. …[Martin taught me that] Instead of making tracks for five thousand people, why not make tracks for a million?'"[57] The magazine for Sweden's collection society STIM reported that Shellback became an "apprentice" with Martin acting as "his mentor" at Maratone Studios after 2006 when "Max Martin saw something special in the young man from Karlshamn. Judging by the incredible success Shellback has had since, Martin's A&R skills are some of the best in the music business".[58] Martin's song catalog was used in the stage musical & Juliet, which opened on the West End in 2019.[59] Martin met his wife, Jenny (née Petersson) from Mörrum, around 2000 and they married in 2011.[60] The couple have a daughter, born around 2001.[61][62] Martin lives in Los Angeles and in Stockholm. Since 1998, Martin has written or co-written 25 Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit songs (most of which he has also produced or co-produced). Six of these songs debuted at number one on the chart.[63]
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Page 23T is an American R&B/pop music trio featuring the three sons of Tito Jackson (from the Jackson 5) and Delores "Dee Dee" Jackson, from whom they inherit their Dominican ancestry. The band members include, from eldest; Toriano Adaryll Jackson, Jr. ("Taj") (born August 4, 1973), Taryll Adren Jackson (born August 8, 1975) and Tito Joe Jackson ("TJ") (born July 16, 1978). Their late uncle Michael Jackson mentored the trio, and signed them to his label MJJ Music.
3T
Taryll Jackson T.J. JacksonWebsiteOfficial website 3T released their debut album Brotherhood in 1995. The album sold approximately three million copies worldwide. The group achieved an international hit with their debut single "Anything". 3T released several hit singles in Europe, including "24/7", "Why" (a duet with their uncle Michael Jackson), "I Need You" (with a brief appearance by Michael), "Tease Me" and "Gotta Be You". In 1996, they were ranked second behind the Spice Girls, as the biggest-selling group in Europe. 3T have also written and produced songs for soundtracks to films such as; The Jacksons: An American Dream, Free Willy, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, Men in Black and Trippin'. In early 1997, they went on a hugely successful European tour with their album Brotherhood, which included all of the songs from the album, as well as a Jackson 5 tribute (featuring Tito 'Poppa T'), and a surprise performance of the Oasis hit, "Wonderwall". 3T completed an album after the release of Brotherhood, with over 20 songs being recorded and 12 planned to be included on the final tracklist. The album was never released by Sony due to a strained relationship with Michael Jackson (MJJ Music), and is considered by many fans to be The Lost Album.[2] Identity (2003–2005)Taryll and T. J. have written and produced tracks for their aunt Janet Jackson as well as for Lindsay Lohan and Bruno Mars. After signing with the French label TF1/NRJ in 2003, 3T continued to perform in France, the Netherlands and Belgium. The group signed with the Dutch label Digidance in 2004 for Dutch releases, appearances, and performances. The album titled Identity was released on March 23, 2004. Two singles were released: "Stuck On You" (a cover of the Lionel Richie song) was released in 2003 in France and Belgium and in 2004 in the Netherlands, and "Sex Appeal" in 2004. Neither single was released outside of Europe. In 2008, 3T made Identity available on both iTunes and amazon.com worldwide. On-and-off appearances (2007–2011)The brothers appeared on the show This Is David Gest in 2007, including recording the theme tune "Crazy Kinda Guy". The show began on April 22, 2007. They appeared in an episode where Gest took cameras for a rare glimpse of the Jackson family house in Encino, California, where he met Tito and 3T as well as matriarch Katherine Jackson, as well as a later episode showing them recording the theme tune. The brothers would occasionally bring Jermajesty Jackson on tour as an on and off DJ. During the summer of 2008, the Jackson family (including Tito) stayed at a holiday let (rental) for six weeks in Appledore, Devon, England while searching for a house to buy in the area. The project was filmed for a Channel 4 documentary called The Jacksons are Coming, which was aired in 2008. Taj and T. J. appear with their father, but Taryll did not join them on the trip. The three family members also attended a Michael Jackson fan event in Devon as part of their stay, ringing him up during the event which led to Michael talking to the fans over a loudspeaker on the phone.[3][4] All three of them appeared on the A&E TV show entitled The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty.[5] They appear with their father Tito, who is trying to convince them to relaunch their career.[5] On January 31, 2010, the three brothers appeared on stage at the 52nd Grammy Awards to support their cousins Prince Michael, Jr. and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson as they accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award on behalf of their father, Michael Jackson. On February 1, 2010, all three brothers then appeared in the remake of "We Are the World", this time in aid of the Haiti Appeal. However, they did not sing the main parts of the song and instead contributed to the background vocals. Currently, Taj is working on the Code Z zombie series and a science fiction project called Clone 3.[6] T. J. was selected to play the role of Prince Jean-Luc in the new stage version of Larry Hart's musical Sisterella that was scheduled to premiere in the fall of 2011.[7] Taryll is working on his first solo album that he hopes will make his family and fans proud.[8] On October 8, 2011, 3T performed at the Michael Forever – The Tribute Concert[9] held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. They performed the Jacksons' track "Heartbreak Hotel" (also known as "This Place Hotel") followed by their own number 2 hit single "Why", which was originally a duet recorded with Michael for their 1995 album Brotherhood. At the end of the performance of "Why", all three brothers broke down into tears. They then appeared in the finale of the show performing Michael's hit "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" with various other performers from the concert as well as members of the Jackson family who had been in attendance, including Michael's children Prince, Paris and Blanket (Prince II). Charity tour, The Big Reunion and Chapter III (2013–present)After almost two years away from the stage, 3T performed live on stage in Rome, Milan, Torino, and Verona during four charity concerts in Italy from December 5–8. 3T performed a 30-minute show and the setlist featured "Stuck On You", 'Anything', 'I Need You', the new song 'Forever Girl',[10] 'With You', a jam session (Ed Sheeran's 'The A-Team', Oasis' 'Wonderwall' and 'Give Me All Your Lovin') and 'We Are the World'. .[11] On December 26, 2013, British television station ITV2 announced that 3T would be part of season 2 of The Big Reunion.[12] The episodes were broadcast on ITV2 between February 6 and March 27, 2014. Along with 3T, the other bands that took part were A1, Damage, Eternal, Girl Thing and 5th Story. On February 21 The Big Reunion concert took place in a sold out Hammersmith Apollo in London and was broadcast on ITV2 on March 27, 2014. On March 20, 2014, it was announced that the boy bands from both series (Five, 911, Blue, A1, 3T, Damage and 5th Story) would go on The Big Reunion Boy Band Tour in October 2014.[13] On September 27, 2014, 3T performed at a sold-out Back 2 the 90's [sic] event in Rotterdam Ahoy. The next day, on September 28, 2014, 3T were special guests on the popular Dutch TV show Carlo & Irene: Life 4 You. 3T share a special history with Carlo & Irene since they have been guests on their previous TV shows Telekids in 1996 and Carlo & Irene: Life & Cooking in 2003. During their interview on Carlo & Irene: Life 4 You 3T talked about their performance at the Back 2 the 90's [sic] event and performed one of their new songs called 'Forever Girl'. On September 29, 2014, 3T were guests at dj Giel Beelen on radio NPO 3FM. After their interview with DJ Giel Beelen 3T performed 'I Need You' live on radio NPO 3FM. 3T also visited DJ One'sy on FunX radio where one lucky fan got the chance to meet Taj, Taryll and T. J. in the studio because she won the meet & greet contest organised by FunX radio. To thank their fans for their continuing support a meet & greet was held later that day at the NH Schiller hotel in Amsterdam. On March 12, 2015, Dutch radio station Q-music announced 3T will perform at the Foute Party on June 26, 2015. The event took place at the Brabanthallen in 's Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.[14] On September 16, 2016, 3T had their up Close and Personal exclusive showcase Archived 2016-08-20 at the Wayback Machine in RAI Amsterdam. A surprise concert was held September 17 as well, showcasing the album launch of “Chapter III” at the Melkweg concert venue in Amsterdam,Netherlands[15] On September 1, 2018, 3T performed their greatest hits at La Cigale, Paris, France.[16] Following this sold out concert at La Cigale, on May 18 and 19, 2019, 3T returned to Paris, France to perform 2 unplugged shows at the Nouveau Casino de Paris.[17] On August 29, 2018, 3T went to Naples, Italy to honor their uncle Michael Jackson on MJ Day, organized by MJJ Foundation Naples-Onlus. They held a press conference at Gran Teatro - Edenlandia before they performed at Teatro Mediterraneo.[18] On December 16, 2018, 3T performed at La Madeleine in Brussels, Belgium, it had been 20 years since they last performed in Belgium.[19] On May 7, 2022, 3T performed their biggest hits at "Forever 90" at Zénith in Strasbourg, France.[20] Taryll released his debut solo single "4Ever" on April 5, 2012, from his debut EP, "My Life Without You" which was released on Mother's Day, May 13, 2012, in honor of his mother Dee Dee Jackson. Other songs on this E.P are "My Life Without You", "When You Come Back To Earth", "Doubt", "Be My Girl", "When It Falls Down" and "Unlove You".On his birthday, August 8, 2012, Taryll released the single "Best of All Time", a tribute to his uncle Michael Jackson. The single is taken from his second EP "Undeniable", which was released on August 29, 2012, in honor of Michael. Other songs on this E.P are "Undeniable", "Can't Stop Falling In Love", "Tonight", "Hope", "You Girl", "Dance Floor" and "What Can I Do To Change Your Mind?".[21] On April 21, 2019, Taryll released the 10 track-album "Crazy Love", and on June 8, 2019, Taryll performed his first solo concert at the Melkweg in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Taryll's father Tito Jackson surprised him right before his concert, and later joined him on stage together with Taryll's partner Breana Cabral, and sons Bryce Connor and Adren Michael.[22][23] On July 17, 2020, Taryll released the full solo project, "Digital 8". Beyond the original 2012 solo debut EP's "My Life Without You" and "Undeniable", the 50 song-album includes completely remastered songs, special mixes, previously unreleased songs and bonus tracks.[24] On March 20, 2020, TJ released his debut solo E.P "Obsession" featuring his first single "Insomnia".Other songs on this E.P. are "Obsession", "I Can't Stand It", "I Don't Deserve this" and #1 Fan. TJ went to Nashville, Tennessee to record and produce the E.P, and he wanted to mix the current urban sound with his 90’s R&B roots.[25][26] On November 20, 2020, TJ released his second E.P "Damaged" which includes the single "Last Night, and two other songs; "Good Time" and "Senseless Drama" [27] On March 26, 2021, TJ released the first single "Dreamgirl" off his project "Magic Mystery Memories" (MMM). The second single “Secret” was released May 7, and the third single “A Night To Remember” (co-written with Rhyan Shirley and David Thulin) was released July 2. "Secret" was inspired by his uncle Michael Jackson, and so was the single’s artwork. TJ also wanted to pay homage to the R&B he grew up on with this project.[28][29] On May 27, 2022, TJ released his first solo album "Acoustic Sessions" a 9 track acoustic album which includes his stripped-down cover of “Human Nature” in honor of his uncle Michael, and on June, 24 he released the single " Heaven on My Lips" (co-written with Sam Tinnesz and David Thulin) the first single from his forthcoming album, "Pressure". On this album TJ wanted to focus on live instrumentation. On June 24 and 26, and July 1, 2022, TJ embarked on his first European solo tour "A Night To Remember" at the Théâtre de la Contrescarpe in Paris, France performing the acoustic versions from the album. TJ's father Tito Jackson came to Paris to support him and his wife Frances Jackson, and kids Royalty Jackson, Delores Dior Jackson, Dallas Jordan Michael Jackson and Rio Tito Joe Jackson as a surprise. The tour included stops at Lyon,France July 2, Madrid,Spain July 3, Naples,Italy July 8, London,England July 9, Brussels,Belgium July 15 and Amsterdam,Netherlands July 16.[30][31][32] Taj is currently working on his forthcoming documentary series, where he will honor and tell his uncle Michael Jackson story, saying “This documentary series will conclusively destroy decades of salacious myths which have been told and sold about Michael Jackson ad nauseam. In doing so, we will shine a light on the corruption within the media and entertainment industries which conceived and perpetuated them.” iHeartRadio reported in January 26, 2019.[33] Taj has been vocal about how the allegations against Michael were false and defamatory. He said he felt betrayed by Wade Robson, who asked him to help get seats for him and his whole family at Michael’s 2009 memorial.[34] On October 2015, Taj, Taryll and T. J. appeared on the reality show The Jacksons: Next Generation. The series aired on Lifetime USA and Lifetime Canada (2015), Lifetime UK and Ireland (2016), Lifetime Asia (2016) and Lifetime South Africa (2016).
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