Everything about Glen Ballard totally explained
Glen Ballard (born
1953 in
Natchez, Mississippi,
U.S.) is a veteran
songwriter and
record producer, best known as the producer of
Alanis Morissette's
Jagged Little Pill, which went platinum sixteen times in the U.S. and more than 30 million sold world wide. He started playing the
piano from a very young age and later learned the
guitar. Ballard was ten years old when he wrote his first
song, and he was in local
rock bands beginning in grade five.
Early life and career
Ballard has a love for diverse musical styles. When he was younger,
Jerry Lee Lewis lived within ten miles of his Natchez home, and young Ballard grew up watching him perform. Ballard’s favorites included southern
rhythm and blues singer Irma Thomas,
Memphis based
soul singer
Al Green, and nearly all of the great
blues and
jazz singers emerging from
New Orleans. When the
Beatles became popular, Ballard’s appreciation of
pop music expanded.
Ballard attended the
University of Mississippi, where he was a member of
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He studied
English language, political science, and
journalism, and he graduated with honors. He had the option of attending either graduate or law schools, but Ballard was intent upon a career as a songwriter. Within a week of graduation (1975), he moved to the
West Coast.
Ballard joined
Elton John’s organization in
Los Angeles. Starting out as a lower level assistant, Ballard eventually ended up playing piano for
Kiki Dee. He was writing constantly, and when Dee recorded his song "One Step" in 1978, Ballard had his first
charted single. This success enabled him to secure a professional songwriting job at MCA Music Publishing. Even though Ballard was only earning $100 a week, he was occupied full-time with the work he loved.
During the
1970s and
1980s, Ballard composed scores of songs, including "What’s on Your Mind," a
Quincy Jones-produced hit for
George Benson, along with many others for various artists. Jones saw promise in Ballard and took him under his wing. Thanks to his connection with Jones, Ballard’s “Try Your Love Again” appeared on
James Ingram’s 1983 debut album,
It's Your Night. Along with Clif Magness, Glen co-wrote and produced two tracks for
Patti Austin entitled “Its Gonna Be Special” and “Shoot the Moon.” By the time Austin’s
album came out in 1985, Ballard was writing and producing full time for his mentor, Quincy Jones, at Quest Records. Once Ballard learned to apply his wide-range of musical sensibilities, he produced for rhythm and blues artist
Evelyn “Champagne” King,
Teddy Pendergrass, and
Jack Wagner. Ballard and Magness wrote “All I Need” for Wagner, and it soared to number 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
Independent songwriting
Spurred by his success, Ballard went independent. He had a
number one hit for
George Strait, “
You Look So Good in Love." which became the 1983 country song of the year. The same year he co-wrote “
Man in the Mirror,” which appeared on
Bad,
Michael Jackson’s acclaimed sequel to
Thriller. “Man in the Mirror” was also produced by Quincy Jones, and it featured Ballard’s
synthesizer arrangement and
keyboards. This song raced to the top of the rhythm and blues charts and today it remains one of Jackson's most popular songs.
Planet 3
In 1989, Ballard teamed up with his long-time songwriting and production partner Clif Magness, as well as producer,
guitarist and songwriter ace
Jay Graydon, and formed the trio "Planet 3". They wrote and demoed the song "I Don't Want to Say Goodnight", which earned them a deal with
Capitol Records, as well as having the song featured in the 1990
movie Navy Seals. Planet 3 wrote and recorded an album in 1989; however, problems with the record company led to the album (called
A Heart from the Big Machine) not being released until 1991, and then in
Japan only. A
European release on
Sony Records followed in 1992, with the trio billed as "Planet 3 featuring Jay Graydon" (the release was titled
Music from the Planet, and Graydon chose to replace the Magness/Ballard-penned "I Will be Loving You" from the Japan release with a composition of his own). The trio split around 1991. However a number of Planet 3 songs left off the album (as well as both Ballard and Graydon) were featured on Magness' solo debut album
Solo in 1994. Also, Graydon released a collection of unreleased Planet 3
demos on his own label in 2004, under the title
Gems Unearthed. All these demos were co-written by Ballard, who is also credited with keyboards and programming on all of them.
In 1995, Ballard teamed up with
Toto and co-wrote two songs with
Steve Lukather and
David Paich for Toto's
Tambu album: "The Road Goes On" and "Just Can't Get to You". The latter was released as a single, whilst the former remains a fan favourite.
Recent Work
Ballard has worked with artists, including
Celine Dion,
Elisa,
Anastacia,
Shakira,
Ed Kowalczyk of
Live,
Aretha Franklin,
The Corrs,
Natalie Cole,
Michael Jackson,
Quincy Jones,
Patti Austin,
George Strait,
Dave Matthews Band,
OAR,
Christina Aguilera,
Barbra Streisand,
Van Halen,
No Doubt,
Goo Goo Dolls,
Hanson,
Aerosmith,
Annie Lennox and
P.O.D. He is also credited with launching the debuts of
Lisa Marie Presley,
Curtis Stigers,
Jack Wagner,
Paula Abdul,
Wilson Phillips,
Katy Perry,
Josh Groban, and
Alanis Morissette.
Ballard co-wrote and produced
Jagged Little Pill for Morissette. This combination resulted in three Grammies on five
Grammy nominations. He has followed this collaboration with Morissette by producing the upcoming
Aerosmith album (their first for
Sony Music is due this fall). Once the work on this album is complete, Ballard heads back to the studio for Alanis Morissette’s new album.
He is currently working with Broadway star Idina Menzel on her upcoming album that will be released in the fall.
Ballard has this summer worked with singer
Anouk from the Netherlands.
The self-described “musical chameleon” currently works out of a recording studio in Hollywood, CA, built in partnership with David A. Stewart of Eurhythmics. The two have done humanitarian work for Greenpeace and other organizations.
Discography
He has performed on, or produced, the following:
Screenplay
Ballard wrote the
screenplay for
Clubland
, an ill-received music-driven film about an aspiring musician in Los Angeles. He has written songs in half-a-dozen films including
The Slugger’s Wife,
Navy Seals, and
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Glen Ballard'.
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