One Republic’s Ryan Tedder is known for his boisterous voice and his writing skills, no doubt. But what a lot of people don’t know is the fact that he also wrote a lot of successful hits for many other biggies in the music industry!
Ryan Tedder has had a musical upbringing right from his childhood. His father was a church gospel songwriter in the 70’s and according to Tedder, his knowledge about the songs back then knew no bounds. He says that at that point of time, his dad could tell you the exact records on the top of the charts for any given year in the eighties and the nineties! Ryan also started playing the piano when he was 3 years old. He picked up the guitar when he was a teenager and wrote down his first song when he was just 15. That goes on to show that the music has always been free flowing inside the rock star!
Over the years, while simultaneously being the successful front man for One Republic, he has been penning down massive hits for other musicians over the years.
We take a look at some of the biggest hits he has written for:
1. Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love
Tedder admitted in an interview that the inspiration for this track was none other than Prince.Β “I sat down at my piano and turned on an organ patch,” he remembered. “I literally said to myself, ‘What would Prince do?’ I thought it was the biggest hit I’d ever written,” he continued, “and I gave it to the record label, and they straight up told me: ‘This is not a hit record.'” Turns out, they were so so wrong. The song went on to become a massive hit and topped charts and stayed at the top position for manyΒ weeks.
2. Beyonce – Halo
Ryan Tedder’s musical prowess was known to a lot of people and he found fans in the biggest of stars. Beyonce was a fan ofΒ OneRepublic’s “Come Home”, so she reached out to him to see and ask if he could write a song for her. And on a day when Tedder was stuck at home with an Achilles Heel, “Halo” came together. The song very clearly sees Ryan’s gospel choir influences right from the beginning. The whole feel of the song is a direct rebuild of what his musical styles have been over the years coupled with none other than Beyonce herself. Nothing can go wrong!
3. Adele – Rumour Has It
Tedder once admitted in 2012 that he thought Adele was the best singer in the whole world. He said she walked in to the studio pissed off because of all the rumours the press was spreading. And that is simply how they came up with ‘Rumour Has It’! “I started playing this dirty, Louisiana-porch-stomping blues riff on the guitar. She just started singing. A few hours later we had the song.” said Tedder.
4. Gavin DeGraw – Not Over You
Tedder was the reason Gavin DeGraw got back on the top of the charts again. So apparently Tedder took over the duties of playing the piano and they collectively wrote the lyrics for the songs. He said there was a new freshness and a totally unique take to all the material that was churned out!
5. Carrie Underwood – Good In Goodbye
While most of Ryan Tedders work has revolved around artists that are common names in the Top 40, he has always made it a point to diverge into other genres so that he canΒ always be on his toes when it comes to adapting to different styles of music.Β “You always want to grow as an artist and you don’t want to make the same album again. You do want to experiment” said Carrie Underwood about their experimentation for her song!
6. The Fray – Love Don’t Lie
The Fray’s Joe King and Ryan Tedder have known each other since before they were famous. Both of them were soccer buddies in high school. Both of them were in constant connection about what each of them was up to.Β “We connected right when both of our bands were trying to get signed.”Β Eventually the two decided, “Let’s see what happens. Let’s write something.” Once they got their brains together inside the recording studio, they penned out “Love Don’t Lie” in under 90 minutes.
7. Ellie Goulding – Burn
“Burn” was born in a casual tour-bus writing session between Tedder and his band mate Brent Kutzle.Β “I was so ecstatic about the song that our show was probably delayed five minutes because I couldn’t stop listening to it”. He was all praises for Ellie for killing it on the vocal front too. The song didn’t get released for almost a year and when it finally saw the light of day, it touched number 13 on the Top 100!Β
8. John Oates – Stone Cold Love
John Oates, of the classic duo Hall and Oates, wanted Ryan to do something different on this song of the album. He wanted it to stand out from anything else. Considering his track record, this one is probably one of the most unique songs Tedder lent his genius to.
9. Ariana Grande – Why Try
Grande’s debut album was full of Nineties R&B homage, but her second album looked towards electronic dance music. The song sees some major influences of Tedder’s previous work on songs.Β It is extremely detailed withΒ luscious piano work, soaring vocals etc.Β
10. Ella Henderson – Ghost
Tedder’s first intro to Ella Henderson was when he heard a cover of a Drake song she had posted on the internet. Seemingly enough, he was impressed and called her to set up a session in London. Once they broke the ice, they again, in true Tedder style, sat down on a piano and creatively came up with the chorus. “Instantly I knew this was going to be my first single. I felt something huge about it.”