Toby Gad | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Tobias Gad |
Born | [1] Munich, West Germany (now Germany) | 28 March 1968
Genres | Pop, rock, R&B, dance |
Occupation(s) | Producer, songwriter, musician |
Instrument(s) | Piano, guitar, bass, programming |
Years active | 1986 – present |
Labels | Gad Songs/Kite Music |
Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) [1] [2] is a German music producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. He is known for co-writing songs including John Legend's biggest hit, "All of Me", the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, [3] and for co-writing and producing "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie and "If I Were a Boy" by Beyoncé. [4] Other notable works include "Skyscraper" for Demi Lovato, "Who You Are" for Jessie J, "Untouched" for The Veronicas, "A Year Without Rain" for Selena Gomez & the Scene, "Don't Hold Your Breath" for Nicole Scherzinger, "Love You More" for JLS, and "I Do" for Colbie Caillat.
In the third quarter of 2014, Gad was ranked the #3 songwriter in America by Billboard , behind Ryan Tedder and Pharrell Williams. [5]
Born into a musical family in Munich in 1968, Gad was influenced by both parents who were established figures in the Munich music scene with their group, The Jazz Kids. [4] His Danish father is a clarinet player and a pilot. His German mother is a psychotherapist and composer/pianist who tours the UK and Europe with Brian Carrick's jazz band, the Algiers Stompers. [6] [7]
Gad was expected to study banjo and join the Jazz Kids, but he took to playing the piano instead. At age 7, he and his brother Jens had formed their own band, the Gad Rollers, and played original rock'n'roll compositions during intermissions of their parents' gigs. [4] [8]
Although too young to get into most clubs at age 13, Toby and Jens were no strangers to the live music scene in Munich. Weekly gigs in bars, concerts in open-air summer festivals and shows in legendary live clubs such as the Domicile spread the word, and Munich hit producer Tony Monn showed interest in the brothers. Monn handed over his state-of-the-art recording studio to Toby and Jens whenever he was out of town. Monn's generosity provided a learning environment for Toby and Jens to delve into songwriting and producing. [8]
In 1986, when Frank Farian, a multi-platinum German producer (No Mercy, Boney M, Milli Vanilli) was looking for new talent, a mutual friend turned him on to the Gad brothers' material. [9] The next day, the boys flew to Frankfurt and thus started a seven-year collaboration with Farian. One week later, they found three of their songs on Milli Vanilli's debut album, which later went multi-platinum. [4] [8]
Farian produced Toby and Jens' first album Q' as artists', which was followed by a live tour. Funk legend George Clinton would later hear the record and invited Toby and Jens to perform two songs on stage with his P-funk band. [4] [6]
In 1990, Toby Gad met Mauritian singer Jacqueline Nemorin. This became the beginning of a 10-year collaboration between the two. Together with Farian, Gad produced Nemorin's first album The Creole Dance on BMG. [4] [6]
In 1994, Gad signed on with manager Klaus Frers (Daydream Music Supervizing) and produced Nemorin's second album for EMI Europe. It was also Frers who moved the duo into music production for dozens of successful TV shows, commercials and movie soundtracks. Gad and Nemorin wrote and produced the title-song for the movie Neverending Story III , the music for two popular daily TV talk-shows that stayed on air for four years, and the single "The Magic of the Fall", which went on to win the BDA Gold Award in L.A. for best TV trailer concept. In 1998, Gad was hired by Spanish producer Rafael Perez to work on Enrique Iglesias' third album. [6] That same year, Gad signed a deal with Joost Van Os, former head of Polygram. [4]
Following much success in his home country, Gad relocated to New York City, opening Strawberrybee studio in Midtown Manhattan. [4] The album title song and hit single "Unspoken" of Christian platinum artist Jaci Velasquez, written by Gad, Madeline Stone and O.Hatch, managed to stay half a year in the Christian Billboard top 20 single charts and was re-released on the Billboard #2 album, WOW Greatest Hits 2004. [10] [11]
Meanwhile, Gad had several successes back overseas. "Damn I Think I Love You" stayed at #1 for seven weeks and became the most sold single of 2001 in the Netherlands. The #1 StarMaker album with two of Gad's songs went triple platinum. Sita's debut single "Happy" was at #1 for two weeks and remained in the top five for two months. The song was also released in the US on the Wild Thornberries soundtrack, followed by the #1 album of Sita. [4]
After 3 years in New York without any success, Gad was given the chance to work with MTV host Willa Ford. Their single "A Toast to Men" became a #40 radio single, appearing in the hit movie Barbershop 2 . [12]
Gad, with David and William Derella from DAS, worked out a co-publishing deal with Cherrylane Music Publishing and record deals for several of Gad's artists. In August 2005, Interscope Records released Texan teen Kaci Brown's album Instigator , entirely developed, produced and co-written by Gad. [8] R&B group Fatty Koo has an album on Columbia Records on which every song is produced and co-written by Toby. [6] [13] [14] [15] He produced and co-wrote songs on the album of the Australian twins The Veronicas, who scored the biggest US newcomer record deal of the year on Warner Bros. Records/Sire Records and went double platinum in Australia. [16] [17]
Meleni and Gad co-wrote the song "Drop It On Me" on Ricky Martin's 2005 album Life . Another artist that Toby developed for years, Lola, released her single "No Strings" on Warner Bros. Records/Sobe, which spent 4 months on the Billboard Dance charts, peaking at #2. [18]
In 2006, Gad opened a second studio with five interns, expanding his production company Strawberrybee Music and his publishing company, Gad Songs. [8] Gad produced the entire Blue Note Records album of Elizabeth Withers, who starred in the Broadway musical The Color Purple , and contributed a song on Fergie's platinum-selling album The Dutchess . He also collaborated with then 13-year-old Emmy nominated actress/singer Keke Palmer on her 2007 debut album on Atlantic Records and produced a song for the second season of hit Disney sitcom Hannah Montana . [19]
As an innovative producer and songwriter, Gad has been interviewed multiple times about how he writes and how he records and mixes using Logic Pro. He has been featured in Mix Magazine , the Recording Mag, Pro Sound News and more. [9] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]
In 2008, Gad and Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" was Grammy nominated for Best Female Vocal Performance [26] [27] and won ASCAP 'Song of the Year'. [22] [28] [29] [30] The song twice broke the record for most airplay on US radio and spent a total of 21 weeks in various Billboard US charts at #1, including one week #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. [31] [32] Over 87 worldwide compilation albums feature the song. Gad scored his second worldwide #1 hit with Beyoncé's "If I Were a Boy", which Gad produced and co-wrote. [29] "If I Were A Boy" reached #1 in nine countries and hit top-ten in over 20 countries around the world. [33] Gad's third platinum number one hit was the indie-electro pop anthem "Untouched" by Aussie duo The Veronicas. The song sold platinum in the US and reached #1 in Ireland and Mexico.
In summer 2009, Gad relocated his recording studio to Los Angeles. [6] [8] The new studio, located in the Hollywood Hills, features several music production rooms and a video editing room. In Los Angeles, Gad continued collaborating with stars such as American Idol finalists Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta and Jessica Sanchez.
In 2009, Gad also launched his own record label, Kite Records, which is a collaboration between himself, David Sonenberg/DAS Management, and Island Def Jam Music Group as well as Gad Films which features exclusive behind the scenes footage of Gad working in the studio with stars such as Miley Cyrus and The Veronicas. [34] [35] [36] In 2011, Gad co-wrote "All of Me" for John Legend, which, after three years of dormancy [37] made its way to #1 on the Top 100 for three weeks and was certified 14 times platinum, [38] making it the highest certified track in RIAA history (tied with "Despacito"). [3] [37] [39]
In 2014, Gad co-wrote 11 songs with Madonna for her album Rebel Heart , producing four of the songs. [40] [41]
In 2015, Gad executive produced and co-wrote much of Leona Lewis' fifth studio album, I Am . [42] [43] He co-wrote and produced Prince Royce's "Lucky One" on Double Vision , co-wrote John Newman's "I'm Not Your Man" from Revolve , and co-wrote and produced "First Heartbreak" for Grammy-nominated [44] artist Tori Kelly's Unbreakable Smile. Gad also produced and co-wrote the international charity single "Love Song to the Earth" which featured a long list of popular artists, including Paul McCartney, Fergie, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Sean Paul, Nicole Scherzinger, and more. [45] [46] [47] [48] He also produced the 2015 album of Chloe Temtchine, Be Brave, which was described by the New York Post as "a moving collection of pop songs that document her struggle for survival, but also her recovery." [49] [50]
The following singles written and/or produced by Toby Gad charted on the Billboard Hot 100:
Song Title | Featured Artist | Release Year | Peak Position |
---|---|---|---|
Big Girls Don't Cry | Fergie | 2007 | #1 |
All of Me | John Legend | 2013 | #1 |
If I Were a Boy | Beyoncé | 2008 | #3 |
Skyscraper | Demi Lovato | 2011 | #10 |
Untouched | The Veronicas | 2007 | #17 |
I Do | Colbie Caillat | 2011 | #23 |
A Year Without Rain | Selena Gomez & the Scene | 2010 | #35 |
Hallelujah | Carrie Underwood & John Legend | 2020 | #54 |
Here's to Us (Glee Cast) | Glee Cast | 2012 | #73 |
Chasing the Sun | Hilary Duff | 2014 | #79 |
Take Me on the Floor | The Veronicas | 2008 | #81 |
Rock Star | Hannah Montana | 2008 | #81 |
Bitch I'm Madonna ft. Nicki Minaj | Madonna | 2015 | #84 |
Don't Hold Your Breath | Nicole Scherzinger | 2011 | #86 |
Beautiful | Carly Rae Jepsen & Justin Bieber | 2012 | #87 |
Ordinary Girl | Hannah Montana | 2010 | #91 |
Bang Bang Bang | Selena Gomez & the Scene | 2011 | #94 |
The following singles appear on the US Billboard Year-End or All-Time Hits charts:
Song Title | Featured Artist | Release Year | Chart Name | Peak Position |
---|---|---|---|---|
Big Girls Don't Cry | Fergie | 2007 | All-Time Hot 100 Hits | #115 [51] |
Decade Hot 100 | #13 | |||
Year-End Hot 100 2007 | #4 | |||
All of Me | John Legend | 2013 | All Time Hot 100 Hits | #138 |
Decade Hot 100 | #32 | |||
Year-End Hot 100 2014 | #3 | |||
If I Were a Boy | Beyoncé | 2008 | Decade Billboard 200 | #178 |
The following singles written and/or produced by Toby Gad as presented by The Recording Academy:
Song Title | Featured Artist | Release Year | Nominated Category |
---|---|---|---|
Einstein | Kelly Clarkson | 2013 | Best Pop Vocal Album |
All of Me (Tiesto Remix) | John Legend | 2013 | Best Remixed Recording |
If I Were a Boy (on B Album) | Beyoncé | 2009 | Best Contemporary R&B Album |
The following singles written and/or produced by Toby Gad as presented by The Recording Academy:
Song Title | Featured Artist | Release Year | Nominated Category |
---|---|---|---|
Einstein | Kelly Clarkson | 2013 | Best Pop Vocal Album |
The War is Over (You Don't Deserve Me) | Kelly Clarkson | 2013 | Best Pop Vocal Album |
All of Me (Tiesto Remix) | John Legend | 2013 | Best Remixed Recording |
If I Were a Boy (on B Album) | Beyoncé | 2009 | Best Contemporary R&B Album |
All of Me (Live) | John Legend | 2015 | Best Pop Solo Performance |
Hey Baby | Sean Paul | 2015 | Best Reggae Album |
Big Girls Don't Cry | Fergie | 2008 | Best Female Pop Vocal Performance |
We Will Meet Once Again | Andrea Bocelli | 2020 | Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album |
Creo En Mí | Natalia Jimenez | 2015 | (Latin) Album of the Year |
Blessed | Kelly Clarkson | 2022 | Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album |
The following singles charted inside the top 40 of the UK Download or UK Singles Chart:
Stacy Ann "Fergie" Ferguson is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She was a member of the hip hop group the Black Eyed Peas between 2002 and 2018, releasing four albums. As a solo artist, Fergie has sold over 7.2 million albums and 29 million singles worldwide, and is the recipient of eight Grammy Awards and other accolades. Billboard ranked her among the top artists of the 2000s, and in 2010, the same publication named her Woman of the Year.
Kevin Michael McKeehan, better known by his stage name TobyMac, is an American contemporary Christian music singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. His road band is known as Diverse City. He was first known for being a member of the Christian rap and rock trio DC Talk, staying with them from 1987 until they went on hiatus in 2000. He has since continued a successful solo career with the release of ten studio albums: Momentum (2001), Welcome to Diverse City (2004), Portable Sounds (2007), Tonight (2010), Christmas in Diverse City (2011), Eye on It (2012), This Is Not a Test (2015), The Elements (2018), Life After Death (2022), as well as five remixed albums: Re:Mix Momentum (2003), Renovating Diverse City (2005), Dubbed and Freq'd: A Remix Project (2012), Eye'm All Mixed Up (2014) and The St. Nemele Collab Sessions (2019). He became the third Christian artist to have a No. 1 debut on Billboard 200 chart with Eye on It.
La Bouche is a German-American Eurodance duo best known for the hits "Be My Lover", "Sweet Dreams", "You Won't Forget Me" and "S.O.S." La Bouche was founded in 1994 by record producer Frank Farian in Frankfurt am Main. He worked together with techno DJ Ulli Brenner and producer Amir Saraf to produce the music, while American singer Melanie Thornton and American rapper and backup singer Lane McCray fronted the act.
William Endfield Steinberg is an American songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1980s with songwriting partner Tom Kelly; together they wrote or co-wrote the No. 1 hits "Like a Virgin" by Madonna (1984), "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986), "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles (1989), "So Emotional" by Whitney Houston (1987), and "Alone". They also wrote or co-wrote the hit songs "I Drove All Night", "I Touch Myself" by Divinyls (1990), and "I'll Stand by You" by The Pretenders (1994).
The Veronicas are an Australian pop duo from Brisbane. The group was formed in 2004 by identical twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso.
"A Toast to Men" is a song by American singer Willa Ford featuring Lady May. Toby Gad produced the pop track and co-wrote it with Ford and Rhonda Robinson. Ford's record label Lava approached Gad for the collaboration after he was struggling to replicate his success in Europe in the US. Ford wrote the song based on a chant she heard at a sorority party. The title and chorus feature a profane word, which attracted media attention. Ford said she wanted to revolutionize pop music by using the word "fuck", and was surprised her label chose it as a single because of its explicit content.
Richard Preston Butler Jr., better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American songwriter, record producer, singer, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, but split his childhood between Milwaukee and New York City's Harlem neighborhood. He attended Florida A&M and, while visiting Atlanta, worked his way into the music industry through connections with singer Usher, who became one of Butler's frequent collaborators.
The Dutchess is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and rapper Fergie. It was released through A&M Records and the will.i.am Music Group on September 13, 2006. Her first solo effort, it was recorded between the Black Eyed Peas' tour in 2005, and the songs were written in the eight years preceding its release. Fergie wanted to create an autobiographical album that would be more intimate between her and the listener. Musically, it experiments with different music genres, including pop, hip hop, R&B, reggae, punk rock and soul. Lyrically, it contains themes about critics, love, and her personal drug abuse and addiction.
"London Bridge" is a song recorded by American singer and rapper Fergie for her debut studio album The Dutchess (2006). It was written by Fergie, Mike Hartnett, Sean Garrett, and its sole producer Polow da Don. A pop rap song, it contains compositional samples of "Down to the Nightclub", performed by Tower of Power. It was released as the lead single from The Dutchess on July 18, 2006, by A&M Records, Interscope Records and will.i.am Music Group.
"Fergalicious" is a song recorded by American singer, songwriter and rapper Fergie for her debut studio album, The Dutchess (2006). The title is a portmanteau of Fergie and delicious. It was written by her and The Black Eyed Peas groupmate will.i.am, who also produced the song as well as performed additional instrumentation and rap vocals. The song was slated as the second single from the album and released for airplay on October 23, 2006. "Fergalicious" is a dance, electro and hip hop song with R&B characteristics. It contains compositional samples of "Supersonic", a song written by Dania Maria Birks, Juana Michelle Burns, Juanita A. Lee, Kim Nazel, and Fatima Shaheed and performed by J. J. Fad, and "Give It All You Got", a song written by Derrick Rahming and popularized by Afro-Rican. The song's bridge contains an interpolation of "Night Train" by Jimmy Forrest and James Brown.
"Glamorous" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie featuring American rapper Ludacris, released on January 23, 2007 through A&M Records, will.i.am Music Group and Interscope Records. It was written by Fergie, Ludacris, will.i.am, Elvis Williams and Polow da Don for her debut studio album The Dutchess (2006). An airy R&B and pop song, its lyrics center on Fergie staying rooted despite her success and fame of glamour.
"Finally" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie for her debut studio album The Dutchess (2006). It was written by Fergie, Stefanie Ridel, and John Legend, with Legend producing the track alongside Ron Fair. The song was released as the sixth and final single from The Dutchess on February 24, 2008, by A&M Records, Interscope Records and will.i.am Music Group.
"Big Girls Don't Cry" (also known as "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)") is a song by American singer-songwriter Fergie from her debut studio album, The Dutchess (2006). It was written by Fergie and Toby Gad while the production was helmed by will.i.am. The song was released as the fourth single from the album on May 22, 2007. "Big Girls Don't Cry" deviates from the hip hop and urban music of Fergie's previous singles and opts for a more simplistic pop ballad sound that incorporates acoustic elements. It features credits from about thirty instrumentalists, many of which play the violins, violas and celli on the track. Lyrically, the song talks about moving on from the pain of a breakup.
"Clumsy" is a song recorded by American singer Fergie for her debut studio album, The Dutchess (2006). The song was released as the album's fifth single on September 25, 2007. It was written by Fergie and will.i.am, the latter also produced the track, while Bobby Troup receives a songwriting credit due to its sample. It was partially recorded in Los Angeles and in the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. "Clumsy" is a bubblegum song. The song's lyrics about being clumsy and in love flow alongside its computerized and bleeping beat taken from "The Bubble Bunch" by Jimmy Spicer, as well as a sample of "The Girl Can't Help It", originally performed by Little Richard.
Colbie Marie Caillat is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame on the social networking website Myspace in 2005. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre.
Hook Me Up is the second studio album by Australian duo the Veronicas, which was released on 3 November 2007 by Sire Records. It debuted on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart at number two and has since been certified double platinum. The singles issued from the album were "Hook Me Up", "Untouched", "This Love", "Take Me on the Floor", and "Popular". For the album, the Veronicas were nominated for three awards at ARIA Music Awards of 2008: "Highest Selling Album", "Highest Selling Single", and "Best Pop Release".
"Untouched" is a song by Australian duo the Veronicas, which is featured on their second studio album, Hook Me Up (2007). Toby Gad assisted the duo in writing the song and also produced it. It was released as the second single from the band's album in Australia on 10 December 2007, and as the first single in the UK and US. In October 2024, 17 years after its release, "Untouched" returned to the Australian ITunes chart at number 1.
"Popular" is a song by Australian musical duo the Veronicas for their second studio album, Hook Me Up (2007). Produced by Toby Gad, it was released as the album's final single on 11 October 2008 as a digital download. Written by the Veronicas—twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso—together with Beni Barca and Toby Gad, the track was recorded in Los Angeles, California. The song pokes fun at people with privileged lifestyles.
"Summer Trip" is the fifty-fifth single by singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. The single is a double a-side and contains one b-side. It debuted at No. 7 on the Oricon Daily chart.