What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, Kelly Clarkson sang on her massive worldwide hit. But she didn’t write that line. Greg Kurstin did. He’s the 46 year old L.A. based songwriter who’s been having hits for the last few years with Clarkson, Katy Perry, Lily Allen, and Pink. He produced, engineered, and mixed my all time favorite Pink song, “Try.” This guy knows what he’s doing.
And now Greg Kurstin is Adele’s collaborator. For better or worse he wrote “Hello,” the endless sob story of a single that’s propelled her back to number 1 since Friday morning. “Hello” is everywhere, and we have Greg Kurstin to thank for it. Adele met with a lot of songwriters last year looking for “collaborators”– people she could share ideas with who actually write songs. They have another song on the album as well.
Adele’s other collaborators for this album are the creme de la creme, from her own Paul Epworth, to Ryan Tedder, and the ubiquitous Max Martin.
Here’s “Try,” a great record:
Updated with a tip of the hat to Amir Syarif Siregar @Sir_AmirSyarif
