BACKSTAGE PASS / Songwriters Hall of Fame

Dupri recorded ‘City Lights’ with a young artist “Stars had return to myself but also ticking named Dave Rich. Ray Price heard Dave the box of what they needed. Then Rich’s record of it on the local radio station to align for I got the green light to move on and in Nashville, and that’s how it fell into his all these make the record.” hands. Some stars had to align for all these things to things to happen like they did.” happen like NEIL DIAMOND “Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never SARA BAREILLES they did.” Seemed So Good)” “Love Song” —Bill Anderson RECORDED BY Neil Diamond RECORDED BY Sara Bareilles CHART PEAK No. 4, Billboard Hot 100; JERMAINE DUPRI (Co-Writer) CHART PEAK No. 4, Billboard Hot 100; Aug. 16, 1969 “Confessions Part II” No. 1 (three weeks), Mainstream Top 40; RECORDED BY Usher April 12, 2008 “That song was like a lucky gift. I needed CHART PEAK No. 1 (two weeks), it desperately in my career. I was about to Billboard Hot 100; July 24, 2004 “I was trying to make my irst record go hungry. I had a new baby. There were for Epic Records and had been vaguely all kinds of things that were counting on “When we did [the album title track], told to keep writing and waiting for the this record, and I just had an hour to do it. ‘Confessions,’ it’s a guy feeling bad about green light to go into the studio. It was It was in Memphis, Tenn. We had rented himself, about what he had been doing to increasingly frustrating. I was listening space, and in those days, you used to record the girl, so he just came out and told her. to the radio, and I sort of caught myself three songs in three hours, and I only had Then Usher was like, ‘You can’t stop right red-handed trying to bite of the ideas two songs. I had to write one more song. there. There’s a part two to this story.’ that were already existing there. And I It was the day before the session, and And as soon as Usher said, ‘There’s a part was really furious with myself that I had that beautiful girl came to me and I was a two,’ my brain clicked, and every word of fallen into the trap of trying to re-create happy guy. You never know with a song; I ‘Confessions Part II’ lew out of my mouth. something instead of following my own never knew with ‘Sweet Caroline’ it would I just had to put it in the right words that intuition. I said a little prayer — [seeking] become such a beloved song. So much would make it Usher’s story. It took about what my songwriter self needed to say of creativity is illing in empty space, and an hour, and the process was me saying the and [not worry] what the label would like. that’s what I was doing. I had a space on lyrics to him. I stopped writing lyrics down And, truly, it was like a magic moment my dance card, and that sweet girl came in on paper after me and JAY-Z did ‘Money when the song tumbled out. The song and she saved me from a fate worse than Ain’t a Thang.’ He didn’t write one thing wrote itself as quickly as I’d ever written death — which would’ve been working as a down in the studio. He said, ‘I wrote it, I anything. My A&R rep called and said, civilian somewhere.” just didn’t write it on paper.’ I had never ‘This is incredible.’ I thought he was seen this done before, and then I started joking. It turned out to be this wonderful STEVE DORFF (Co-Writer) realizing ... it might be easier that way than “I Cross My Heart” writing it down because we all memorize RECORDED BY George Strait the songs that we really love.” UMG’S LUCIAN GRAINGE: CHART PEAK No. 1 (two weeks), Hot Country Songs; Dec. 5, 1992 ALAN JACKSON A SONGPLUGGER FIRST “Where Were You (When the World Universal chairman/CEO honored as a songwriters’ “I played that song for everyone I knew Stopped Turning)” advocate in a career that began in music publishing for eight years, and everyone looked at me RECORDED BY Alan Jackson and went, ‘Eh, not one of your best.’ And CHART PEAK No. 1 (ive weeks), Hot ucian Grainge, as chairman/CEO of Universal Music Group, then George inally [sang] it, and we had Country Songs; Dec. 29, 2001 oversees all divisions of the world’s largest music company, L this monster hit. So you just never know. including Universal Music Publishing Group. In 201, Grainge appointed Jody Gerson chairman/CEO of UMPG, which claimed 48 of the You have to have a great song, but more “After 9/11, I didn’t think I would want to top 100 radio songs in the United States during the first quarter of 2018. important, it has to be the right marriage write a song about it. But it was the middle So Grainge’s support of Universal’s songwriters and writer-artists between the artist and the song. I’ve of October [2001], and I agreed to play for is reason enough for the Songwriters Hall of Fame to present him with had songs recorded by many artists that a concert in my hometown, a fundraiser the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award, bestowed on an individual weren’t hits, and then all of a sudden, the for a home for underprivileged children. who has been responsible for a substantial number of hit songs for an extended period. right artist does it. We did this song for the We lew back to Nashville and I went to But the honor also recognizes Grainge’s career roots in music movie Pure Country. There were people bed, and somewhere in the middle of the publishing. His first job was as a song-plugger, promoting the work of who didn’t like the song or didn’t think it night, I woke up and that song was lying songwriters signed to April Blackwood Music in the United Kingdom. was country enough or was George Strait there. The chorus came out, then the He later launched PolyGram Music Publishing U.K. before moving to run enough. For an artist like George, who is melody, and the lyrics started pouring out. record labels and UMG. “I was a publisher for the first 10 years of my career,” Grainge once told this incredible country singer, ‘I Cross My And the next morning, I started writing an interviewer. “I understand songs. It’s very, very difficult to Heart’ had some pretty diferent chord all the verses. All the things I wrote about define. I can definitely smell it. I can feel it in my fingertips.” structures and didn’t really it that genre; it were from footage on television and Songwriters Hall of Fame president/CEO Linda was a stretch for him. But because it was so interviews with people about how they Moran acknowledges that history in announcing outside the box at the time for him, that’s were dealing with it. We debuted it on the Grainge’s award. She said: “Throughout his rise to the top of the music industry, from song-plugger to a mega what made it such a big hit. It has become [Country Music Association] Awards in power player and starmaker, Sir Lucian has always this wedding song. I can’t tell you how late October. I am still amazed about how recognized that it all truly begins with a song and has many people write me and say, ‘We got that song has held on. It’s a song about never ceased championing songwriters.” —T.D. Grainge married with this song.’ ” faith and hope and love.” DUPRI: THADDAEUS MCADAMS/GETTY IMAGES. GRAINGE: JOE PUGLIESE.

102 BILLBOARD | JUNE 2, 2018