Early career and It's Alive Sandberg was born and grew up in
Stenhamra,
Ekerö Municipality,
Stockholm County. His mother was a middle school teacher and his father was a police officer. As a child, Martin was a student of Sweden's public music-education scheme, and once said he had "public music education to thank for everything". As a teenager he sang in a variety of bands before joining a
glam-style metal band called
It's Alive in 1985 as their singer and frontman. It's Alive was formed by Peter Kahm and ex-Lazy members
Per Aldeheim and Kim Björkgren on guitars, and John Rosth who had been a member of Lineout. Martin eventually dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music with his band under the nickname "Martin White". In 1988 It's Alive participated in Rock-SM (English: Swedish Rock Championship), a nationwide
battle of the bands, and had a residency at a nightclub in
Cyprus. The band got a breakthrough in 1991, as Dave Constable of
Megarock Records offered them to make a demo record. The later debut album was originally pressed in 1,000 copies and later on given away as a free cover tape in the UK by the
Metal Forces magazine. The decision to focus on a music career paid off as they landed a record deal on producer
Denniz Pop's label
Cheiron Records, a
BMG affiliate. After recording their second album
Earthquake Visions, they released three singles in conjunction with the record and toured through Europe in 1994 supporting
Kingdom Come.
Earthquake Visions eventually sold a disappointing 30,000 copies, despite being released in as many as 30 countries. More importantly though, Martin also began collaborating on songs with
Denniz Pop. Recognizing a talent for writing pop songs in the young rocker, Denniz Pop renamed his new protégé Max Martin and eventually became Martin's mentor.
Working with Cheiron and Denniz PoP In 1993, Martin was hired by
Cheiron Studios and spent some time learning the basics, before the first production collaboration between PoP and Martin: the
Rednex song "
Wish You Were Here" in 1994. When Martin produced the intro to
E-Type's song "
This Is the Way", E-Type and PoP credited it to the made up producer alias "Max Martin", thus inventing his artist name. Martin was informed after-the-fact, when the printed records came back. They both worked on
Ace of Base's second album,
The Bridge (1995), shortly thereafter, as well as on albums by
3T,
Army of Lovers and
Leila K. To date,
The Bridge has sold more than six million copies worldwide, including one million in the United States. When Martin eventually left his band
It's Alive in late 1995, he was replaced by Anders Hansson. In 1995, Cheiron Studios was hired by
Zomba to work on Backstreet Boys' self-titled debut album
Backstreet Boys (1996).
Zomba became the main working partner since the success in 1995. Martin took part in the production of "
Quit Playing Games (with My Heart)" (1996), co-written with
Herbie Crichlow, a single which quickly went
platinum and climbed to No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100, as well as the singles "
As Long As You Love Me" (1997) and "
Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (1997). The album was not released in the U.S. until 1997, but was released overseas and caught on all across Europe, eventually selling around 8 million copies worldwide. This led to the Backstreet Boys being relaunched in their home country later on, this time more successfully. Later that year, Martin co-wrote and co-produced
Robyn's hits "
Show Me Love" and "
Do You Know (What It Takes)" which ended up on the
Billboard Hot 100 top 10. "
I Want It That Way", a hit song Martin co-wrote with
Andreas Carlsson and co-produced with
Kristian Lundin, became the group's biggest single to date and it is still popular today, being voted No. 10 in the MTV/
Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs". ''100 Greatest Songs of the '90s
, a VH1 special, ranked the song at number 3, making it the highest ranked boy-band single and pop song. Millennium'' sold over 1.1 million units in its first week in the United States, setting a record for most albums sold in its debut week (that record was later beaten by
NSYNC's 2000 album
No Strings Attached), and was the best-selling album in the world. When working on her own solo album, to be released in 2001 on
Stockholm Records,
Lisa Miskovsky wrote the lyrics for the Backstreet Boys' hit single "
Shape of My Heart" with Max Martin and Rami. The song, originally written for Miskovsky's own album, was passed on to the Backstreet Boys by Max Martin when Miskovsky decided that it did not fit her style. The song became the first single off the group's fourth album
Black & Blue (2000). In the first week of release, "
Shape of My Heart" immediately jumped into the Top Five in Sweden, Norway, Canada, Germany and another 15 countries.
Black & Blue, containing several songs produced and written by Martin, sold 1.6 million units in its first week in America. Martin again received
ASCAP's award "Songwriter of the Year" both in 2000 and 2001. In April 2013 the Backstreet Boys member
Brian Littrell invited Martin to collaborate on their single "
In A World Like This". The single peaked at
No.6 in the
Oricon chart and performed well in the rest of the world. Martin collaborated on the
Never Gone songs "Climbing the Walls", "
Just Want You to Know", "Siberia" and "
I Still...". Martin wanted the album to be more of a contemporary, alternative pop album with a little R&B. The resulting album had a more organic music style with more live instruments, and was a departure from the Backstreet Boys' earlier work.
Britney Spears In 1998, Martin wrote and co-produced
Spears' debut single, "
...Baby One More Time", for her debut album of the
same name. The single was originally offered to the
Backstreet Boys and
TLC, though both passed on the song. That same year, Martin also co-wrote and co-produced the third single "
(You Drive Me) Crazy". By 1999, the album
...Baby One More Time had sold over 15 million copies in the U.S., certifying
Diamond Status. Also, within a year of its release,
...Baby One More Time had become the best-selling
LP by a teenager in history, selling over 30 million copies. Martin was the first non-American citizen ever to win ASCAP's award "Songwriter of the Year" in 1999, an award he also won in 2000 and 2001. Martin worked on Spears's follow-up records
Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) and
Britney (2001). He co-wrote and co-produced the singles "
Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000), "
Lucky" (2000), "
Stronger" (2000), "
Overprotected" (2001), and "
I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (2002). The duo ended up parting ways when Spears distanced herself from
teen pop. Spears recorded
In the Zone (2003) and
Blackout (2007). At the request of Spears, Martin produced and wrote for Spears' sixth studio album
Circus (2008). Martin co-wrote and produced the provocatively titled electro pop song, "
If U Seek Amy", which was chosen by fans to be the third single of the album. Martin then produced the number one hit, "
3", for Spears' compilation album
The Singles Collection (2009). Martin was one of the executive producers of Spears's seventh album,
Femme Fatale (2011), alongside
Dr. Luke. He produced several songs for the album, including the successful singles "
Hold It Against Me", "
Till the World Ends", "
I Wanna Go", and "
Criminal".
Startup of Maratone Following the death of
Denniz PoP,
Cheiron Studios was closed down in 2000. Martin and Tom Talomaa then started a new production company named
Maratone in January 2001 and moved into the famous
Cosmos Studios building. The first songs to be written and produced at Maratone were four tracks for
Britney Spears's album
Britney (2001). The Maratone production crew initially consisted of producers/songwriters Max Martin, Rami, Alexandra,
Arnthor Birgisson and
Shellback. Following the work with
Celine Dion on the album
One Heart in 2003, few new hits appeared from Maratone until 2005. In 2004,
Kelly Clarkson traveled to Sweden to collaborate with Martin and
Dr. Luke on her second studio album,
Breakaway. These collaborations resulted in the rock-influenced singles "
Since U Been Gone" (2004) and "
Behind These Hazel Eyes" (2005). In 2009, Martin co-wrote Clarkson's single "
My Life Would Suck Without You", which was a number one hit. In 2005, Martin collaborated with the Norwegian singer
Marion Raven for the release of her debut album, titled
Here I Am, writing and co-writing the songs "
Break You", "
End of Me", "Here I Am", "Little By Little", "In Spite of Me", and "Six Feet Under".
Pink Martin co-wrote and produced three songs on
Pink's platinum-selling album ''
I'm Not Dead'', including the singles, "
U + Ur Hand" (2006), "
Who Knew" (2006), and "
Cuz I Can" (2007). Martin also collaborated with Pink for her next album,
Funhouse (2008). Martin co-wrote the first smash hit single, "
So What" (2008), plus the singles "
Please Don't Leave Me" (2009) and "
I Don't Believe You" (2009). The duo wrote "
Whataya Want From Me" during the sessions for
Funhouse, but ultimately the song was recorded and released as a single by
Adam Lambert. Later, Martin co-wrote hits for Pink including "
Raise Your Glass" (2010), "
Fuckin' Perfect" (2011), and "
Just like Fire" (2016), for various Pink-related projects. For her seventh studio album,
Beautiful Trauma (2017), he co-wrote "
Revenge", "
Whatever You Want", "For Now", and "Secrets". In 2019, for her eighth studio album,
Hurts 2B Human (2019), he co-wrote "(Hey Why) Miss You Sometime". In 2023, he co-wrote and co-produced lead single "
Never Gonna Not Dance Again" from her eighth studio album
Trustfall.
Usher In 2010, Martin co-wrote and co-produced
Usher's song "
DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" that went number-one on the US
Rhythmic charts and top-ten on the main Hot 100. In 2011, Usher and Martin co-wrote single "
Fast Car" from the 2012 repackage of
Taio Cruz's third album
TY.O. Working together again, Martin co-wrote and co-produced on Usher's seventh studio album
Looking 4 Myself in 2012 making the
dance-pop song "
Scream" that went number-one on the US
Dance Club Songs chart and number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Avril Lavigne Martin worked with
Avril Lavigne on two songs, "Alone" and "I Will Be", which were released on some deluxe editions of Lavigne's third studio album
The Best Damn Thing (2007). In 2010, "
Dancing Crazy", a song they co-wrote and Martin co-produced in the
Goodbye Lullaby sessions, was released by
Miranda Cosgrove and charted at #100 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Martin would later work on four additional songs for Lavigne's fourth studio album
Goodbye Lullaby (2011): the three singles "
What the Hell" (2011), "
Smile" (2011), and "
Wish You Were Here" (2011), and album track "I Love You".
Jessie J Max Martin first worked with
Jessie J on her international hit "
Domino", which achieved top ten success in countries including Canada, The United States, and Australia. Following the success of "Domino", Martin co-produced "
Bang Bang" (2014) for Jessie J,
Ariana Grande and
Nicki Minaj.
Katy Perry Max Martin worked with
Katy Perry on her second album
One of the Boys (2008), including the number-one single "
I Kissed a Girl", and top 5 hit single "
Hot n Cold". He also worked on her follow-up album
Teenage Dream (2010), including the
Billboard Hot 100 numbers-one hit singles "
California Gurls" (2010), "
Teenage Dream" (2010), "
E.T." (2011),"
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" (2011) and the top ten hit "
The One That Got Away" (2011). Martin also co-wrote the songs "
Part of Me" (2012) and "
Wide Awake" (2012), the former of which topped the
Billboard Hot 100. For her fourth album
Prism (2013), he co-wrote and produced ten of its songs, including the No. 1 singles "
Roar" (2013) and "
Dark Horse" (2013). In 2016, Martin and Perry collaborated on standalone single "
Rise" for the NBC Coverage of the
2016 Summer Olympics, reaching number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. On her fifth album
Witness (2017), Martin co-wrote numerous songs, including the lead single "
Chained to the Rhythm" which peaked at number 4 on the Hot 100, as well as the title track. In 2024, Martin would reunite with Perry, co-writing "Gorgeous" from her seventh studio album
143.
Christina Aguilera Confirmed by RCA Executives on 18 December 2011, Martin worked on
Christina Aguilera's seventh studio album
Lotus (2012) and was the producer of her lead single, "
Your Body" (2012), as well as another song titled "
Let There Be Love". Both songs reached the top of the
Billboard dance/club chart.
Taylor Swift Martin has collaborated with
Taylor Swift on four of her albums. Their first collaboration was the
Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (2012) for her album
Red (2012). Martin also co-wrote and co-produced two other singles on the album: "
I Knew You Were Trouble" (2012), which peaked at number two on the
Billboard Hot 100, and "
22" (2013). He co-wrote "
Message in a Bottle" for
Red, but it was not released until 2021, when it was included on ''
Red (Taylor's Version)'' and issued as a single. Martin also contributed to her follow-up record,
1989 (2014). He co-wrote and co-produced ten songs, including the singles "
Shake It Off", "
Blank Space", "
Bad Blood", "
Wildest Dreams", "
Style", and "
New Romantics". The former three songs reached number one on the
Billboard Hot 100. Martin later worked with Swift on
Reputation (2017), co-writing and co-producing eight songs, including the singles "
...Ready for It?", "
End Game", and "
Delicate". In August 2025, Swift announced her twelfth album
The Life of a Showgirl, with Martin co-producing alongside Swift and Shellback.
Ariana Grande Martin first worked with
Ariana Grande on her second studio album
My Everything (2014). Martin produced the first single, "
Problem", which peaked at No. 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100 as well as No. 1 in the UK, later becoming one of the
list of best-selling singles. Other songs from the album Martin produced include "
Break Free" (peaking at No. 4 on the
Billboard Hot 100) and "
Bang Bang" (peaking at No. 3 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 in the UK). Martin contributed heavily to her third studio album,
Dangerous Woman (2016), most notably the singles "
Dangerous Woman", "
Into You", and "
Side to Side", all of which peaked within the top twenty on the
Billboard Hot 100. Martin also contributed to her follow-up records
Sweetener (2018) and
Thank U, Next (2019), co-writing the singles "
No Tears Left to Cry", "
God Is a Woman", and "
Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored", among other songs. Grande released her lead single "
Yes, And?" from her seventh studio album
Eternal Sunshine on 12 January 2024. She wrote and produced the song with Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh. Martin also co-wrote and co-produced 10 other tracks from the album, including "
We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)". He would later co-write and co-produce all five new songs on her 2025 reissue
Eternal Sunshine Deluxe: Brighter Days Ahead, which all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The Weeknd Martin co-wrote and produced three songs from
the Weeknd's sophomore album,
Beauty Behind the Madness (2015), namely "
Can't Feel My Face"—which peaked at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100—"
In the Night" and "Shameless". He co-wrote and produced four songs ("
Rockin'", "Love To Lay", "
A Lonely Night", and "Ordinary Life") from the Weeknd's third album,
Starboy (2016). He contributed "
Hardest to Love", "
Scared to Live", "
Blinding Lights", "
In Your Eyes", and "
Save Your Tears" to the Weeknd's fourth studio album,
After Hours (2020). The latter album was both a critical and commercial success. Martin also co-wrote and assisted in the production of "
Take My Breath", released in August 2021. He also produced or co produced the majority of the songs on the Weeknd's fifth studio album
Dawn FM (2022). Martin appears on The Weeknd's sixth studio album
Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025), co-writing and/or producing the songs "
Open Hearts", "Give Me Mercy", "Drive", "Society", "Runaway", and discarded lead single "
Dancing in the Flames".
Coldplay Martin appeared as a keyboardist on two singles from
Coldplay's eighth studio album
Everyday Life (2019): "
Orphans" and "
Champion of the World". In June 2021, Coldplay announced their ninth studio album
Music of the Spheres (2021), with Martin serving as the album's producer. The album received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, debuting at the top of the
UK Albums Chart and becoming the album with most sales in a week in the United Kingdom since
Ed Sheeran's
No.6 Collaborations Project (2019).
Music of the Spheres (2021) included songs such as "
Higher Power", "
Let Somebody Go", which
Selena Gomez appears on, and "
My Universe", which
BTS appears on. "My Universe" debuted at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, giving Martin his twenty fifth number one as a writer and twenty third number one as a producer on the chart. With that song, he tied with
George Martin for producer with most
Billboard Hot 100 number ones. (He would later pass Martin.) He recently co-wrote and co-produced a majority of their 2024 studio album
Moon Music.
Others Martin co-wrote "
It's My Life" with fellow
Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Jon Bon Jovi and
Richie Sambora. It was released on 8 May 2000 as the lead single from
Bon Jovi's seventh studio album,
Crush. The song was certified 6× platinum in Australia; 3× platinum in the United States; 2× platinum in New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom; platinum in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland; and gold in Brazil, France, Japan, and the Netherlands. Fourth runner-up of the eighth season of
American Idol Allison Iraheta collaborated with Martin on her debut album. Her first single, "
Friday I'll Be Over U" was written by Martin. On 17 August 2009,
American Idol runner-up
Adam Lambert announced via
Twitter that he was in New York City with Martin recording a song for his debut album. It turned out to be the song "
Whataya Want From Me"; that was also written by
P!nk. Martin also co-wrote "
Into the Nightlife", a popular club track recorded by
Cyndi Lauper in 2008 and produced, alongside Zedd, and co-wrote "
Beauty and a Beat", on
Justin Bieber's 2012 album
Believe. Martin also produced several albums for
Eurodance act
E-type. In 2005, Max Martin wrote the first single-song for
pop-punk duo
the Veronicas, "
4ever", with Lukasz "
Dr. Luke" Gottwald, for their debut studio album
The Secret Life Of... (2005). Also he wrote "
Everything I'm Not", the second single-song of the Veronicas, the same year, again with Gottwald,
Rami,
Jessica Origliasso and
Lisa Origliasso for the same album. In January 2014, Martin produced a two-minute advertisement entitled "Volvo XC70: Made By Sweden", featuring soccer player
Zlatan Ibrahimović. The video of the advertisement received several million views on YouTube. 2008 saw him collaborate with
Daughtry for one of their singles from their 2006 debut album
Daughtry: the song "
Feels Like Tonight" written with
Dr. Luke. In early 2014, Martin co-wrote the song "Dare (La La La)" for
Shakira's
self-titled album. In April–May 2014, Martin produced
Jennifer Lopez's song "
First Love", alongside
Ilya,
Shellback and
Savan Kotecha. Between 2014 and 2015, Martin produced singles "
Ghost Town" and "
Another Lonely Night" by
Adam Lambert, before executive-producing his third studio album
The Original High. In January 2015, he co-wrote and co-produced
Ellie Goulding's "
Love Me like You Do", which reached number 3 on the
Billboard Hot 100, while also producing several songs from her album
Delirium including the hit single "
On My Mind", which was released on 17 September 2015. In July 2015, Martin produced
Demi Lovato's song "
Cool for the Summer" which reached number 11 on the
Billboard Hot 100. He also contributed to "
Confident" and "For You" from their fifth studio album
Confident. Martin also worked with
Selena Gomez on her second studio album,
Revival, producing its third single "
Hands to Myself", which became her third consecutive top 10 hit from the album. In November 2015,
Adele's album
25 was released and Martin co-wrote and co-produced the record's third single "
Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" with Shellback; it would eventually become a top 10 hit in the US and the UK. In 2016, he co-wrote the song "
Can't Stop the Feeling!" by
Justin Timberlake which is also the title song for the film
Trolls with Shellback. The song became Timberlake's fifth and Martin's twenty-second number-one hit in the US. It reached the top spot in 16 other countries. The song gave Timberlake and Martin their first nomination for an
Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2019, Martin co-produced and co-wrote
Ed Sheeran's and
Justin Bieber's hit single "
I Don't Care". Martin also co-wrote
Sam Smith's single "
How Do You Sleep?". In November 2019, Martin co-wrote and co-produced the Weeknd's single "Blinding Lights". In 2020, Martin co-produced and co-wrote "
Stupid Love", the first single from
Lady Gaga's sixth studio album,
Chromatica. This marks the first time the two have worked together. In 2021, Martin co-wrote and co-produced "
Can I Get It" by Adele from her fourth studio album,
30. In 2022, Martin co-produced and co-wrote
Måneskin's single "
Supermodel". He also co-produced and co-wrote
Lizzo's song "2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)", from her fourth studio album,
Special. In 2023, Martin co-wrote and co-produced
Conan Gray's singles "Never Ending Song" and "Killing Me". He also co-wrote and co-produced Ed Sheeran's single "
Eyes Closed" from his fifth studio album. ==Artistry==