Glen Ballard

Ballard grew up in Natchez, Mississippi, where he began playing the piano and writing songs at an early age. He began playing guitar and playing in a band called the Unknowns beginning in the fourth grade. While attending the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he released a solo album. He earned a bachelor's degree in English, journalism, and political science, graduating in 1975. ==Career==

1970s After college, Ballard moved to Los Angeles with $400 and the phone number of the only person his uncle knew in L.A., a golf pro at the Bel-Air Country Club, whom Ballard called and asked if they knew anyone in the music business. The only person they knew was Tutti Camarata, the owner of Sunset Sound Recorders, who invited Ballard to a recording session. Camerata offered Ballard some studio time, which Ballard used to develop his songwriting, arranging, and production skills. He began working for a division of Rocket Records and continued learning about the music business. In 1978 Ballard wrote a song for Rocket artist Kiki Dee, which led to his being signed as a staff songwriter for MCA Music Publishing. It was nominated for Record of the Year at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards. In 1989, producer Richard Perry introduced Ballard to Wilson Phillips, and they collaborated in his Encino home studio to produce a four-song demo that included the song "Hold On", co-written by Ballard. The demo earned the group a record deal, and Ballard produced the trio's commercially successful debut album, released in 1990. "Hold On" was the album's lead single and won the Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year for 1990. It became a worldwide hit, earning two nominations at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards. In 2017, Billboard ranked the song 15th on its list of "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time". 1990s Ballard and Garrett collaborated with Jackson to write the song "Keep the Faith" from his 1991 album, Dangerous, and the song "I Never Even Told You", included on the soundtrack for the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. In 1992, Ballard worked with Wilson Phillips on their second studio album, Shadows and Light. In March 1994, Ballard's publishing company introduced him to Alanis Morissette, and the two worked together at Ballard's home studio to write and record demos of the songs that became Jagged Little Pill. Ballard and Morissette took the demos to various record labels that passed. In January 1995, they approached Guy Oseary at Maverick Records, who signed Morissette. Released in June 1995, the album was the best-selling album of 1996, and won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Album of the Year. It is one of the best-selling albums of all time, and ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Morissette again collaborated with Ballard on her 1998 follow-up, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Other artists with whom Ballard co-wrote and/or co-produced projects in the 1990s include Curtis Stigers, Lea Salonga, Van Halen, Aerosmith, and The Corrs. In 1997, he launched Java Records as a joint venture with Capitol Records. In 2004 she signed to Ballard's Java Records label and began work on a solo record to be released in 2005, but the record was shelved after the label was dropped. Ballard introduced her to Tim Devine at Columbia Records, where she was signed as a solo artist. Ballard worked with Lisa Marie Presley to develop her debut 2003 albumTo Whom It May Concern, co-writing five of its tracks. He also produced or co-produced albums by No Doubt, Ballard co-wrote several songs for film with Alan Silvestri, including "Believe", performed by Josh Groban in The Polar Express (2004), which won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Ballard and Silvestri co-wrote the musical's original music and lyrics, which were combined with songs from the film. The musical premiered in Manchester on February 20, 2020, ahead of a 2021 West End transfer, and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2022. It opened on Broadway in 2023. In 2019, Jagged Little Pill, a jukebox musical inspired by the 1995 album of the same name opened on Broadway after a successful limited engagement in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The show included not only songs from Jagged Little Pill but also other songs co-written by Ballard and Morissette, including "Thank U", "That I Would Be Good", and "So Pure" from 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. At the rescheduled Tony Awards for 2020, the show garnered 15 nominations and two awards, in addition to winning the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. 2020s Ballard was involved in the development of the 2020 Netflix TV series The Eddy, co-writing the music and serving as an executive producer. He again collaborated with Silvestri to co-write four new songs for the soundtrack of Disney's 2022 live-action film adaptation of Pinocchio. ==Legacy==

Ballard established the Glen Ballard Music Composition and Production Scholarship with the Los Angeles College of Music to support music education. ==Recording studios==

Ballard established recording studios, named Aerowave Studios, in Hollywood and Encino. Additionally, Ballard and David Stewart had a joint creative studio in Los Angeles named High Window. ==Awards and honors==

In 1997, Ballard was named ASCAP Songwriter of the Year for co-writing "Hand In My Pocket", "Ironic", "You Learn", and "You Oughta Know" with Morissette. The same year, he was also named Songwriter of the Year by the National Academy of Songwriters. In 2023, Ballard was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The same year, he was selected as a Hollywood Walk of Fame class of 2024 honoree in the category of recording. His honoree star was unveiled during a ceremony held on July 11, 2024, in the presence of Wilson Phillips who each honoured his contribution to their career and considering him band's unofficial fourth member. ==Discography==