1950s Both born to
Jewish families, Leiber came from
Baltimore, Maryland, but they met in
Los Angeles, California, in 1950, where Stoller was a
freshman at
Los Angeles City College while Leiber was a senior at
Fairfax High. Stoller had graduated from
Belmont High School. After school, Stoller played piano and Leiber worked in Norty's, a record store on Fairfax Avenue, and when they met, they found they shared a love of
blues and
rhythm and blues. Stoller's name at birth was Michael Stoller, but he later changed it legally to "Mike". Their first hit composition was "Hard Times", recorded by
Charles Brown, which was a rhythm and blues hit in 1952. which became a hit for her in 1953. was an even bigger hit. Presley's showstopping mock-burlesque version of "Hound Dog", playfully bumping and grinding on the
Milton Berle Show, created such public outcry and controversy that on
The Steve Allen Show they slowed down his act, with an amused Presley in a tuxedo and blue suede shoes singing his hit to a
basset hound. Allen pronounced Presley "a good sport", and the Leiber-Stoller song would be forever linked to Presley. Leiber and Stoller would afterwards write some songs for Presley as well. Leiber and Stoller's later songs often had lyrics more appropriate for
pop music, and their combination of rhythm and blues with pop lyrics revolutionized pop, rock and roll, and punk rock. They formed
Spark Records in 1954 with their mentor,
Lester Sill. "
Stand By Me" (written with
Ben E. King), and "
On Broadway" (written with
Barry Mann and
Cynthia Weil). For the Coasters alone, they wrote 24 songs that appeared in the US charts. In 1955, Leiber and Stoller produced a recording of their song "
Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" with a white vocal group, the Cheers. Soon after, the song was recorded by
Édith Piaf in a French translation titled "L'Homme à la Moto". The European royalties from another Cheers record, "Bazoom (I Need Your Lovin')", funded a 1956 trip to Europe for Stoller and his first wife, Meryl, on which they met Piaf. Their return to New York was aboard the ill-fated
SS Andrea Doria, which was rammed and sunk by the Swedish liner
MS Stockholm. The Stollers had to finish the journey to New York aboard another ship, the
Cape Ann. After their rescue, Leiber greeted Stoller at the dock with the news that "
Hound Dog" had become a hit for Elvis Presley. Also in 1975, they produced the
Procol Harum album ''
Procol's Ninth'', which included the UK Top 20 single "Pandora's Box" and a version of Leiber and Stoller's "
I Keep Forgettin'. In the late 1970s,
A&M Records recruited Leiber and Stoller to write and produce an album for
Elkie Brooks;
Two Days Away (1977) proved a success in the UK and most of Europe. In 1979, Leiber and Stoller produced another album for Brooks:
Live and Learn. , their songs are managed by
Sony/ATV Music Publishing. With collaborator
Artie Butler, Stoller wrote the music to the
musical The People in the Picture, with book and lyrics by
Iris Rainer Dart. Stoller and Butler's music received a 2011
Drama Desk Award nomination. On August 22, 2011, Leiber died in
Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, aged 78, from cardio-pulmonary failure. He was survived by his sons Jed, Oliver, and Jake. Stoller wrote both music and lyrics to the song "Charlotte", recorded by
Steve Tyrell and released in advance of the
2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Stoller is the musical composer for the new musical
Beaches, which premiered on
Broadway on April 22, 2026.
Awards and honors Leiber and Stoller won
Grammy Awards for "
Is That All There Is?" in 1969, and for the cast album of ''
Smokey Joe's Cafe, a 1995 Broadway musical revue based on their previously released work. Smokey Joe's Cafe'' was also nominated for seven
Tony Awards, and became the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history. Other awards include: • 1982 –
The Oak Ridge Boys' recording of "
Bobbie Sue," co-written by Leiber and Stoller, certified
Gold by the
RIAA • 1985 – Induction into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame • 1987 – Induction into the
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame • 1988 –
Elvis Presley's recording of "
Hound Dog" placed in the
Grammy Hall of Fame • 1991 –
ASCAP Founders' Award • 1994 – A
star placed on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of 7083 Hollywood Blvd., and their handprints embedded into the
Hollywood Rockwalk • 1996 –
National Academy of Songwriters Lifetime Achievement Award • 1997 – Distinguished Artist Award/
Los Angeles Music Center • 1998 – Honorary Doctorate of Music from
Berklee College of Music • 1999 –
NARAS (Grammy)
Trustees Award • 2000 –
Johnny Mercer Award/
National Academy of Popular Music • 2000 –
Ivor Novello International Songwriters Award • 2005 –
ASMAC President's Award • 2005 – "
Kansas City" named official song of
Kansas City, Missouri • 2005 –
World Soundtrack Award/Flanders International Film Festival • 2017 –
Elvis Presley's recording of "
Jailhouse Rock" placed in the
Grammy Hall of Fame • 2022 –
BMI Icon Award
Legacy In the 1950s the
rhythm and blues of the black entertainment world, up to then restricted to black clubs, was increasing its audience share in areas previously reserved for
traditional pop music, and the phenomenon now known as
crossover became apparent. They released "
Yakety Yak", which was a mainstream hit, as was the follow-up, "
Charlie Brown". This was followed by "
Along Came Jones", "
Poison Ivy", "
Shoppin' for Clothes", and "
Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)". They produced and co-wrote "
There Goes My Baby", a hit for the Drifters in 1959, which introduced the use of
strings for
saxophone-like
riffs,
tympani for the Brazilian
baion rhythm they incorporated, and lavish production values into the established black R&B sound, laying the groundwork for the
soul music that would follow. ==Discography==