He’s gonna need a few more Grammys… (Picture: Getty)
OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, 45, has written songs for some of the biggest artists on the planet.
In this weekend’s 60 Seconds Ryan – who topped the charts in 2013 with catchy OneRepublic hit Counting Stars, and has a huge back catalogue of hits for other artists including writing Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love and Beyonce’s Halo (among many, many others) – tells us about the high stakes world of working with Beyoncé, knowing when it’s time to be ‘cheesy’ and what Adele thinks about where he keeps his Grammys.
And, what it’s been like releasing his band’s ‘final’ album, Artificial Paradise.
Your new album Artificial Paradise is finally out…
Yes! It’s our sixth and final album, not final as a band, but the last for our 2007 record deal. It should have come out a year ago but life happens. Eventually we looked at the calendar and said, July 12, come hell or high water, this album is coming out.
You’ve already had some mega hits from it. I Don’t Want To Wait with David Guetta has had millions of streams…
It’s weird, unless you do what Billie Eilish or Beyoncé did, where you just drop an album with no advance warning, you know what it has done before it comes out. That single has had over 300million streams in total, which is astounding.
What was it like working with David?
How flattering! (Picture: Guillaume Souvant / AFP)
It was great. I’ve known him for 10 to 15 years and any time I’ve run into him, he reminds me he likes to use my chord progressions in his songs. It’s flattering but the truth of it is, we’re all stealing from each other! There are only 12 notes in a scale so it’s kind of limited.
But he’s an endless wellspring of energy. He’s more than a decade older than me but can go harder, doing shows at 5am and then playing the after-party.
What makes a hit record?
He’s got some huge awards under his belt (Picture: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty)
Sometimes you catch a hit with a really cool record you feel represents you. We’ve had a few of those but every now and again, you have these overtly blunt pop records… but within the confines of my band I usually try to avoid those because it’s a bit cheesy and too obvious.
This was one exception where we were like, you know what, this is too obvious but f*** it! It’s been a lot of fun hearing that record everywhere this summer.
You’ve written for, or collaborated with, so many amazing artists on hits like Beyoncé’s II Most Wanted with Miley Cyrus, which was huge…
What Bey says goes (Picture: Michael Buckner/Billboard via Getty)
I knew Beyoncé was doing that album three years before it happened because I’d been a part of the process early on, I just didn’t know when it was going to come. Then I got a text from Miley with a big smiley face and a photo. She’s like, ‘This Friday’.
That’s the world of Beyoncé. When I did XO with her, I was in London recording Ella Henderson’s Ghost, and I got a text saying, ‘You need to approve this mix because it drops tonight at midnight.’ I got a 12-hour heads-up on the album release. That’s very typical.
You’ve worked with many strong female artists who are changing things for the younger generations…
Yeah, and I feel the era of genres being clearly defined has died.
Beyoncé should do whatever she feels she wants to do, it’s the same with Taylor Swift. Kids don’t care what the genre is, they either like the song or they don’t, it’s that simple.
You’ve worked with Ed Sheeran…
Ed Sheeran and Ryan have been collaborating for years (Credits: WireImage)
Yeah, I’ve worked with Ed off and on for years. We did Happier together, which I love, and working with James Morrison and being on tour with him in England is what introduced me to Adele.
I met Eg White through him who worked with Adele on Chasing Pavements. I’ve had years of collaborating with more British artists than I can count, like Adele, Ellie Goulding, James Blake and soon Labyrinth.
What song means the most to you?
Going strong! (Picture:
Of ours, definitely I Ain’t Worried. The average band has a shelf life of five to seven years, ten if you’re lucky and nobody’s doing drugs.
But 17 years in, to have that song, which nobody thought was a hit become massive worldwide was vindicating.
There’s something to be said for just sticking around and not giving up and trying to connect with your fans and culture. And Counting Stars.
When it hit No.1 in the UK, we were outside a pub near the Corinthia hotel in London, all having a pint, and Bruno Mars, who I’ve known for years, was staying in the same hotel and walked by with his band.
He was like, ‘Hey Ryan, congrats on the number one, man! I love that record, that’s huge.’ And I remember thinking, that’s really cool.
He’s gonna need a few more Grammys (Picture: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS)
Smash hits Ryan Tedder is responsible for…
Apologize by OneRepublic & Timbaland (2007) – Writer, co-producer
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis (2007) – Co-writer, producer
Stop and Stare by OneRepublic (2008) – Co-writer
Halo by Beyoncé (2008) – Co-writer, co-producer
Battlefield by Jordin Sparks (2009) – Co-writer
Rumour Has It by Adele (2011) – Co-writer, producer
Burn by Ellie Goulding (2013) – Co-writer
XO – Beyoncé (2013) – Co-writer, co-producer
Counting Stars by OneRepublic (2013) – Writer, co-producer
Ghost by Ella Henderson (2014) – Co-writer, co-producer
Love Runs Out by OneRepublic (2014) – Co-writer, producer
Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift (2014)Co-writer, co-producer
Something I Need by Ben Haenow (2015) – Co-writer, co-producer
Happier by Ed Sheeran (2017) – Co-writer
Sucker by The Jonas Brothers (2019) – Co-writer, producer
I Ain’t Worried by OneRepublic (2022) – Co-writer, co-producer
You’ve won three Grammys with Taylor Swift and Adele – but what is your greatest achievement?
Longevity. I’m still here after 20 years and still love it. I only ever wanted to win one Grammy, so anything more is gravy. In my studio, my Grammys are sitting on the backs of toilets, an idea I stole from Eg White.
Adele came over and just started cackling. She’s like, ‘That’s really British!’ I have two toilets without Grammys so I need to win at least two more.
Artificial Paradise is out now
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.