Eliot Kennedy (born 29 March 1969) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

based in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. He has worked with artists such as

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...

The Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and ...

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

Donny Osmond Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, dancer, actor, television host, and former teen idol. He first gained fame performing with four of his elder brothers as the Osmonds, earning several top ten hits and gol ...

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

S Club 7 S Club 7 were a British pop group from London, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and consisting of members Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O'Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens and Tina Barrett. The group ...

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

Delta Goodrem Delta Lea Goodrem AM (born November 9, 1984) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Goodrem signed to Sony Music at the age of 15. Her debut album, '' Innocent Eyes'' (2003), topped the ARIA Albums Chart for 29 non-consecutive week ...

The Wanted The Wanted are a British-Irish boy band consisting of group members Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes and, until his death in 2022, Tom Parker (singer), Tom Parker. The group was formed in 2009 and signed a worldw ...

Janet Devlin Janet Maureen Aoife Devlin (born 12 November 1994) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter, who competed in the eighth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2011, where she finished in fifth place. Devlin's debut album was released in October 2012 via ...

Lovers Electric Lovers Electric are an Australian husband-and-wife pop music duo formed in Adelaide in 2005 by Eden Boucher on lead vocals, toy piano, stylophone and casio synthesiser; and David Turley on guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and vocals. History ...

, and Brazilian group

Rouge Rouge is the French word for "red" and may refer to: Compounds * Rouge (cosmetics), a cosmetic used to color the cheeks and emphasize the cheekbones * Jeweler's rouge or iron(III) oxide * Rouging, a form of corrosion applicable to stainless ...

History

Kennedy began writing songs with his brother at the age of thirteen and started a band at his school in Rotherham, Dinnington High School, but he was interested in composing and studio work more than performing. He

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

d as an

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

, and after collecting insurance for an automobile accident, he purchased equipment and began working as an engineer on a freelance basis, which eventually led to production work. The first major band that Kennedy was in was World Still Turns, a studio band in Sheffield, along with former gospel singer John Taylor and Tom Chester; they received huge interest from all the major record companies. His first success as a producer was the hit single "Independence", the title song of the 1993 album by

, which led to projects with

Pauline Henry Pauline Henry (born 29 January 1961) is a Jamaican-British recording artist. She was the vocalist in the Scottish band the Chimes, best known for their 1990 cover version of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", between 1988 and 19 ...

Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on th ...

, Kenny Thomas, and

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

. Kennedy has contributed songs to a number of film

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

s, including '' Spice World'', '' Stepmom'', '' The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement'', ''

Racing Stripes ''Racing Stripes'' is a 2005 American sports comedy family film directed by Frederik Du Chau. The film was produced by Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Lloyd Phillips and Edward L. McDonnell, based on a script written by David Schmidt, Stev ...

'', and '' Bridge to Terabithia''. He was nominated with

for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

for "Never Gonna Break My Faith" from ''

Bobby Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...

'' and the

Satellite Award for Best Original Song The Satellite Award for Best Original Song is an annual award given by the International Press Academy The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainment journalists, representing both domestic and for ...

for "Never Let Go" also co-written with Adams from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Kennedy and Adams were also nominated for a Grammy Award for Never Gonna Break My Faith recorded by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige, for the film Bobby. Kennedy won an Ivor Novello award for Picture of You by

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's '' The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Steph ...

. For the 2011 series of ''

The X Factor UK ''The X Factor'' is a British reality television music competition, created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's Thames and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV, as well as simulc ...

'', he was credited as Talent Development and appeared in the rehearsal studio on several episodes. Following his first series of involvement in The X Factor, he teamed up with the series' 5th placed

and 6th placed Craig Colton, to write songs with them. In 2011 Kennedy was planning a concert in Sheffield to raise funds for his One Song Foundation. The concert was to mark his 21 years in the music business. In 2012 Kennedy was given an Honorary doctorate (DUniv) by Sheffield Hallam University for his contribution to the region's music industry, and for his outstanding work for charities, including his own One Song Foundation. In late June 2020, Aretha Franklin's solo version of "Never Gonna Break My Faith" featuring the Harlem Boys Choir was released posthumously. The song, co-written by Kennedy and

, quickly hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart. Kennedy is the co-owner of The Steelworks Recording Company and also Kennedy Publishing and Production. Kennedy married

Natalie Mendoza Natalie Jackson Mendoza (born 12 August 1976) is an Australian actress, singer, and dancer. She is best known for her roles as one of the main characters, Jackie Clunes, in the British drama series '' Hotel Babylon'' (2006–2008) and as Juno in ...

in April 2006, but the couple divorced in 2010. In September 2020 Kennedy released the album 'Mind Music'. In February 2021 Eliot Kennedy released his first solo album entitled 'A Yacht Named Sue' to critical acclaim. Eliot is currently working on several new projects in Film and musical theatre, including his next 'bound for broadway' musical 'Empire State Dreams'.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Elliot Living people English record producers English songwriters People from Rotherham 1969 births