Hayley Gene Penner (born November 5, 1985) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and author based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. She is best known for the songs she has written for artists including

The Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

Sabrina Claudio Sabrina Claudio (born September 19, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter. In late 2016, Claudio uploaded several songs to SoundCloud, before compiling a select collection as part of her debut extended play, ''Confidently Lost'', which was ...

Lennon Stella Lennon Ray Louise Stella (born August 13, 1999) is a Canadian singer and actress. She portrayed Maddie Conrad on the musical-drama series ''Nashville'' (2012–2018). Before going solo in 2018, Stella performed with her sister as the duo Lennon ...

Charlotte Lawrence Charlotte Sarah Lawrence (born June 8, 2000) is an American singer-songwriter and model. Early life Lawrence was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of actress Christa Miller and television producer Bill Lawrence (TV producer ...

and

The Chainsmokers The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ and production duo consisting of Alexander "Alex" Pall and Andrew "Drew" Taggart. They started out by releasing remixes of songs by indie artists. The EDM- pop duo achieved a breakthrough with the ...

. As of 2018, Penner has been releasing music under her full name and in September 2020, she released her debut album, People You Follow, with a memoir of the same name.

Early life and education

Penner was born and raised in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, the eldest daughter of Canadian

children's music Children's music or kids' music is music composed and performed for children. In European-influenced contexts this means music, usually songs, written specifically for a juvenile audience. The composers are usually adults. Children's music has hi ...

performer

Fred Penner Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner (born November 6, 1946) is a Canadian children's entertainer and musician known for the song "The Cat Came Back" and his television series, '' Fred Penner's Place'', which aired on CBC in Canada from 1985 to 199 ...

and Odette Heyn, a choreographer and founder of a

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

school. At age 17, Penner was hosting CBC children's programming and lending her voice to commercials for companies like

Cheez Whiz Cheez Whiz is a brand of processed cheese sauce or spread produced by Kraft Foods. It was developed by a team led by food scientist Edwin Traisman (1915–2007). It was first sold in 1952, and with some changes in formulation continues to be in ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

Kraft Dinner Kraft Dinner (KD) in Canada, Kraft Mac & Cheese in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, Cheesey Pasta in the United Kingdom and internationally is a nonperishable, packaged macaroni and cheese product. It is made by Kraft Foods Group ...

and

Hamburger Helper Hamburger Helper is a packaged food product from Eagle Foods. As boxed, it consists of a dried carbohydrate (often pasta or rice), with powdered seasonings contained in a packet. The consumer is meant to combine the contents of the box with brow ...

. She was the

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

regional host for

Kids' CBC ''CBC Kids'' is a Canadian children's block on CBC Television. The block was launched as Hodge Podge Lodge in 1987 and contains programming targeted at children. The block airs on weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. ...

from 2003 to 2005. Penner moved to Toronto, where she studied journalism at

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

and formed the electronic dance band TuZO with a friend. After university, Penner worked at ''

Châtelaine ''Châtelaine'' is a French-language magazine of women's lifestyles, published in Quebec by St. Joseph Communications. History and profile The magazine was first published in 1960 by Maclean-Hunter Publishing. It covers issues and interests o ...

'' before spending six months writing restaurant reviews for a magazine in London.

Music career

Songwriting

Penner moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to sign a publishing deal with

BMG Chrysalis Chrysalis Group was a UK media company that was founded by Chris Wright, chairman, and Terry Ellis. Wright was named in '' Sunday Times Rich List 2009'' of the 1,000 richest persons in the UK. Previously having interests in television, books a ...

and The Messengers. As a songwriter, Penner writes for other artists, including 11 songs with Sabrina Claudio across her first two projects ''

Confidently Lost Sabrina Claudio (born September 19, 1996) is an American singer and songwriter. In late 2016, Claudio uploaded several songs to SoundCloud, before compiling a select collection as part of her debut extended play, ''Confidently Lost'', which was ...

'' and '' About Time'', 7 with Alina Baraz, and other artists such as Lennon Stella, Charlotte Lawrence, and Sinead Harnett. Hayley wrote “Everybody Loves You” on The Chicks' 2020 return album, '' Gaslighter''. Penner's songwriting partnership with

continued with her joining Lawrence on tour and as an opening act at New York’s Bowery Ballroom and Los Angeles’s The Troubadour.

Solo career

In 2011, Penner signed with

Universal Music Canada Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here. According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...

and began releasing and writing music under the name W. Darling. Penner released two EPs comprising three songs each in 2015, "The Lost Girls Chapter One" and "Chapter Two". In 2017, Penner split from Universal Music Canada and began releasing music through

AWAL AWAL (an initialism of Artists Without a Label) is a British music distribution company owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The company serves as an alternative to the traditional music label deal, offering deal structures to artists and independ ...

under her full name Hayley Gene Penner, moving away from the electronic pop returning to her roots as an acoustic, folk singer songwriter. Penner released five singles in 2018, two in 2019, and five in 2020. Her full debut album, titled "People You Follow" is scheduled for release in September 2020.

Memoir

Alongside her debut album, Penner wrote a memoir, also titled ''People You Follow'', about her experience as a female songwriter in the music industry and the hidden, toxic side of the business. The book, released in Fall 2020, was described by

Lena Dunham Lena Dunham (, born May 13, 1986) is an American writer, director, actress, and producer. She is known as the creator, writer, and star of the HBO television series ''Girls'' (2012–2017), for which she received several Emmy Award nominations a ...

as "a fucked up Alice in Wonderland journey down the rabbit hole of LA’s most subtly toxic industry, and it’s also funny. brilliant, coy, playful and wise."

Cindy Crawford Cynthia Ann Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American model, actress and television personality. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was among the most popular supermodels and a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers, runways, as well as fash ...

called the book "both heartbreaking and humorous" depiction "of how we, as women, struggle to find our value through the eyes of others."

Discography

Albums

* ''People You Follow'' (2020)

Songs

Songwriting credits

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Penner, Hayley Gene 1992 births Living people Canadian pop singers Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian women singers