Klaus Derendorf, also known as Klaus D, is a Los Angeles–based record producer and songwriter with millions of worldwide record sales to his credit including several Number 1 records on the Billboard charts and around the world.

Early years

Klaus is of German descent but was raised in several different countries due to his family living and working abroad. Derendorf is fluent in English, Spanish and German, and credits his musical diversity to different influences from the US, Europe and Latin America. He picked up the guitar at age nine and began playing and writing songs in junior high school bands from age 13, eventually settling in Los Angeles.

Career

After finishing high school, Derendorf started working with producer

Rick Parashar Rakesh "Rick" Parashar (December 13, 1963 – August 14, 2014) was an American record producer, recording engineer and musician. Along with his brother Raj, he founded London Bridge Studio in Seattle, Washington, in 1985. During his career he wo ...

in Seattle, Washington recording rock bands in the 1990s. He spent most of the 90s as a guitarist and songwriter in Los Angeles recording as well as touring with a variety of artists before focusing exclusively on producing and songwriting. Derendorf credits

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

and A&R executive Jaymes Foster for giving him his first production jobs at the Warner Music Group. Derendorf was elected to the board of governors of the L.A. Chapter of NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences), and is actively involved in all current industry issues as well as the election process of The Grammys.

Work

He participated in the beginning of the TV-Idol era with the ''

Pop Stars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, ''Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gro ...

'' USA project, which launched the group

Eden's Crush Eden's Crush was an American girl group who were created on the American television series ''Popstars'' which aired on the now defunct WB. The group was formed in late 2000 and released the hit song "Get Over Yourself" in 2001, following the f ...

on Warner Music. Derendorf went on to produce

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured ...

's album ''

Shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

'' which debuted at Number 1. Other notable producing and writing credits include

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

's ''Closer'', another Number 1 debut, Australia's

Stephanie McIntosh Stephanie McIntosh (born 5 July 1985) is an Australian actress and singer. She played the role of Sky Mangel in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours'' from 2003 to 2007. She made a brief appearance for one episode in 2015 as part of the show ...

's ''Tightrope'',

's ''Popstars'' (feat.

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

) and many others. In 2008, Derendorf was reportedly been working on tracks with such stars as

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 ...

Beto Cuevas Luis Alberto Cuevas Olmedo (born September 12, 1967), better known as Beto Cuevas (), is a Chilean-Canadian singer, song writer, plastic artist, painter, and actor. He is the lead singer for the Chilean band La Ley. In 2008 he launched his solo ...

, British artists

Tiffany Page Tiffany Page (born 16 April 1986) is an English singer-songwriter based in London. Her debut single "Walk Away Slow" was released on 15 March 2010. Her second single, "On Your Head", started to receive airplay on radio stations across the UK. I ...

Amy Pearson Amy Elizabeth Pearson (born 19 July 1985) is an English singer-songwriter. Her debut album, " Who I Am", was released April 2008. Early life Pearson was born on 19 July 1985 in Birmingham, England. Whilst signed to a production company called ...

and Australian rockers

Michael Paynter Michael Paynter (born 29 January 1986), is an Australian singer-songwriter. Paynter has released five singles, " Closer", "A Victim Song", " Love the Fall", "How Sweet It Is" and "Weary Stars". Paynter competed in the second season of ''The Vo ...

and

The Androids ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. Recently he has been writing and producing records with

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

and

protégé

Charice Jake Zyrus (formerly known under the mononym Charice; born 10 May 1992) is a Filipino singer and television personality. In 2007, after some appearances on Philippine television, Zyrus sang on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', and the followin ...

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 simulca ...

judge

Cheryl Cole Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstars: ...

of UK act

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

, Latin stars

Anahí Anahí Giovanna Puente Portilla (born 14 May 1983), known mononymously as Anahí, is a Mexican actress and singer. In 1986, she started her acting career when she was cast on ''Chiquilladas''. After working on many successful telenovelas produ ...

and

Christopher Uckermann Christopher Alexander Luis Casillas von Uckermann (born 21 October 1986) is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actor. He started his acting career when he was only two years old in TV commercials, and became known worldwide after his roles as ...

, formerly of

RBD RBD is a Mexican Latin pop group that gained popularity from Televisa's telenovela ''Rebelde''. The group achieved international success from 2004 until their separation in 2009 and sold over 15 million records worldwide, making them one of ...

, and several other artists.

's debut album featuring two tracks co-written by Derendorf was nominated for a

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards are an award by The Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been r ...

in 2009.

's track "Didn't I", produced by Derendorf, and co-written with Cole and Andrea Remanda was released as the B-Side to Cheryl's solo debut single "

Fight for this Love "Fight for This Love" is the debut solo single by English singer and Girls Aloud member Cheryl (singer), Cheryl Cole, recorded for her debut studio album, ''3 Words'' (2009). It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the lead single on ...

" and debuted at Number 1 in UK and Ireland in October 2009.

's debut album was released by Warner Music on May 11, 2010 and debuted in the Top 10 Billboard 200 album chart. The album also reached Number 1 on the Japanese charts in summer 2010. In November 2010, Derendorf was asked by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

and ''

X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' producers to write and produce the winner's single for the X Factor Australia finalists. On November 15, 2010 Australian TV network Channel 7 aired a segment with Derendorf and the four finalists. Derendorf produced and co-wrote the winners single "

Somewhere in the world "Somewhere in the World" is a single by disco band Boney M., the only single to be released from their seventh studio album ''Ten Thousand Lightyears''. Featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the ballad marked another commercial low for the ...

" for X Factor winner

Altiyan Childs Altijan Juric (born 10 June 1975), best known by his stage name Altiyan Childs, is an Australian singer-songwriter. He was the winner of the second season of ''The X Factor Australia'' in 2010, and subsequently signed with Sony Music Australi ...

, which was released on

SyCo Syco Entertainment is a British media entertainment company, headquartered in London, founded and owned by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. The company focuses on TV production. The company was formed in 2005 through So ...

on November 23, 2010 and debuted at Number 1 on iTunes. In February 2011, Derendorf produced and co-wrote the debut single "Heal" by 15-year-old German teen sensation

Andrea Renzullo Andrea Renzullo (born 2 March 1996 in Sundern, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German singer and was a participant who finished fourth in season 4 of Das Supertalent. Biography Early life Andrea Renzullo was born to Italian parents. Andrea became i ...

, finalist on another

Television show, Germany's Got Talent ("

Das Supertalent ''Das Supertalent'' (''Germany's Got Talent'', ''Got Talent Germany)'' is a German talent show, part of the internationally successful ''Got Talent franchise'', presented by Lola Weippert and Chris Tall. Just like in all other versions of the f ...

"). According to media reports,

released the single in March 2011. On October 1, 2011, Derendorf's record "

One Thousand Voices "One Thousand Voices" is a single by the coaches of the Dutch television programme ''The Voice of Holland''. The song was released on 16 September 2011. The song was written by Tjeerd Oosterhuis, Klaus Derendorf, Hiten Bharadia and Alfred Tuohey ...

", the new theme song of the hit TV show ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'', debuted at Number 1 in The Netherlands.

References

External links

* Billboard chart linkbr>Derendorf appearing on X-Factor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derendorf, Klaus American record producers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)