Michael Ross Pollack (born April 26, 1994) is an American songwriter and record producer. He has written songs for artists such as

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, drummer Matt ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

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Lauv Ari Staprans Leff (born August 8, 1994), known professionally as Lauv (), is an American singer and musician, best known for his breakout hit "I Like Me Better"; included on his compilation album ''I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)'', wh ...

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (201 ...

Zedd Anton Zaslavski (russian: Антон Заславский; born 2 September 1989), known professionally as Zedd (), is a Russian-born German disc jockey, DJ, record producer, and songwriter. Zedd grew up and began his musical journey in Kaise ...

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After col ...

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, and many others. He achieved his first US

Top 40 radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

#1 in February 2020 with

's "

Memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

" and his second in February 2022 with

's "

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

". He acheived his first

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

#1 in January 2023 with

' "

Flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

Early years and Billy Joel

Pollack and his older sister were raised by their parents in

Roslyn, New York Roslyn ( ) is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Roslyn area's anchor community. The population was 2,770 at the 2010 census. History Ro ...

. He started playing piano, singing, and writing songs at a young age. In his youth, he performed with a

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

cover band and with

Richie Cannata Richie Cannata (born March 3, 1949) is an American music producer, saxophonist, keyboardist and studio owner. He is most notable for playing saxophone in Billy Joel's band alongside Liberty DeVitto, Russell Javors, and Doug Stegmeyer. After leav ...

, Billy Joel's longtime saxophonist. After graduating from high school, Pollack moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

to attend

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

. During his freshman year,

hosted a Q&A session for college students at

's Langford Auditorium. Pollack, who was in the audience, asked for permission to accompany Joel on piano for a rendition of

New York State of Mind "New York State of Mind" is a song written by Billy Joel that initially appeared on the album ''Turnstiles'' in 1976. Although it was never released as a single, it has become a fan favorite and a song that Joel plays regularly in concert. Joel ...

, to which Joel agreed. A video of the performance was posted online and quickly went viral, landing Pollack appearances on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

show,

Good Day New York ''Good Day New York'' is a morning show airing on WNYW Fox 5 (channel 5), hosted by Rosanna Scotto and Bianca Peters. It is a Fox owned-and-operated television station in New York City, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Cor ...

, the Morning Mashup on

SIRIUS XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

, and

The Jeff Probst Show ''The Jeff Probst Show'' was an American syndicated talk show hosted by '' Survivor'' host Jeff Probst, who also served as an executive producer. This was his first television talk foray, which is co-produced by Big Ticket Television, and distri ...

Music career

The video also led to Pollack signing a joint publishing deal during his sophomore year of college with

Warner Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

and

Pete Ganbarg Pete Ganbarg is a 2-time Grammy Award-winning music business executive who is currently President of A&R for Atlantic Records. and President of ATCO Records. Pete began his career in A&R in 1989 at SBK Records through a mutual friendship with SBK ...

, President of A&R at

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

, for its "Songs With A Pure Tone" label. He soon started collaborating with other songwriters, including

Ingrid Andress Ingrid Elizabeth Andress (born September 21, 1991) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her breakthrough single, "More Hearts Than Mine" peaked at number 30 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Andress released her debut studio album '' La ...

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, while he finished his degree. After graduating from college, Pollack moved to

Los Angeles, California 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' ...

to live with fellow musicians

Ari Leff Ari Staprans Leff (born August 8, 1994), known professionally as Lauv (), is an American singer and musician, best known for his breakout hit "I Like Me Better"; included on his compilation album ''I Met You When I Was 18 (The Playlist)'', whi ...

and Michael Matosic. The trio went on to write dozens of songs for Leff and others. Pollack has also co-written songs for Beyonce,

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz (; born June 23, 1977) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single " The Remedy (I Won't ...

Meghan Trainor Meghan Elizabeth Trainor (born December 22, 1993) is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. She rose to prominence after signing with Epic Records in 2014 and releasing her debut single "All About That Bass", which reached ...

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Ever ...

and

. In 2021, he co-wrote and executive produced the album '' Reverie'' by

. Pollack was named Songwriter of the Year at the 2022 BMI Pop Awards.

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

also listed him among "55 Queer Artists and Decision-Makers to Know in 2022." Additionally, Pollack was #10 on

Genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for future works, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

's "Top 25 Songwriters of 2022" list. In 2023, Pollack wrote "

" by

with Gregory Aldae Hein and Cyrus. The song debuted at number one on the

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

, and Global 200 Excl. U.S. charts. In the song's first week it broke the Spotify record for most streams in a single week with more than 96 million streams. It broke that record the following week with more than 115 million streams in a week. Pollack is managed by Jamie Zeluck-Hindlin, founder of Nonstop Management.

Intervale Songs

In 2020, Pollack formed a publishing company called Intervale Songs. His first signee was Nick Sarazen, a songwriter and producer from

North Kingstown, Rhode Island North Kingstown is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, and is part of the Providence metropolitan area. The population was 27,732 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. North Kingstow ...

. In 2022 he also signed Davin Kingston, a songwriter, producer and artist from

Clermont, Florida Clermont is a city in Lake County in central Florida, United States, about west of Orlando and southeast of Leesburg. The population was 43,021 in 2020. The city is residential in character and its economy is centered in retail trade, lodging, ...

Discography

Songwriting credits

Production credits

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollack, Michael 1994 births Living people American male songwriters Record producers from New York (state) People from Roslyn, New York LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT record producers American LGBT songwriters