Peter Rafelson is an American musician, songwriter, producer and publisher. He is the eldest son of acclaimed film and TV director-producer Bob Rafelson and Rafelson's first wife, the production designer and art director Toby Carr Rafelson. Rafelson has written over 30 hit songs, recorded by artists including

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, The Bangles, Rufus,

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

"Open Your Heart"

As a composer, Rafelson is probably best known as the co-writer (with

Gardner Cole Gardner Cole (born Gardner Kain Christopher Cole) is an American songwriter, keyboard player and music producer. He is best known as songwriter of 1980s and early 1990s songs for Cher, Michael McDonald, Tina Turner, Jody Watley, and Madonna. H ...

) of Madonna's 1987 hit single "Open Your Heart". In a 2019 interview, Rafelson recalled that he had originally written the song in 1985 with Cyndi Lauper in mind. He demoed the song at a Los Angeles studio and then surreptitiously copied it onto the end of a tape of song demos that he found out was being sent to Madonna for possible inclusion on what became her ''True Blue'' album. Rafelson subsequently learned that Madonna had recorded the song, and that it was scheduled for release as the fourth single from the album, which was also just about to be released. Only at this point did Rafelson make his authorship of the song known to Madonna's legal team, and although they initially disbelieved his claim, he was able to prove it by playing them his original demo. Madonna's label then demanded that he relinquish all the rights to the song, but he called their bluff and refused, knowing that Warner Bros. Records had already pressed some 600,000 copies of the LP. His ploy worked, and although he willingly surrendered one-third of the publishing rights to Madonna (who had re-written some of the lyrics) he and Cole retained the majority share in the song, which went on to reach #1 in the USA and was a Top Ten hit in many other countries.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American songwriters American record producers {{US-songwriter-stub