Tobias "Toby" Gad (born 28 March 1968) is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-based German

music 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 ...

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 ...

, best known for co-writing

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 " Eve ...

's biggest hit, " All of Me," the fifth-highest certified single in RIAA history, and for co-writing and producing "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie and "

If I Were a Boy "If I Were a Boy" is a song written by BC Jean and Toby Gad and originally performed by Jean in 2008. The song gained international attention the same year in a version by the American singer Beyoncé, from her third studio album '' I Am... Sa ...

" by Beyoncé.Moore, Jayn
"Writer/Producer Toby Gad Has Breakthrough Success, Co-Writing #1 Hit "Big Girls Don't Cry" With Fergie'"
'Songwriters Universe'. Other notable works include " Skyscraper" for Demi Lovato, "Who You Are" for Jessie J, " Untouched" for

The Veronicas The Veronicas is an Australian pop duo from Brisbane. The group was formed in 2004 by identical twin sisters Lisa and Jessica Origliasso. In 2005, the Veronicas released their debut studio album, titled '' The Secret Life of...'', which pea ...

, "A Year Without Rain" for

Selena Gomez & the Scene Selena Gomez & the Scene was an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2008, its last lineup consisted of vocalist Selena Gomez, drummer Greg Garman, bassist Joey Clement, keyboardist Dane Forrest, and guitarist Drew Ta ...

, " Don't Hold Your Breath" for

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 ...

, "Love You More" for JLS, and "I Do" for

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic ...

. In the third quarter of 2014, Gad was ranked the #3 songwriter in America by '' Billboard'', behind

Ryan Tedder Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...

and Pharrell Williams.

Biography

Childhood and early musical experience

Born into a musical family in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

in 1968, Gad was influenced by both parents who were established figures in the Munich music scene with their group, The Jazz Kids. His Danish father is a clarinet player and a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. His German mother is a psychotherapist and composer/

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

who tours the UK and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

with Brian Carrick's jazz band, the Algiers Stompers. Gad was expected to study banjo and join the Jazz Kids, but he took to playing the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

instead. At age 7, he and his brother Jens had formed their own band, the Gad Rollers, and played original rock'n'roll compositions during intermissions of their parents' gigs.

Early career successes

Although too young to get into most clubs at age 13, Toby and Jens were no strangers to the live music scene in Munich. Weekly gigs in bars, concerts in open-air summer festivals and shows in legendary live clubs such as the Domicile spread the word, and Munich hit producer Tony Monn showed interest in the brothers. Monn handed over his state-of-the-art recording studio to Toby and Jens whenever he was out of town. Monn's generosity provided a learning environment for Toby and Jens to delve into songwriting and producing. In 1986, when

Frank Farian Frank Farian (born Franz Reuther; 18 July 1941) is a German record producer, musician, singer and songwriter, who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created voc ...

, a multi-platinum German producer ( No Mercy,

Boney M Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...

Milli Vanilli Milli Vanilli were a German-French R&B duo from Munich. The group was founded by Frank Farian in 1988 and consisted of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. Their debut album, ''All or Nothing'' in Europe, reconfigured as ''Girl You Know It's True'' in ...

) was looking for new talent, a mutual friend turned him on to the Gad brothers' material. The next day, the boys flew to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and thus started a seven-year collaboration with Farian. One week later, they found three of their songs on

's debut album, which later went multi-platinum. Farian produced Toby and Jens' first album ''Q''' as artists', which was followed by a live tour. Funk legend George Clinton would later hear the record and invited Toby and Jens to perform two songs on stage with his P-funk band.

Commercial breakthrough

In 1990, Toby Gad met

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...

singer Jacqueline Nemorin. This became the beginning of a 10-year collaboration between the two. Together with Farian, Gad produced Nemorin's first album ''The Creole Dance'' on BMG. In 1994, Gad signed on with manager Klaus Frers (Daydream Music Supervizing) and produced Nemorin's second album for EMI Europe. It was also Frers who moved the duo into music production for dozens of successful TV shows, commercials and movie soundtracks. Gad and Nemorin wrote and produced the title-song for the movie '' Neverending Story III'', the music for two popular daily TV talk-shows that stayed on air for four years, and the single "The Magic of the Fall", which went on to win the BDA Gold Award in L.A. for best TV trailer concept. In 1998, Gad was hired by Spanish producer Rafael Perez to work on Enrique Iglesias' third album. That same year, Gad signed a deal with Joost Van Os, former head of Polygram.

Move to New York City

Following much success in his home country, Gad relocated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, opening Strawberrybee studio in Midtown Manhattan. The album title song and hit single " Unspoken" of Christian platinum artist Jaci Velasquez, written by Gad, Madeline Stone and O.Hatch, managed to stay half a year in the Christian ''Billboard'' top 20 single charts and was re-released on the ''Billboard'' #2 album, ''WOW Greatest Hits 2004''. Meanwhile, Gad had several successes back overseas. "Damn I Think I Love You" stayed at #1 for seven weeks and became the most sold single of 2001 in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The #1 ''StarMaker'' album with two of Gad's songs went triple platinum.

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

's debut single "Happy" was at #1 for two weeks and remained in the top five for two months. The song was also released in the US on the '' Wild Thornberries'' soundtrack, followed by the #1 album of Sita.

Success in America

After 3 years in New York without any success, Gad was given the chance to work with MTV host Willa Ford. Their single " A Toast to Men" became a #40 radio single, appearing in the hit movie '' Barbershop 2''. Gad, with David and William Derella from DAS, worked out a co-publishing deal with Cherrylane Music Publishing and record deals for several of Gad's artists. In August 2005, Interscope Records released Texan teen Kaci Brown's album '' Instigator'', entirely developed, produced and co-written by Gad. R&B group Fatty Koo has an album on Columbia Records on which every song is produced and co-written by Toby. He produced and co-wrote songs on the album of the Australian twins

, who scored the biggest US newcomer record deal of the year on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehre ...

and went double platinum in Australia. Meleni and Gad co-wrote the song " Drop It On Me" on

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

's 2005 album ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

''. Another artist that Toby developed for years,

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola ...

, released her single "No Strings" on

Sobe SoBe (stylized as ) is an American brand of teas, fruit-juice blends and enhanced water beverages owned by PepsiCo. The name SoBe is an abbreviation of South Beach, named after the upscale area located in Miami Beach, Florida. In the past, the ...

, which spent 4 months on the '' Billboard'' Dance charts, peaking at #2. In 2006, Gad opened a second studio with five interns, expanding his production company Strawberrybee Music and his publishing company, Gad Songs. Gad produced the entire Blue Note Records album of Elizabeth Withers, who starred in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'', and contributed a song on Fergie's platinum-selling album '' The Dutchess''. He also collaborated with then 13-year-old Emmy nominated actress/singer

Keke Palmer Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP I ...

on her 2007 debut album on Atlantic Records and produced a song for the second season of hit

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

sitcom '' Hannah Montana''. As an innovative producer and songwriter, Gad has been interviewed multiple times about how he writes and how he records and mixes using Logic Pro. He has been featured in ''Mix Magazine'', the ''Recording Mag'', ''Pro Sound'' and more. In 2008, Gad and Fergie's " Big Girls Don't Cry" was Grammy nominated for Best Female Vocal Performance and won ASCAP 'Song of the Year'. The song twice broke the record for most airplay on US radio and spent a total of 21 weeks in various ''Billboard'' US charts at #1, including one week #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Over 87 worldwide compilation albums feature the song. Gad scored his second worldwide #1 hit with Beyoncé's "

", which Gad produced and co-wrote. "If I Were A Boy" reached #1 in nine countries and hit top-ten in over 20 countries around the world. Gad's third platinum number one hit was the indie-electro pop anthem " Untouched" by Aussie duo

. The song sold platinum in the US and reached #1 in Ireland and Mexico.

Move to Los Angeles

In summer 2009, Gad relocated his recording studio to

. The new studio, located in the

Hollywood Hills The Hollywood Hills are a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Geography The Hollywood Hills straddle the Cahuenga Pass within the Santa Monica Mountains. The neighborhood touches Studio City, Univer ...

, features several music production rooms and a video editing room. In Los Angeles, Gad continued collaborating with stars such as ''American Idol'' finalists

Kris Allen Kristopher Neil Allen (born June 21, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, and the winner of the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', he self-released a 2007 album, ''Brand New Shoes''. Allen's ' ...

Allison Iraheta Allison Iraheta (; born April 27, 1992) is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', Iraheta won the Telemundo competition ''Quinceañera: Mam� ...

and

Jessica Sanchez Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez (born August 4, 1995) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to prominence following her finish as the runner-up on the eleventh season of ''American Idol''. Early life Jessica Elizabeth Sanchez was born in Chula ...

. In 2009, Gad also launched his own record label, Kite Records, which is a collaboration between himself,

David Sonenberg David Alan Sonenberg is an American music manager, and the founder of the music management company DAS Communications. He is the producer of the Oscar-winning film ''When We Were Kings'' (1997). Early life and education Born and raised in New ...

/DAS Management, and Island Def Jam Music Group as well a
Gad Films
which features exclusive behind the scenes footage of Gad working in the studio with stars such as

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 ho ...

and

. In 2011, Gad co-wrote " All of Me" for

, which, after three years of dormancy made its way to #1 on the Top 100 for three weeks and was certified 14 times platinum, making it the highest certified track in RIAA history (tied with "

Despacito "Despacito" (; "Slowly") is a song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper and singer Daddy Yankee as the lead single from Fonsi's 2019 studio album '' Vida''. Released on January 12, 2017, the song was written by Fonsi ...

"). In 2014, Gad co-wrote 11 songs with Madonna for her album '' Rebel Heart'', producing four of the songs. In 2015, Gad executive produced and co-wrote much of

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

' fifth studio album, ''

I Am I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * " I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" (p ...

''. He co-wrote and produced

Prince Royce Geoffrey Royce Rojas (born May 11, 1989), known professionally as Prince Royce, is an American singer. At an early age, Royce took an interest in music, and in his teenage years began experimenting with music and writing poetry. By age nineteen ...

's "Lucky One" on ''

Double Vision Diplopia is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object that may be displaced horizontally or vertically in relation to each other. Also called double vision, it is a loss of visual focus under regular conditions, and is often v ...

'', co-wrote John Newman's "I'm Not Your Man" from '' Revolve'', and co-wrote and produced "First Heartbreak" for Grammy-nominated artist

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, and voice actress. She first gained recognition after posting videos on YouTube as a teenager, and made it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''Americ ...

's ''Unbreakable Smile''. Gad also produced and co-wrote the international charity single "Love Song to the Earth" which featured a long list of popular artists, including

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, Fergie, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Sean Paul,

, and more. He also produced the 2015 album of

Chloe Temtchine Chloe Temtchine is an American singer-songwriter. Early life Temtchine grew up in New York City. She studied at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts. She started singing when she was six years old. At the time, on Sundays, her fath ...

, ''Be Brave'', which was described by the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' as "a moving collection of pop songs that document her struggle for survival, but also her recovery.""Chloe Temtchine - In Time Music, Inc.,"
tobygad.com

Single peak positions

U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Entries

The following singles written and/or produced by Toby Gad charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100:

All Time Hits

The following singles appear on the US Billboard Year-End or All-Time Hits charts:

UK single peaks

The following singles charted inside the top 40 of the UK Download or

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

: * "

" by Beyonce - #1 (2008) * " Don't Hold Your Breath" by

- #1 (2011) * " Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie - #2 (2007) * " All of Me" by

- #2 (2013) * " Skyscraper" by

Sam Bailey Samantha Florence Bailey (born 29 June 1977) is an English pop singer who won the tenth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2013. Following her win, her debut single, a cover of Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper" was released on 15 December 2013, achieving ...

- #1 (2013) * " Love You More" by JLS - #1 (2010) * " Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato - #17 (2011) * " Who You Are" by Jessie J - #8 (2011) * " Untouched" by

- #8 (2007) * "

Living for Love "Living for Love" is a song recorded by American singer Madonna for her thirteenth studio album, ''Rebel Heart'' (2015). It was written and produced by Madonna, Diplo and Ariel Rechtshaid, with additional writing from MoZella and Toby Gad. Ori ...

" by Madonna - #26 (2014) * " Up" by James Morrison & Jessie J - #30 (2011) * "

Fire Under My Feet "Fire Under My Feet" is a song by British singer and songwriter Leona Lewis from her fifth studio album, ''I Am'' (2015). It was released as the lead single from the album on 7 June 2015, by Island and Def Jam. An uptempo song with gospel influe ...