Bonnie McKee
Bonnie McKee
Bonnie Leigh McKeeis an American singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Trouble, was released in September 2004 under Reprise Records. After being dropped by Reprise several years after its release, McKee had taken a musical hiatus before establishing a name for herself as a songwriter. McKee has co-written eight singles that have reached #1 in the United States or the United Kingdom, which have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide combined. After sometime of focusing on songwriting, McKee released...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSongwriter
Date of Birth20 January 1984
CityVacaville, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I think one day I'd like to win an Oscar.
I think the difference between a good song and a great song is... honestly, I think the lyrics, because if you have a really solid melody and solid track and everything is there but then the lyric is just okay, then you've got a good song.
It's really liberating and fun to be writing stuff for myself, and really have the freedom to say what I want to say and not really have to think about what somebody else is going to say or have to edit myself to speak from someone else's vision.
I think I've learnt a lot about bullying and how to deal with bullying and how to get over that and to just be yourself and forget the haters.
A lot of people, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and a lot of people have written for other people, and of course Bruno Mars. So I think it's a great way to break into the industry and show people what you can do and show them your talent and people tend to listen a little differently to your own music as an artist, when you've proven yourself as a good songwriter for other artists.
Every time I work with Dr. Luke I learn something new. He's kind of like the Andy Warhol of pop music, where he mass produces his art but it always still has heart and always still has an emotional thread to it. I think he's really a genius and I'm so lucky to have gotten to work with him.
I saw Tina Turner do 'Proud Mary' on TV, and it was so electrifying and such a unique experience. I remember crying out of excitement, and I knew that I wanted to be a performer and make people feel excited and moved, and that's why I gravitated towards it.
There are some artists that don't like working with other females, which is fine. They have their own thing. I personally love being surrounded by other females.
If I know I will be working with someone and they are not keen with writing with a girl, I like to be non-threatening and cool so they will trust me. It's a thought process of who work and how I want to present myself.
I've always had a teenage thread running through my music.
I was always super, super musical. So my parents recognized that and put me in choirs, piano lessons, and all that.
I think what it means to be an 'American Girl,' and what I wrote the song about, is our freedoms. The idea that we as Americans can be what we want to be and say what we want to say and that we take it for granted.
I like to think of myself as the people's pop star a little bit. I respect Lady Gaga so much, and I love what she does, but she has this kind of mysterious, out-of-reach thing. I'm just not that - as much as I'd love to have that sort of mystique, I think I'm kind of an open book.
I've been singing since I could talk, pretty much. My dad was really musical and taught me how to sing harmonies and got me a karaoke machine with tape decks.