Albert Hammond
Albert Louis Hammond OBE is an British-born Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he collaborated most notably with the songwriters Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight and Carole Bayer Sager. Hammond's son Albert Hammond Jr. is lead guitarist for the American rock band The Strokes.
He wrote commercially successful singles for artists including Celine Dion, Joe Dolan, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Leo Sayer, Tina Turner, Glen Campbell, Julio Iglesias, Willie Nelson, Lynn Anderson, and Bonnie Tyler, and bands Ace of Base, Air Supply, Blue Mink, Chicago, Heart, Living in a Box, The Carpenters, The Hollies, The Pipkins, Starship, and Westlife. Notable songs co-written by Hammond include "Make Me an Island" and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" by Joe Dolan, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship, "One Moment in Time" sung by Whitney Houston, "The Air That I Breathe", a hit for The Hollies, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" a Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson duet, and "When I Need You" by Leo Sayer. In 2015 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
He is a solo singer in his own right. His biggest Billboard hit was "It Never Rains in Southern California", #5 US 1972. Other songs of his include "Down by the River", "The Free Electric Band", "I'm a Train", and "When I'm Gone". For a time he was part of the vocal group The Family Dogg, with whom he had the hit "A Way of Life". He has also produced for a number of artists.
Early life and success
Hammond was born in London, England, which is where his family had been evacuated to from Gibraltar during World War II. Shortly after the war, they returned to Gibraltar, where he grew up. In 1960, he started in music with Gibraltarian band The Diamond Boys, which had no real commercial success, but played a part in Spain's introduction to pop and rock music. The Diamond Boys performed at the first nightclubs in Madrid to stage modern bands, alongside Spanish rock and roll pioneers such as Miguel Ríos. In 1966, Hammond co-founded the British vocal group the Family Dogg, reaching number 6 on the UK Singles Chart with "A Way of Life" in 1969 from the album of the same name.Main career
He also wrote songs for others with frequent collaborator Mike Hazlewood. These include "Little Arrows" for Leapy Lee, "Make Me an Island" , and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" for Joe Dolan, "Gimme Dat Ding" for the Pipkins in 1970, "Good Morning Freedom" for Blue Mink, "Freedom Come, Freedom Go" for the Fortunes in 1971 and "The Air That I Breathe" which was a hit for the Hollies in 1974. In 1971 Hammond also sang on Michael Chapman's fourth album, Wrecked Again, and worked briefly with the Magic Lanterns on recordings of his and Hazlewood's songs, and other material.He then moved to the United States, where he continued his professional career as a musician. However, he had his greatest commercial success in mainland Europe. He is known for his successful singles of the 1970s, released on Columbia subsidiary Mums Records: "Down by the River", "It Never Rains in Southern California", "The Free Electric Band", "Half a Million Miles from Home", "If You Gotta Break Another Heart", "The Peacemaker", "I Don't Wanna Die in an Air Disaster", "I'm a Train" and "99 Miles from L.A."
Written with Carole Bayer Sager, "When I Need You" was first recorded by Hammond on his 1976 album When I Need You. Produced by Richard Perry, Leo Sayer's version made No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in February 1977, after three of his earlier singles had stalled at No. 2. Commercially successful worldwide, it reached No. 1 In Canada , and on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week in May 1977. Leapy Lee released a version of "When I Need You" on his first recording since 1970.
Hammond had success as a singer-songwriter with his Spanish recordings. His releases on Epic Records allowed him to tour every region of Latin America. During this period he met Manuel Montoya, a CBS Mexico executive, who became his personal manager in 1985. This led to Hammond's Grammy Award winning production of Lani Hall's, Es Facil Amar, the producer and writer of "Cantaré, Cantarás", and collaborations with Roberto Livi on recordings by Raphael, and Eydie Gormé.
Hammond also had two successful singles in the Philippines during 1981. His songs "When I'm Gone" and "Your World and My World" were popular in the country.
With Hal David, Hammond co-wrote "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", a hit in 1984 for Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson. Hammond collaborated with Diane Warren on "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", a No. 1 in 1987 for Starship, and "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love", a hit for Chicago that peaked at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1988. With lyricist John Bettis, Hammond co-wrote "One Moment in Time", the theme song to the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, as performed by Whitney Houston.
In 1991, Hammond co-wrote "When You Tell Me That You Love Me", which was recorded by Diana Ross, which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2005, Ross recorded the song again, this time as a duet with Westlife. Again the song reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
He wrote several hits for Tina Turner, including "I Don't Wanna Lose You", "Be Tender with Me Baby", "Way of the World", and "Love Thing". Bonnie Tyler recorded the original version of Hammond/Warren's "Don't Turn Around", a UK No. 1 for Aswad in 1988 and a hit for Ace of Base five years later.
In 2005, he released Revolution of the Heart, and the single "This Side of Midnight".
In 2008, Hammond met Kasaan Steigen of the Los Angeles-based Trigger Management who became his personal manager, during which time Hammond collaborated with British singer Duffy and others. Duffy's resulting album, Endlessly, co-written and co-produced by Hammond, was released in November 2010.
In 2010, Hammond also worked on Legend, a new recording of duets of his most successful singles. featuring artists including Elena Paparizou and Bonnie Tyler. It was released on Sony Spain on 23 November that year.
His son, Albert Hammond Jr., is a successful solo musician and also a member of the Strokes.
Awards and recognition
In 1987, Hammond's composition with Diane Warren "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award. In 1988, Hammond won an Emmy Award for the song "One Moment in Time", a song he wrote along with John Bettis.In 2000, he received the Order of the British Empire. On 19 June 2008, Hammond was inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Half Man Half Biscuit paid tribute to Hammond in their 1986 track "Albert Hammond Bootleg".
In May 2015, Hammond collected the Ivor Novello award for outstanding song collection.
Discography
Albums
Singles
;in The Family Dogg;Solo
Songwriting credits
| Title | Writing collaboration with | Artist / band | Year released |
| "Be Tender with Me Baby" | Holly Knight | Tina Turner | 1990 |
| "Blow the House Down" | Marcus Vere | Living in a Box | 1989 |
| "Don't Turn Around" | Diane Warren | Tina Turner Aswad Ace Of Base | 1986 1988 1993 |
| "Easy to Love" | Leo Sayer | Leo Sayer | 1977 |
| "Gimme Dat Ding" | Mike Hazlewood | The Pipkins | 1970 |
| "Give A Little Love" | Diane Warren | Hammond And West Aswad | 1986 1988 |
| "Good Morning Freedom" | Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway and Mike Hazlewood | Blue Mink | 1970 |
| "I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love" | Diane Warren | Chicago | 1988 |
| "I Don't Wanna Lose You" | Graham Lyle | Tina Turner | 1989 |
| "I'm Not Crying over You" | Chris De Burgh | Chris De Burgh | 1995 |
| "I Need to Be in Love" | Richard Carpenter and John Bettis | The Carpenters | 1976 |
| "It Isn't, It Wasn't, It Ain't Never Gonna Be" | Diane Warren | Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston | 1989 |
| "Just Walk Away" | Marti Sharron | Celine Dion | 1995 |
| "Little Arrows" | Mike Hazlewood | Leapy Lee | 1968 |
| "Lonely Is the Night" | Diane Warren | Air Supply | 1986 |
| "Love Thing" | Holly Knight | Tina Turner | 1991 |
| "Love's Got a Hold on Me" | Chris De Burgh | Chris De Burgh | 1994 |
| "Make Me an Island" | Mike Hazlewood | Joe Dolan Tom Northcott | 1969 |
| "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" | Diane Warren | Starship | 1986 |
| "One Moment in Time" | John Bettis | Whitney Houston | 1988 |
| "Rebecca" | Mike Hazlewood | Flo & Eddie | 1975 |
| "Room in Your Heart" | Marcus Vere and Richard Darbyshire | Living in a Box | 1989 |
| "Tall, Dark Handsome Stranger" | Holly Knight | Heart | 1990 |
| "The Air That I Breathe" | Mike Hazlewood | Albert Hammond The Hollies Simply Red | 1972 1974 1998 |
| The Snows of New York | Chris De Burgh | Chris De Burgh | 1994 |
| "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" | Hal David | Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson | 1984 |
| "Way of the World" | Graham Lyle | Tina Turner | 1991 |
| "When I Need You" | Carole Bayer Sager | Albert Hammond Leo Sayer Rod Stewart Celine Dion Will Mellor Austin Peters | 1976 1976 1996 1997 1998 2019 |
| "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" | John Bettis | Diana Ross / Diana Ross and Westlife | 1991 2005 |
| "Where Were You" | Holly Knight | Bonnie Tyler | 1992 |
| "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" | Mike Hazelwood | Joe Dolan | 1970 |
Other languages
| Title | Language | Writing collaboration with | Artist / band | Year released |
| "Cantaré, cantarás" | Spanish | Juan Carlos Calderón and Anahí van Zandweghe | Hermanos | 1985 |
| "Entre mis recuerdos" | Spanish | Holly Knight and Luz Casal | Luz Casal | 1995 |
| "Sensualité" | French | Shelly Peiken and Axelle Red | Axelle Red | 1993 |
| "Y Tú También Llorarás" | Spanish | Anahi van Zandweghe | José Luis Rodríguez | 1987 |
Other songwriting credits
- "Careless Heart" – written with Roy Orbison and Diane Warren
- "Creep" – subsequently given co-writing credits, due to the song's musical similarity to "The Air That I Breathe"
- He co-wrote almost all songs on Welsh singer Duffy's album Endlessly, including Duffy songs "My Boy", "Lovestruck" and "Well, Well, Well"
- "Have Mercy" – written with Shelly Peiken for Yazz; was also recorded by Viktor Lazlo on her album Back To Front
- "I Give It All To You" / "I Imagine" – written with Steve Duberry and Lord 'n Elliot and sung by Mary Kiani in 1995
- "Loving You " – co-written with Tom Snow and Franne Golde and recorded by Australian singer Jon Stevens
- "Moonlight Lady" – written by Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager and originally sung by Hammond with a large adaptation from "It Never Rains in Southern California". It was later recorded by Julio Iglesias in his 1984 album 1100 Bel Air Place
- "Oklahoma Sunday Morning" – co-written with Tony Macaulay and Lee Hazlewood, a hit for Glen Campbell
- "Once in a Lifetime" – written with Antonina Armato and Dennis Morgan
- "Smokey Factory Blues" – written by Hammond and Hazlewood, and recorded by Johnny Cash on his John R. Cash album; was also recorded by Steppenwolf on the Slow Flux album
- "Through the Storm" – a duet with Aretha Franklin and Elton John
- "Mary was an Only Child" - co-written with Mike Hazelwood sung by Art Garfunkel on his 1973 debut album Angel Clare