Source link : https://las-vegas-news.com/7-singers-who-wrote-someone-elses-hit-song-before-they-were-famous-themselves/
Every hit song has an origin story, and some of the best ones involve a writer who never expected to hear their words coming out of someone else’s mouth on the radio. Long before certain artists became recognizable names in their own right, they were quietly handing off songs, sometimes reluctantly, to bigger stars who turned those tracks into career-defining moments.
What makes these stories interesting is the timing. In each case, the songwriter was still years away from their own commercial breakthrough. They were paying rent, chasing publishing deals, or just hoping someone with a bigger platform would say yes to a demo. Here are seven artists who did exactly that before the world knew their faces.
1. Carole King wrote hits for the Shirelles and Little Eva years before Tapestry made her a star
Long before she became one of the defining singer-songwriters of the 1970s, Carole King was a Brill Building staff writer churning out songs for other performers. Working with her then-husband Gerry Goffin, she co-wrote “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” for the Shirelles in 1960, a song that became the first number-one hit by an all-female vocal group on the Billboard Hot 100.
Two years later, King and Goffin wrote “The Loco-Motion” for Little Eva, another chart-topper. King did not release her own breakout solo…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-07-14 13:15:00
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