The songwriter gives EW an inside look at his career.
, much of the world still doesn't know Tedder's full resume. Outside of his band's music — their next album,, is due this spring — Tedder is one of the most successful songwriters today. If you're driving in your car humming to "Sucker" by the Jonas Brothers, you love his work. If you sing along any time "Burn" by Ellie Goulding comes on, you love his work. And the list goes on.
"My very first memory of any song is [the Beach Boys'] 'Sloop John B,' and that's the memory of me discovering, 'Oh my god I love whatever this is,'" Tedder says. "And then right around that same time Stevie Wonder's 'I Just Called to Say I Love You' was the first song I learned on piano." Tedder would go on to play classical piano for 10 years.
Around age 15, those two obsessions collided when he learned the name of songwriter Diane Warren. "I discovered that most recording artists didn't write their own songs," he says. "That's like finding out Santa Claus isn't real. And then I said, 'Well who did write it?' Once I discovered that there were these songwriters that were writing all these songs, I became obsessed.
But Tedder's obsessions weren't all about music. He also had his sights set on a different segment of Hollywood: He wanted to be an actor. He started doing musical theater in high school and went into college unsure of which path he'd ultimately follow. "I applied for internships to probably five record labels and five film studios. I said, 'Okay God, you tell me. Do I do music or do I do film? And whichever one gives me the internship, that's my answer.
So first session we wrote 'Turning Tables' and then we got together three weeks later in the U.S. and she had written 'Rolling in the Deep' and 'Someone Like You' and said, 'What do you want to do today?' I said, 'I just don't want to do a ballad.' She's like, 'Alright let's do something that moves.' I started stomping and playing the guitar riff.
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