Łukasz Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), better known as Dr. Luke, is an American songwriter, record producer, and remixer. Luke performed with the Saturday Night Live Band for ten seasons until 2007. He has co-written and co-produced a string of commercially successful songs. He was named one of the top ten producers of the decade by Billboard in 2009, was awarded Producer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year awards in 2009 and won the Songwriter of the Year Award at the 2010 and 2011 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Pop Music Awards. Gottwald was also named both the Number One Hot 100 Songwriter of the Year and Number One Producer of the Year by Billboard.^[1][2] Among his biggest hits are the number one Billboard Hot 100 songs; "Girlfriend", "I Kissed a Girl", "My Life Would Suck Without You", "Right Round", "Tik Tok", "California Gurls", "We R Who We R", "Teenage Dream", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", "Part of Me", and "Hold It Against Me".

Life and career[link]

Childhood and youth[link]

Luke was born in Westerly, Rhode Island^[3] to an architect father and an interior-designer mother, but spent much of his formative years in New York City.^[3] He had originally wanted to be a drummer, but his parents refused to allow a drum kit in the house.^[4] At 13, he picked up his older sister's guitar and taught himself how to play. As a teenager, Luke would "listen to bad music over and over, if there was a guitar part [he] admired, so [he] could figure out what the guitar player was doing right."^{[4] [5]}

[edit] Career beginnings and Saturday Night Live (1997–2007)

Luke attended the Manhattan School of Music for two years. After he was a student there, he auditioned for the Saturday Night Live Band and won out over 80 applicants, joining Saturday Night Live as the lead guitarist in 1997. Luke performed with the band for ten seasons, leaving at the end of the 2006–2007 season. As a guitarist, Luke performed with Herbie Hancock, Michael Bolton, Phoebe Snow, Jack McDuff and Shabba Ranks, and played with the house band for the TV series Amateur Night at the Apollo.^[6]

While working on Saturday Night Live, Luke performed on a number of jingles and advertisements and became a deejay fixture in New York. Luke also became heavily active in the underground hip-hop scene, producing tracks and remixes for various artists, including Mos Def, Black Star, KRS-One, and Zack de la Rocha^[7] as well as for artists such as Arrested Development and Nappy Roots.^[8] He released the 12" single "Wet Lapse", under the name Kasz, for Rawkus Records, and remixed the theme from the film Mortal Kombat.^[6] While deejaying at a house party, Luke met producer Max Martin and subsequently gave Martin a tour of New York clubs when Martin arrived in the city.^[4]

Producing, songwriting and recognition (2004–present)[link]

Dr. Luke is largely responsible for the creation of hits from artists Katy Perry (left) and Kesha (right).

Luke currently owns two publishing companies, Kasz Money Publishing for his own songs and Prescription Songs. Prescription Songs employs a network of 17 songwriters, including Ke$ha, Katy Perry and Benny Blanco. As of January 2011, he has garnered 21 Top 40 Billboard Hot 100 singles, becoming the producer with the third most such hits since the charts were created.^[9] Luke co-wrote and co-produced the Kelly Clarkson Hot 100 number two song, "Since U Been Gone" with Max Martin,^[4] he provided the singer another hit in "Behind These Hazel Eyes". Subsequent songs by Pink, "Who Knew" and "U + Ur Hand" reached the Hot 100 top ten. He would go on to co-produce a number one for Avril Lavigne with the song "Girlfriend" as well as seven other songs on the Lavigne album. He also achieved a UK number one with the song "About You Now" for the Sugababes. Luke contributed two songs to Katy Perry's debut album, Hot 100 number one, "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold", as well as three songs to Britney Spears' 2008 album, Circus, including the title track. Luke also co-produced the US number one song "Right Round" by Flo Rida. His third co-production for Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" would reach the top of the Hot 100 as well. In late 2009, his song for Miley Cyrus, "Party in the U.S.A."also written by Jessie J. would reach number two on the chart as well. In December 2009, Billboard named him as one of the top 10 producers of the decade.^[10] In 2010, "Tik Tok", recorded by Ke$ha and co-produced by Dr. Luke, became the longest running debut number one single by a female artist since 1977.

On April 21, Luke was named Songwriter of the Year at the 2010 ASCAP Pop Music Awards and received 10 ASCAP Pop Music Awards for the year as the songwriter and publisher.^[8] Luke had received ten Pop Music Awards from ASCAP between 2006 and 2009. He was also named to Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, placing at #33.^[11] Luke's co-production for Katy Perry, "California Gurls" debuted at number two on the Hot 100 and later reached number one. Second single, "Teenage Dream" would follow suit. "Dynamite", co-produced by Luke, reached number one in the UK and number two in the US. Luke would contribute to three more top ten songs, "Magic" for B.o.B, "My First Kiss" for 3OH!3 and "Take It Off" for Ke$ha, as well as a top five song, "Your Love is My Drug" by the latter on the Hot 100. In November, Ke$ha's lead single, "We R Who We R", co-produced by Luke, became only the seventeenth song to debut at number one on the Hot 100.

On December 1, 2010 Luke received 2 nominations for the 53rd Grammy Awards in the categories Album Of The Year (Teenage Dream by Katy Perry), and Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical.^[12] He was also named both the Number One Hot 100 Songwriter of the Year and Number One Producer of the Year by Billboard. At the start of 2011, Advertising Age called Luke "the year's most successful producer and songwriter in terms of chart longevity."^[13] Britney Spears' single, "Hold It Against Me", co-produced by Luke, became the eighteenth song to debut at the top of the Hot 100 in January. He also produced and co-wrote Jessie J's song, "Price Tag", for which he received credit as "Coconut Man". The song debuted at number one in the UK. He also co-produced "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" by Katy Perry, anothers Billboard number one hit. On the week ending March 3rd 2012, Luke's co-production for Katy Perry, Part of Me became the 20th song to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100

Discography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Grammy Awards

• 2011 - Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (Nominated)
• 2011 - Album of the Year (Teenage Dream) (Nominated)

ASCAP Pop Music Awards

• 2010 - Songwriter of the Year (Won)^[16]
• 2011 - Songwriter of the Year (Won)^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dr. Luke on Myspace
• Dr. Luke on Twitter
• Dr. Luke Discography

Carly Rae Jepsen
Jepsen performing on Canada Day in 2010
Background information
Born	(1985-11-21) November 21, 1985 (age 26) Mission, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Pop, pop rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2007–present
Labels	604 (2008–present) Schoolboy/Interscope (2012–present)
Website	carlyraemusic.com

Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian recording artist and singer-songwriter from Mission, British Columbia. In 2007, she placed third in the fifth season of Canadian Idol, and was a part of the Canadian Idol Top 3 concert tour.^[1]

Shortly after competing on Idol, she signed to Fontana and MapleMusic, and released her debut album, Tug of War, on September 30, 2008. Three years later, she released a new single, entitled "Call Me Maybe", which was released by 604 Records, and was followed by the release of her debut extended play, Curiosity, on February 14, 2012. "Call Me Maybe" was met with much success, reaching the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the number 1 spot on the Canadian Hot 100. The single also went to number 1 in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Jepsen signed with Interscope Records in 2012.

Life and career[link]

Jepsen attended Heritage Park Secondary School in Mission, British Columbia and has since performed there post-graduation. She later attended the Canadian College of Performing Arts in Victoria, BC before auditioning for Canadian Idol. After completing the Canadian Idol tour, Jepsen retreated to B.C. to focus on writing, recording and completing her band. Her demos attracted attention and she was eventually signed a joint management deal with Simkin Artist Management and Dexter Entertainment. A deal with Fontana/Maple Music quickly followed, leading Jepsen into the studio with producer/writer Ryan Stewart.^[2]

[edit] 2008–11: Tug of War

On June 16, 2008, Jepsen released her debut single and another single, a cover of John Denver's song "Sunshine On My Shoulders". It is the only cover song on her debut album.^[3] On July 21, 2008, Jepsen added two new songs from the album to her MySpace page: "Bucket" and "Heavy Lifting". In August 2008, Jepsen's MySpace page announced that the album's title would be Tug of War, and it was released on September 30, 2008. The page also mentioned two more songs that were included on the album: "Tug of War" and "Sweet Talker". The former was released as a single on iTunes on September 16, 2008, and has been receiving radio airplay on various stations across Canada. She performed the latter as her Canadian Idol audition.^[4]
A music video for "Tug of War" was released in January 2009. "Bucket", her second single, was released in May 2009, and the video for "Sour Candy", a duet with Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench who has also help produce some of her songs including Call Me Maybe, has also been released. All of Jepsen's music videos have been directed by Ben Knechtel. In spring 2009, she toured western Canada with Marianas Trench and Shiloh.^[5] She then went on a cross-Canada tour with Marianas Trench, The New Cities and Mission District.

[edit] 2012–present: Curiosity

Jepsen's second album Curiosity was released on February 14, 2012. It was produced by Ryan Stewart and Kevin James Maher produced the track "Dear Julien". On the same day as the release, Justin Bieber made the announcement on the MuchMusic program New Music Live that Jepsen has been signed to Schoolboy Records, the label run by Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun.^[6] The lead single, "Call Me Maybe" (which gained notoriety after "Primetime" Sam Roberts played the track during "After Opie and Anthony Live" on SiriusXM Satellite Radio) is from her second studio album Curiosity was released on September 21, 2011 and was produced by Josh Ramsay of Marianas Trench and co-written by Jepsen, Ramsay and Tavish Crowe. "Call Me Maybe" is the first song by a Canadian artist to reach the top of the digital chart since Justin Bieber's “Baby” in January 2010. It is also only the 11th song by a Canadian artist to reach No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital download sales in 2005. The song has also peaked at #1 on Billboard's Canadian Hot 100, being the 4th Canadian artist to do so, after Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend", Nikki Yanofsky's "I Believe", and the Young Artists for Haiti version of "Wavin' Flag", originally by Canadian rapper K'naan.^[7] Jepsen is currently touring on the Shout it Out World Tour. She is the opening act for the pop-rock trio Hanson. In February 2012, Jepsen visited Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun in Los Angeles, California, where she subsequently signed to Schoolboy Records and Interscope. Her music will still be distributed by 604 Records in Canada. On March 23, 2012, Jepsen made her first American television debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, performing "Call Me Maybe" (with Jared Manierka on keys), later joined by Justin Bieber. Carly was also the first Canadian Idol contestant to enter the UK charts, when Call Me Maybe debuted at #1. Carly played at Citywalk at Universal Studios on April 14 2012. 400 people who paid $5 were allowed to meet with the singer and get CDs autographed by her.

Jepsen, 26, has been criticized in the press for dressing "too young" for her age in an effort to appeal to the pre-teen demographic.^[8][9]

On May 20th, 2012 Jepsen performed "Call Me Maybe" at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards. On May 22th, 2012 she performed "Tug of War", "Curiosity", and "Call Me Maybe" at the first Q102 Springle Ball concert.

[edit] Canadian Idol performances

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Tug of War (2008)

Extended plays[link]

• Curiosity (2012)

Tours[link]

Opening act

• Justin Bieber – Believe Tour (North American dates) (2012)

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Carly Rae Jepsen on Twitter
• Carly Rae Jepsen on Myspace
• "Primetime" Sam Roberts