Justin Tranter is fast becoming a one-man Holland-Dozier-Holland — the trio who penned some of Motown’s biggest hits, including “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “I Can’t Help Myself.”
Tranter’s publisher, Warner/Chappell, tells On the Money that he was behind six songs in the Top 40 last week, according to Mediabase, which tracks top radio station plays in the US and Canada — a stunning achievement.
Tranter, an LGBT advocate, penned songs including “Bad Liar,” by Selena Gomez , “Believer,” by Imagine Dragons; “Heavy,” by Linkin Park featuring Kiara; “Issues” by Julia Michaels; “Cold” by Maroon 5; and “Kissing Strangers” by DNCE featuring Nicki Minaj.
The songwriter, who was in Hawaii last week, won BMI’s pop songwriter of the year award earlier this month. On the Money asked him if his dreams were fulfilled and he told us: “There is always a part of me that feels like a glam rocker who was dropped from four record deals, but right now I’m feeling pretty damn joyful that I got to be a part of songs the whole world heard.”
Tranter was a member of the glam rock band “Semi Precious Weapons,” and went on to co-write with Julia Michaels songs such as Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and Gomez’s “Good for You.”
BMI also named Warner/Chappell publisher of the year.