Iconic songwriter Glen Ballard was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023. He chatted at the red carpet event prior to the induction ceremony, which was held on June 15 at the Marriot Marquis in New York City.
“It feels like a million dollars, after taxes, baby,” Ballard said with a sweet laugh about his induction into the coveted Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Background on Glen Ballard
Ballard is a six-time Grammy award-winning songwriter and record producer, an Olivier Award winner, and an Academy Award nominee for “Best Original Song” for the co-writing song “Believe” from “The Polar Express” with Alan Silvestri.
He co-wrote and arranged “Man in the Mirror” for Michael Jackson and co-wrote and produced the critically acclaimed Alanis Morrissette album Jagged Little Pill, one of the best-selling records of all time at 33 million worldwide, which is also a successful Broadway musical.
Ballard has written songs for such diverse musical artists as Wilson Phillips (“Hold On”), Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews (“The Space Between”), George Strait, Josh Groban, Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Chaka Khan, Andrea Bocelli, Katy Perry, Ringo Starr, George Benson, Shakira, and Idina Menzel, among others.
Ballard also co-wrote the song score and was an executive producer for Netflix’s series The Eddy. In addition, he co-wrote the original songs for Back to the Future the Musical, the 2022 Olivier Award winner for “Best New Musical,” which will be coming to Broadway in the summer of 2023.
Advice for young and aspiring songwriters
For young and aspiring songwriters, he said, “The best advice I can give songwriters is to listen to some one of the greatest songs that have ever been written and listen to everything that is on the radio and find the difference between both of those things. Write as frequently as you can.”
“Don’t sit around and wait for inspiration, inspire yourself. If you are not inspired, go and take a walk, or overhear a conversation on the subway. There is something that you can write about. If you don’t have it in your own box, just walk out on the street and you will find it,” he said.
“Allow yourself to be inspired, be courageous, and take chances. Try not to copy, try to be original, it’s very hard,” he added.
Working with Alanis Morissette on ‘Jagged Little Pill’
Ballard opened up about working with Alanis Morissette on her seminal album “Jagged Little Pill.” “Working with Alanis was like a walk in the park,” he said. “We just had fun. We got together 20 times, and we wrote 20 songs… ‘Jagged Little Pill.’ Everybody thought she was angry; no, she was laughing all the way. We were just having fun. There was an angry song in there but most of it was just magic and inspired.”
To learn more about 2023 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Glen Ballard, follow him on Instagram.
