Eliot Kennedy, the mastermind behind pop’s hit parade, has released a new single, A Love of Your Own.
The cover of the ‘70s funk classic by The Average White Band features on Kennedy’s deeply personal first album, A Yacht Named Sue, written and produced in lockdown.
Known as the ‘songwriter to the stars’, Kennedy’s hits, co-written with his song writing partner Bryan Adams, include Baby When You’re Gone featuring Mel C, the title song to Celine Dion’s massive album, Let’s Talk About Love, and Never Gonna Break My Faith with Aretha Franklin and Mary J Blige, which won a Grammy.
Eliot said: “My first album is the story of my life, so it’s 25 years in the making. I included the cover of A Love of Your Own, because I wanted the album to be an honest statement of who I am. Sometimes someone has already written the song that you are trying to write.”
A Love of Your Own is from the album Soul Searching by The Average White Band, widely regarded as one of the best soul and funk bands in the history of music.
The new single also features an exclusive new track written by Kennedy, Turn out the Stars.
Kennedy is known for developing the careers of major boy and girl bands. His first no.1 hit was Take That’s Everything Changes, co-written with Gary Barlow. His first global hit was the Spice Girls’ Say You’ll Be There. He has written and produced for S Club, Five, Blue and Billy Piper. Picture of You for Boyzone won an Ivor Novello. Eliot also worked as a Talent Director on ITV’s The X-Factor, where he mentored finalists in the show, and has written smash-hit Broadway musicals.
A Yacht Named Sue, inspired by the Yacht rock genre from the mid-1970s and early ‘80s epitomized by Hall & Oates, Foreigner and Michael Macdonald, is the first time that the producer and songwriter has stepped into the spotlight himself.
Eliot said: “My album is full of emotional statements and moments from my life. I didn’t see the point in making it, unless it was true and emotional and had the potential to really connect with people.”
Many of his global hits have been produced in Steelworks Studios in Sheffield. A proud Yorkshire man, the music video for A Love of Your Own was filmed on Hunmanby Gap beach near Filey, showcasing the beautiful Yorkshire coastline.
Watch A Love of Your Own here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5QXLRvRCLU
A Yacht Named Sue, Eliot Kennedy’s debut album, is out now. https://open.spotify.com/album/2a1onXnQ2hGgm7OJ8oZJuL
Notes to Editors
About Eliot Kennedy – composer, songwriter, record producer
Sheffield-based Eliot Kennedy is a Grammy and Ivor Novello award winner, Golden Globe Nominee and the co-writer with Gary Barlow of the hit Broadway musical Finding Neverland, as well as an A list film score composer on both sides of the Atlantic.
It’s a song I’ve loved all of my life. The current single from the album. Always been an important song to me, it’s the soundtrack of my life. Its very Yacht Rock.
Eliot’s first No 1 was Take That’s Everything Changes which he co-wrote and co-produced with Gary Barlow which started their long running song-writing partnership. In 2012 they co-wrote, and Eliot produced, that year’s biggest selling single Sing, the official song for the Diamond Jubilee. They co-wrote songs for ITV’s Britannia High series for which Eliot also scored all of the episodes.
His first global success was the Spice Girls single Say You’ll Be There. He’s also had major hits as writer/producer with Celine Dion, Boyzone, Blue, S Club 7, Five, Billie Piper, Atomic Kitten, Bryan Adams and Take That. He and Bryan co-wrote Mel C’s hit When You’re Gone.
Eliot won the Grammy for Never Gonna Break My Faith, performed by Aretha Franklin and Mary J Blige for multi-award-winning feature Bobby and was beaten by Prince for the Golden Globe that year. His Ivor Novello was for Boyzone’s Picture Of You. He won Canada’s Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year jointly with Bryan Adams for their song When You’re Gone and the two of them were nominated for the Critic Choice Award for Never Let Go which featured in the movie The Guardian. In New York Finding Neverland won the Broadway.com Best Musical award and also Best song for Believe.
https://www.steelworksstudios.com/
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