Claude Kelly

Claude Kelly (born December 28, 1980) is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer. A four-time Grammy Award nominee, he has been credited on commercially successful releases for artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Christina Aguilera, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Lopez, Kesha, Brandy, Keke Wyatt, Tori Kelly, and One Direction. He is one-half of the duo Louis York, which he formed with Chuck Harmony in 2015; the two also co-founded the record label Weirdo Workshop that same year.

Early life and education Kelly was born and raised in New York City. His Jamaican-born mother introduced him to a variety of music styles, including jazz, reggae, blues and R&B. Growing up, he studied piano and flute at the Third Street Music School Settlement and sang with the New York Boys Choir.

Career Songwriting After graduating from Berklee, Kelly worked as a session singer on the East Coast, before starting to write his own songs. He wrote "Daddy's Little Girl" for Frankie J, which was released as a single in 2006, and led to a publishing contract with Warner/Chappell Music. It was one of Jackson's last recordings, and appeared on his 2010 posthumous album Michael. and No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Songs and Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts; Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You", which he co-wrote with Max Martin and Dr. Luke and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; which spent 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at No. 2. Kelly co-wrote and recorded backing vocals for "International Love" by Pitbull featuring Chris Brown, which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards: the 2011 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for Fantasia's "Bittersweet"; two 2012 Grammy Awards, for Song of the Year for Bruno Mars' "Grenade" and Best R&B Song for Ledisi's "Pieces of Me"; Miley Cyrus, Leona Lewis, Jason Derulo, He co-executive produced Karmin's 2012 EP Hello and Tamia's 2012 album Beautiful Surprise, and co-produced Masha's debut rock EP Stupid, Stupid Dreams in 2013. In August 2013, it was announced that he and Jenna Hally Rubenstein were partnering to executive produce and develop a reality television show to find undiscovered music moguls.

Awards Year Award Category Work Result 2011 Grammy Award Best R&B Song "Bittersweet" by Fantasia 2012 Grammy Award Song of the Year "Grenade" by Bruno Mars Grammy Award Best R&B Song "Pieces of Me" by Ledisi 2013 Grammy Award Best R&B Song "Beautiful Surprise" by Tamia

Discography Louis York Title Album details Masterpiece Theater – Act I Released: September 18, 2015 Formats: Digital download Label: Weirdo Workshop Masterpiece Theater – Act II Released: November 18, 2016 Formats: Digital download Label: Weirdo Workshop

As songwriter