Hayley Gene Penner

Hayley Gene Penner (born November 5, 1985) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and author based in Los Angeles. She has written for artists including the Chicks, Sabrina Claudio, Lennon Stella, Charlotte Lawrence and The Chainsmokers. Penner began releasing music under her full name in 2018. In September 2020, she released her debut album, People You Follow, with a memoir of the same name.

Early life and education Penner was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, the eldest daughter of Canadian children's music performer Fred Penner and Odette Heyn, a choreographer and founder of a contemporary dance school.

At age 17, Penner was hosting CBC children's programming and lending her voice to commercials for companies like Cheez Whiz, McDonald's, Kraft Dinner and Hamburger Helper.

Penner moved to Toronto, where she studied journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University and formed the electronic dance band TuZO with a friend. After university, Penner worked at Châtelaine before spending six months writing restaurant reviews for a magazine in London.

Music career Songwriting Penner moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to sign a publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis and the Messengers. Penner writes for other artists, including 11 songs with Sabrina Claudio across her first two projects Confidently Lost and About Time, 7 with Alina Baraz, and other artists such as Lennon Stella, Charlotte Lawrence, and Sinead Harnett. Hayley wrote “Everybody Loves You” on The Chicks' 2020 return album, Gaslighter.

Penner's songwriting partnership with Charlotte Lawrence continued with her joining Lawrence on tour and as an opening act at New York’s Bowery Ballroom and Los Angeles’s The Troubadour.

Solo career In 2011, Penner signed with Universal Music Canada and began releasing and writing music under the name W. Darling.

In 2017, Penner split from Universal Music Canada and began releasing music through AWAL under her full name Hayley Gene Penner, moving away from the electronic pop returning to her roots as an acoustic, folk singer-songwriter. Penner released five singles in 2018, two in 2019, and five in 2020.

Memoir Alongside her debut album, Penner wrote a memoir, also titled People You Follow, about her experience as a female songwriter in the music industry and the hidden, toxic side of the business. n/a

Songwriting credits