Hit Songs You Didn't Know Were Written by Other Famous Stars

You know every word of these songs. You've sung them in the car, at weddings, into a hairbrush. But here's the thing — the artist on the record isn't always the person who wrote it. Some of the biggest hits of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s were songs written by other famous stars — superstars moonlighting as songwriters, handing away material that would define somebody else's career.

Here are the ones that still surprise people, with the writers who deserve the credit.

Prince, the one-man hit factory

Prince didn't just rule the 80s under his own name — he stocked other people's careers on the side.

• Manic Monday — The Bangles' breakout was a Prince song, written under the alias "Christopher." It went to #2… kept out of the top spot by Prince's own "Kiss."
• I Feel for You — Chaka Khan's 1984 smash started life on Prince's own 1979 album.
• The Glamorous Life — written for Sheila E., who turned it into a percussion-driven classic.
• Jungle Love — The Time's funkiest moment came out of the Prince camp too.

Dig through everything on his songwriter page.

Dolly Parton wrote that song

Yes, that one. I Will Always Love You — the Whitney Houston ballad that sat at #1 for 14 straight weeks in 1992-93 — was written and first recorded by Dolly Parton back in 1973, as a farewell to her mentor Porter Wagoner. Two different eras, two classics, one writer from East Tennessee.

Bob Dylan, everybody's favorite supplier

The 60s ran on Dylan covers. Some became more famous than his originals:

• All Along the Watchtower — Jimi Hendrix's version was so definitive that Dylan started playing it Hendrix's way.
• Mr. Tambourine Man — The Byrds electrified it and invented folk-rock in the process.
• Blowin' in the Wind — Peter, Paul and Mary took it to the top of the charts before most people knew Dylan's name.
• The Mighty Quinn — a hit for Manfred Mann; It Ain't Me Babe — a hit for The Turtles.

More on his songwriter page.

Otis Redding wrote "Respect"

Aretha Franklin owns Respect — nobody's arguing. But Otis Redding wrote it and recorded it first in 1965. Aretha flipped the perspective, added the R-E-S-P-E-C-T spell-out, and made it an anthem. Redding reportedly said she'd taken his song from him — and he meant it as a compliment.

Willie Nelson, Nashville's secret weapon

Before the braids and the buses, Willie Nelson paid his bills writing hits for other people: Funny How Time Slips Away (a hit for Joe Hinton), Hello Walls (Faron Young), and "Crazy" — the Patsy Cline standard that might be the most-played jukebox song of all time.

Shel Silverstein — yes, the children's book guy

The author of The Giving Tree also wrote A Boy Named Sue for Johnny Cash, plus Dr. Hook's Sylvia's Mother and The Cover of "Rolling Stone". Check his songwriter page and try to reconcile it with your childhood bookshelf.

Diane Warren wrote half your slow dances

Not a performer — a pure songwriter, and maybe the most successful one of the era. Diane Warren wrote:

• If I Could Turn Back Time — Cher
• I Don't Want to Miss a Thing — Aerosmith's only #1
• Because You Loved Me — Céline Dion
• Un-Break My Heart — Toni Braxton
• How Do I Live — LeAnn Rimes
• Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now — Starship
• Rhythm of the Night — DeBarge
• Blame It on the Rain — Milli Vanilli (somebody had to write it)

David Foster, the ballad architect

The producer's producer also co-wrote St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion), Chicago's Hard to Say I'm Sorry, Peter Cetera's Glory of Love, The Tubes' She's a Beauty — and, in his disco days, Cheryl Lynn's Got to Be Real. Full list on his songwriter page.

Nile Rodgers: from Chic to everywhere

With Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers wrote Sister Sledge's We Are Family and Diana Ross's Upside Down. And when the Sugarhill Gang built Rapper's Delight on Chic's "Good Times" groove, Rodgers and Edwards ended up with writing credit on hip-hop's first mainstream hit.

The quick hits

• Neil Young wrote Lotta Love, a top-10 for Nicolette Larson. (his page)
• Phil Everly wrote When Will I Be Loved — an Everly Brothers original that Linda Ronstadt drove into the top 5 in 1975. (his page)
• Buddy Holly wrote It's So Easy — Ronstadt again, twenty years after Holly. (his page)

And the stars who really did write their own

The flip side of the question "who actually wrote it?" — some artists people assume had help wrote the big ones themselves. Rod Stewart co-wrote Maggie May with guitarist Martin Quittenton and Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? with drummer Carmine Appice. Billy Joel wrote every note of "Piano Man" and "Uptown Girl." Madonna co-wrote nearly everything she recorded, from "Lucky Star" to "Ray of Light."

Go down the rabbit hole

Every songwriter above has a page listing the songs we carry with their name in the credits — start at the songwriters index, or flip it around and browse producers. And if one of these blew your mind in 1985 or blows it now, leave a memory on the song page. That's what we're here for.