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‘Get on with it’ – How headteacher inspired Sheffield-born Grammy winning songwriter and producer Eliot Kennedy
Sheffield-born songwriter and producer Eliot Kennedy has credited a former headteacher with giving him the encouragement that set him on his music career. The Grammy winner said the advice to stop waiting and pursue his ambition prompted him to take a job as a studio tea boy, beginning a path that later brought international success.
Kennedy attended Dinnington High School after spending part of his childhood in Australia, and began writing songs with his brother as a teenager. He went on to work with artists including Take That, the Spice Girls, Boyzone, Céline Dion and Bryan Adams; his co-written song ‘Never Gonna Break My Faith’, recorded by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige for the film *Bobby*, received a Grammy. He has also won an Ivor Novello Award and remains based in Sheffield.
In short
- A headteacher’s advice pushed Eliot Kennedy towards music.
- He began professionally as a studio tea boy.
- Kennedy later became a Grammy-winning songwriter and producer.
Explained simply
Eliot Kennedy is a songwriter and music producer from Sheffield. He has worked with some of the biggest names in music and remains based in his hometown.
Kennedy has collaborated with artists including Take That, the Spice Girls, Boyzone, Céline Dion and Bryan Adams throughout his career. He co-wrote the song 'Never Gonna Break My Faith', performed by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige for the film Bobby, which won a Grammy Award. He has also won an Ivor Novello Award.
Kennedy's career began when he took a job as a tea boy in a recording studio in his youth. He had already written songs with his brother whilst at Dinnington High School. He subsequently built a career as a songwriter and music producer.
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