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Purple Vinyl on black and white table for music photo by Erik Mclean

Top 10 Cool Facts about Joel Little

Joel Little is a New Zealand record producer, musician and Grammy Award-winning songwriter. He was born 1983 in Auckland, New Zealand.

He is best known for his work as a writer and producer with artists Lorde, Taylor Swift, Broods, Sam Smith, Imagine Dragons, Ellie Goulding, Khalid, Elliphant, Jarryd James, Shawn Mendes, Marina Diamandis, Amy Shark, Goodnight Nurse, Olivia Rodrigo, Years & Years, and the Jonas Brothers.

Little trained at the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand (MAINZ) in Auckland. And began his career as singer and guitarist of the pop punk band Goodnight Nurse. The band released two studio albums, Always and Never (2006) and Keep Me on Your Side (2008) both of which peaked at number five on the New Zealand top 40 albums chart. Over the two albums, the band had five singles in the New Zealand top-40 from 2004 to 2008.

Here are the Top 10 Cool Facts about Joel Little

1. Little has co-wrote and co-produced 4songs of Taylor swift 

Taylor Swift Speak Now Tour Hots Sydney, Australia photo by Eva Rinaldi

In 2019, Little co-wrote and co-produced four songs with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her seventh studio album Lover, including “Me!”, “You Need to Calm Down”, “The Man”, and “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”.

Little and Swift also co-wrote and co-produced a fifth track, “Only the Young” which was left off the album. The track was released in 2020 in conjunction with Miss Americana, a documentary on Swift’s life and career; Little appeared in the documentary.

2. He began his career as singer and guitarist of the pop punk band Goodnight Nurse

Little trained at the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand (MAINZ) in Auckland, and began his career as singer and guitarist of the pop punk band Goodnight Nurse. The band released two studio albums, Always and Never (2006) and Keep Me on Your Side (2008) both of which peaked at number five on the New Zealand top 40 albums chart. Over the two albums, the band had five singles in the New Zealand top-40 from 2004 to 2008.

3. The hit single Just a Little Bit” which co-written by Little won the Single of the Year at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards

Photo of black turn on turntable photo by Mihail Macri

Little had produced and also co-wrote the majority of the debut album released by McCarthy’s new group, Kids of 88. The album, Sugarpills was released in 2010 and debuted at number two in the New Zealand album chart.
It had featured three hit singles, “My House”, “Just a Little Bit” and “Downtown” co-written by Little. “Just a Little Bit” went on to win Single of the Year at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards.

4. Joel Little has produced and co-wrote a debut with Lorde

Little also co-wrote, produced, mixed, engineered and played the instruments on the debut Lorde album, Pure Heroine, which was released worldwide in 2013.

In 2013, Little and co-writer Lorde were shortlisted for “Royals” in the 2013 Silver Scroll Award, which honours outstanding achievement in songwriting of original New Zealand pop music. They went on to win this award,at a ceremony on 16 October. He also won a Grammy Award on 26 January 2014, alongside Lorde, winning Song of the Year for “Royals”.

5. He is one of the world’s top songwriters and producers

producer controlling the audio controller photo by Denisse Leon

Joel Little is one of the world’s top songwriters and producers. For having co-written with Taylor Swift on five singles for Lover, and having won a Grammy with Lorde for ‘Royals’ in 2014.

Little has also collaborated with Jarryd James, Jonas Brothers, Tove Lo, Khalid, and Imagine Dragons, among others, and most recently took out the Overseas Recognition Global APRA Music Award in LA.

6.Joel Little features prominently in the Miss Americana documentary

He has been featured features in the Miss Americana documentary due to his contribution to Swift’s Lover album singles ‘Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince’, ‘ME!’ (feat. Brendon Urie), ‘You Need to Calm Down’, and ‘The Man’.

7. He owns and runs the studio Golden Age

Golden Age Studios is Joel Little’s production studio where most of “Pure Heroine” was produced. It is located in Morningside, Auckland. It was set up by producer Joel Little.

8. Joel has been nominated and won the ASCAP Pop Music Awards

Silver records on blue wooden frame photo by Uwe Conrad

The annual ASCAP Pop Music Awards are held by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers to honour the songwriters and publishers of the most performed pop songs in the United States.Some of his works (like those for Imagine Dragons) are controlled in the US by ASCAP’s largest competitor, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI).

He was nominated twice for Ella Yelich-O’Connor and Joel Little for “Royals”in 2014 & 2015. And he won since it was the most performed songs. Little was nominated For 2015 Ella Yelich-O’Connor and Joel Little – “Team and won.

9. He is a Grammy awards winner and also was shortlisted in Silver Scroll Award

Joel has also won a Grammy Award in 2014, alongside Lorde, winning Song of the Year for “Royals”. In 2013, Little and co-writer Lorde were shortlisted for “Royals” in the 2013 Silver Scroll Award. It honours outstanding achievement in songwriting of original New Zealand pop music.

10. Joel Little was in the band for 9 years

A band performing photo by Connor Stelow

When Little was interviewed he stated that he was in the band for nine years. When he was a teenager, Joel was super into pop/punk music. He also loved the Southern California punk scene and bands like NOFX, Lagwagon and Blink-182.

The band was fairly successful down in New Zealand. It had two Top 5 albums down there and got to tour that was great time. He also said that was just a good training ground for him in terms or playing, performing, and figuring out how to write songs. Being in the band was a great experience, but the thing he loved most about it was the creative side (in the studio) and the songwriting.