Page 65 - Powerlist 2019 - Digital Edition

Wayne Hector

Songwriter

People may not recognise the name Wayne Hector straight Media, Publishing & Entertainment
away, but they will definitely recognise the songs he has
written. Wayne has written hits for some of biggest names in
pop music, including One Direction, Donna Summer, Nicki
Minaj and The Pussycat Dolls.
The musical heavyweight has more than 30 No 1 hits and
millions of record sales across the world under his belt, and
is the go-t0 man for artists if they want a sure-fire hit.
This past year, Wayne was the only British songwriter
chosen by Spotify to take part in its Ambassador
Programme, which saw 13 songwriters from around the
world host a Songshop.
A piano player, Wayne started writing songs at the tender
age of nine, starting with one for the wedding of Prince
Charles and Lady Diana. He later formed R&B group Rhythm
and Bass and was signed to record label Sony in the 1990s.
After their split, he concentrated on building his solo career.
His awards shelf is full of some of the most prestigious
awards in the industry. They include the international
achievement award from Ivor Novello, the BMI Country
Award and BMI London Award for his work on Trace Adkins’
Help Me Understand, an ASCAP award in 2005 for his work
on Rascal Flatts’ Feels Like Today and The Pussycat Dolls’ Stormzy
I Hate This Part. He also won at the 2010 Brit Awards for his
work on JLS’s Beat Again. Grime artist
In 2012, Wayne was also recognised as one of the top 25
songwriters by ASCAP. Stormzy, aka Michael Omari, has rarely been out of the
Born in Hackney, he says he was raised around various headlines this year. Most notably, he used his performance
musical genres, with his mother listening to country and at the 2018 Brit Awards to call out Prime Minister Theresa
classical and his father to rock and R&B, and this helped May for not doing enough for the victims of the Grenfell
him develop his musical ear. Asked the secret of writing a Tower tragedy. He also won plaudits when he announced he
hit song, he said: “Honesty; trying to find something that would fund two scholarships for black British students to go
means a lot to the most people. If you can find that one to Cambridge University.
string of truth, then everybody else will get it too.” Described as the “voice of the people”, Michael began
rapping at the age of 11 and turned to music full-time
after working in quality assurance at an oil refinery in
Southampton.
Initially gaining attention on grime’s underground scene,
he later won Best Grime Act at the MOBO Awards, then
became the first unsigned rapper to appear on Later with
Jools Holland. He broke into the BBC Introducing Top Five
on Radio 1, the UK Singles Chart and become the first ever
freestyle to reach the top 40.
Michael’s most successful song to date is the platinum-
selling Shut Up, which was initially released as a freestyle
on YouTube. When it was officially released later, it got to
number eight on the UK Singles Chart.
His album Gang Signs & Prayer, which he produced after a
year away from the limelight, debuted at number one on the
UK albums chart.
He has been a vocal supporter of Labour Party leader
Jeremy Corbyn and the victims of the Grenfell tragedy.
The singer is set to expand his work outside of the music
industry, and in July 2018, a division at Penguin Random
House announced it was launching a new imprint in
partnership with Michael called #Merky Books.
They will publish two to three titles per year, with the
aim of “forming a home for a new generation of voices”. The
publishers will also offer a paid internship.

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