Chuck Harmony

Charles T. Harmon (born 1979),[1] better known as Chuck Harmony, is an American music producer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur, based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a three-time Grammy Award nominee, and won a 2011 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song for Fantasia’s "Bittersweet".

Chuck Harmony
Birth nameCharles T. Harmon
Born1979 (age 41–42)
East St. Louis, IL
GenresPop, R&B, soul
Occupation(s)Record producer
Songwriter
Arranger
Engineer
Co-founder, Weirdo Workshop
InstrumentsPiano, guitar, drums
Years active2006–present
LabelsKobalt Music Publishing
Weirdo Workshop
Associated acts

Early life

Harmon was born and raised in East St. Louis, Illinois.[1] He grew up performing in church.[2] At age 4, he learned to play the drums, which quickly led to Harmon playing the trombone, tuba, piano, in addition to singing in the church choir. He studied music at Alabama State University, where he took piano lessons with the goal of becoming a jazz pianist. After college, he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia.[3]

Career

Songwriting and producing (2007-present)

Harmon's first major songwriting credit was as a co-writer alongside Ne-Yo on Celine Dion's "I Got Nothin' Left" from her 2007 album Taking Chances.[2][3] He has since earned production, composition, songwriting and instrumentation credits on songs by artists including Ne-Yo, Toni Braxton, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Janet Jackson, John Legend, Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, Anthony Hamilton, Johnny Gill, Keyshia Cole, Keri Hilson, K'naan, Bono and Corinne Bailey Rae.[1][3][4][5][6][7]

Harmony was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for co-producing Ne-Yo's Year of the Gentleman;[2][3][8] for Best R&B Song at the 2011 Grammy Awards for co-writing Fantasia’s "Bittersweet";[2][9] and for Best R&B Song at the 2012 Grammy Awards for co-writing Ledisi's "Pieces of Me".[10] He won a 2011 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Song for "Bittersweet".[11] He produced "Work in Progress (Growing Pains)" on Mary J. Blige's album Growing Pains, which won the 2009 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album.[12] He and Ne-Yo wrote and produced Rihanna's "Russian Roulette", the lead single from her 2009 album Rated R.[13][14] He produced the single "One in a Million" from Ne-Yo's 2010 album Libra Scale,[15] and produced and co-wrote Keri Hilson's 2010 single "Pretty Girl Rock".[12]

Louis York (2015-present)

Harmony and Claude Kelly met while working on R&B singer Chrisette Michele's 2009 album Epiphany. They went on to write and produce together for artists including Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Jessie J, Faith Evans, Ledisi and Fantasia.[1]

In 2015, Harmony and Kelly formed the progressive band Louis York. Their debut EP, Masterpiece Theater – Act I, was released in 2015. Harmony plays keyboards, guitars, drums and the vocoder on the album.[1][16] The follow-up, Masterpiece Theater – Act II, was released in 2016, following the EP's lead single "Don't Play".[17] Louis York is the first act on their artist collective and record label Weirdo Workshop, which is distributed by Sony-owned RED Distribution.[1][16][18]

Awards
Year Award Category Work Result
2009 Grammy Award Album of the Year Year of the Gentleman by Ne-Yo Nominated
2011 Grammy Award Best R&B Song "Bittersweet" by Fantasia Nominated
NAACP Image Award Outstanding Song Won
2012 Grammy Award Best R&B Song "Pieces of Me" by Ledisi Nominated

Discography

Louis York
Title Album details
Masterpiece Theater – Act I
Masterpiece Theater – Act II
  • Released: November 18, 2016
  • Formats: Digital download
  • Label: Weirdo Workshop

As writer and producer
Main article: Chuck Harmony production discography

References
  1. Gerrick D. Kennedy, "Hitmakers Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony debut as Louis York," Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2015.
  2. Kevin C. Johnson, "E. St. Louisan gets second try at Grammy," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 13, 2011.
  3. "5 Questions With… Chuck Harmony," Grammy.com, April 6, 2012.
  4. Stacy-Ann Ellis, "Get Your Blessing With Anthony Hamilton's New Single, 'Amen'," Vibe, January 21, 2016.
  5. Gail Mitchell, "Johnny Gill Talks 'Game Changer' Success, Bobby Brown, Jamie Foxx & New Edition Biopic," Billboard, March 8, 2016.
  6. Rebecca Thomas, "Keyshia Cole Says Calling All Hearts Shows 'Both Sides' of Love," MTV.com, December 21, 2010.
  7. "K'NAAN ft. Bono – Bulletproof Pride," DJBooth.net, 2013.
  8. "Grammy Awards: List of Winners," The New York Times, February 8, 2009.
  9. Latifah Muhammad, "Ledisi Grammy Nominations: Singer Says 'It's an Honor'," The Boombox, December 2, 2011.
  10. Kevin C. Johnson, "Ledisi rises from underground to mainstream success," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 13, 2012.
  11. Brian Mansfield, "Fantasia wins Image Award for 'Bittersweet'," USA Today, March 7, 2011.
  12. Caroline Simionescu-Marin, "Chuck Harmony on Saving R&B, Jessie J and why Drake is the ish…" Archived April 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine The IMC Magazine, November 18, 2013.
  13. Alim Kheraj, "Rihanna: The surprising stories behind six of her biggest hits," Digital Spy, September 18, 2016.
  14. Jocelyn Vena, "Rihanna May Have Released 'Russian Roulette' for 'Shock Value,' Producer Says," MTV News, October 21, 2009.
  15. Sean Fennessey, "Ne-Yo Records Concept Album About Superheroes," Rolling Stone, July 14, 2010.
  16. Aggi Ashagre, "Rihanna Hitmakers Louis York Ready for Spotlight on 'Masterpiece Theater': Exclusive EP Premiere," Billboard, September 17, 2015.
  17. "Louis York Premiere New Single 'Don't Play'," thisisrnb.com, September 22, 2016.
  18. "Kelly, Harmony, Night Agency Launching Indie Artist Collective," Music Connection, August 27, 2015.

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