Adam Anders (born October 10, 1975) is a Swedish film, television and music producer who has sold more than 100 million albums and in recent years has become one of the most in-demand executive producers for music-driven film and television. Anders is the CEO of Anders Media, and its record label Deep Well Records, a sub-label of Capitol Music Group. In 2023, Anders made his directorial debut with the film, '' Journey to Bethlehem'', a musical retelling of The Nativity Story, co-written by Peter Barsocchini and Anders, starring Fiona Palomo, Milo Manheim, and Antonio Banderas. In 2013, Adam was named No. 15 in Hollywood Reporter's Top 35 Hitmakers. Anders' work has earned him four

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominations, and two

People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the fans and general public. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls un ...

. As the Executive Music Producer for ''

Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...

'', Anders' musical productions have helped put ''Glee'' on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

Top Songs chart, including original songs that he wrote, such as " Loser like Me" (landing at number one) and " Get It Right" (at number two). ''

'' had at one time seven of the top ten tracks on the

Top Song chart including the above two original songs at one and two respectively, the cast's versions of

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

's " Raise Your Glass" at number three,

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' " Blackbird" at number five,

Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine (musician), James Valentine, d ...

's " Misery" at number six, and another original song, "Hell to the No", at number eight. In May 2011, ''

'' had one of its biggest sales weeks to date with 986,000 downloads of tracks produced by Anders. Anders has a track record of writing and producing music for both established artists and up-and-comers including the

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band formed in 2005 comprising brothers Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the Jonas Brothers moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, in 2005, where they wrote thei ...

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

Clay Aiken Clayton Holmes Aiken (''né'' Grissom; born November 30, 1978) is an American singer, television personality, actor and political activist. Aiken finished second place on the second season of ''American Idol'' in 2003, and his debut album, '' Me ...

and many others. His music can also be heard on many major motion pictures and television shows including

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''

High School Musical 3 ''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' is a 2008 American teen musical film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The sequel to ''High School Musical 2'' (2007) and the third installment of the ''High School Musical'' f ...

'', ''Hannah Montana'', ''Evan Almighty'' and ''The Wedding Planner'', as well as the 2012 film ''Rock of Ages''. Adam Anders launched Los Angeles–based record label,
Deep Well Records
' in 2011. The first artist signed to his label was singer/songwriter/actor Shane Harper, whose self-titled debut album was released on February 14, 2012, and included the Anders-produced first single entitled, "One Step Closer". In addition, he runs Anders Media, Inc., a production company that specializes in developing original music-driven content for major film studios and TV networks. Anders recently moved his label ''Deep Well Records'' to the ''

Capitol Music Group Capitol Music Group is an American front-line umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, itself a division of Universal Music Group. Inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog in 2013, it oversees the handling of ...

,'' and is a consultant for ''

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

''. In October 2015, Anders co-produced "Hollow" by

Tori Kelly Victoria Loren Kelly (born December 14, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained recognition on YouTube before making it through to Hollywood week on the ninth season of ''American Idol'' in 2010 and eventually releasing her debu ...

, which was the featured single on her deluxe edition album, ''Unbreakable Smile''. The song was co-written by several songwriters signed to the Anders-owned publishing company of the same brand
Deep Well Music Publishing
In 2016, Anders added film and TV producing credits as an executive producer for the US version of The Passion. It aired on Palm Sunday, March 20, 2016 on

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

. Anders will also executive produce the soundtrack and act as producer for ABC's remake of

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romance film, romantic drama film, drama Dance in film, dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tel ...

Early life

Adam Anders was born in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Both his parents were professional musicians, traveling and playing all over the world; often bringing their children with them wherever they went. This exposed Adam to a variety of musical and cultural differences at a very early age. Despite being classically trained

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

performers, both his mother and father encouraged him to listen and take influences from all musical styles, from

Rock 'n' Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

Soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. Anders formed his first band at the age of 10, together with his brother and sister and toured

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

with him playing bass. The family later moved to the US, moving around the West Coast. Due to all the traveling, Adam was homeschooled after 5th grade. Due to music being the core of his whole life, Anders became such a prominent bass player that the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

accepted him to the Jazz program at the early age of 13. They declared him a prodigy and he was allowed full credit for taking the college music classes. After graduating at the age of 16, Anders decided to live with his brother in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He worked night shifts and played music during the day. After six months, he got a position as a bass player for the Christian singer-songwriter

Steven Curtis Chapman Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist. Chapman began his career in the late 1980s as a songwriter and performer of cont ...

, allowing him to solely focus on music as a career. After remaining on several major tours, making money to buy more studio equipment, Anders felt that songwriting and producing gave greater satisfaction and decided to transition to studio work.

Career

Early years

Adam Anders began his professional career primarily writing and producing songs for both established artists and up-and-comers. Anders co-wrote the

hit "More Than That" and Steven Curtis Chapman's "Nobody Ever." Anders then worked closely with Disney producing music for major motion pictures and television shows including ''

Camp Rock ''Camp Rock'' is a 2008 musical television film directed by Matthew Diamond from a screenplay by Karin Gist, Regina Hicks, Julie Brown, and Paul Brown. The 73rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), the film stars Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, ...

'' and '' Camp Rock 2'', ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

'' and ''

Sonny With a Chance ''Sonny with a Chance'' is an American teen sitcom created by Steve Marmel that aired on Disney Channel for two seasons between February 2009 and January 2011. The series centers on Sonny Munroe, portrayed by Demi Lovato, a teenage comedian f ...

''. During this time, he collaborated with pop-singers Jesse McCartney,

Nick Lachey Nicholas Scott Lachey ( ; born November 9, 1973) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, producer, TV personality and host. He rose to fame as the lead singer of the multi-platinum-selling boyband 98 Degrees and later starred in the reality ser ...

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles on-screen and in theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatric ...

, and the

. In 2007 and 2008, Anders' music could be heard in

's ''

'' and Universal's ''

Evan Almighty ''Evan Almighty'' is a 2007 American fantasy comedy film that is a spin-off and sequel of '' Bruce Almighty'' (2003). The film was directed by Tom Shadyac, written by Steve Oedekerk, based on the characters created by Steve Koren and Mark ...

''.

''Journey to Bethlehem'' and directorial debut

In 2023, Anders makes his directorial debut with the holiday pop musical, '' Journey to Bethlehem'', starring Fiona Palomo, Milo Manheim, and Antonio Banderas as King Herod. "This live-action Christmas musical celebration for the entire family, weaves classic Christmas melodies into new pop songs in a music-infused retelling of the timeless story of Mary and Joseph and the birth of Jesus." Anders co-wrote the script with Peter Barsocchini, who is best known for writing the ''High School Musical'' series. The film released on November 10, 2023, and features music written and produced by Adam Anders, Peer Astrom, and Nikki Anders.

''Glee'' and other projects

'' In 2009, Anders began producing music for

's hit television show ''Glee''. Producing the popular ''Glee'' anthem "Don't Stop Believin" was the first of many contributions to the show. One year later, Anders was made Executive Music Producer for the musical comedy television show. The producer penned ''Glee'''s first two original songs, "Loser Like Me" and "Get It Right". Throughout his time on the show, he wrote a total of seven original songs and produced all sixteen of the ''Glee'' albums. ''Glee'' had at one time seven of the top ten tracks on the

Top Song chart including the above two original songs at one and two respectively, the cast's versions of

's "Raise Your Glass" at number three,

' "Blackbird" at number five,

's "Misery" at number six, and another original song, "Hell to the No", at number eight. In May 2011, ''Glee'' hit a sales week high with 986,000 downloads of tracks produced by Anders. Other projects During his time on ''Glee'', Anders also launched his

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

–based record label, Deep Well Records. The first artist signed to his label was singer/songwriter/actor Shane Harper, whose self-titled debut album was released on February 14, 2012 and included the Anders-produced first single entitled, "One Step Closer". In 2012, Anders produced music for motion pictures including ''New Year's Eve'' and ''Rock of Ages'', as well as producing

CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway-Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green or simply Cee-Lo), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Green came to initial pr ...

's album ''CeeLo's Magic Moment'', writing "All I Need is Love".

Since 2014

Following his time on ''Glee'', Anders moved onto working with FX's horror television series ''

American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' (''AHS'') is an American horror film, horror anthology series, anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy (producer), Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the Cable television, cable network FX (TV channel), FX. Th ...

''. In 2015, he was a music producer for the

movie, '' Descendants''. The album went #1 on

and included an original song by Anders and his team. In addition, he runs Anders Media, Inc., a production company that specializes in developing original music-driven content for major film studios and TV networks. Anders recently moved his label Deep Well Records to the

, and is a consultant for

. In October 2015, Anders co-produced "Hollow" by

, which was the featured single on her deluxe edition album, ''Unbreakable Smile''. The song was co-written by several songwriters signed to the Anders-owned publishing company of the same brand, Deep Well Music Publishing. Film and television production In 2016, Anders executive produced and arranged music for ''The Passion'' on FOX, which aired on

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

, March 20, 2016. In 2017, Anders produced ABC's anticipated remake of ''

'' starring

Abigail Breslin Abigail Breslin (born April 14, 1996) is an American actress. Following a string of film parts as a young child, she rose to prominence at age 10 after playing Olive Hoover in ''Little Miss Sunshine'' (2006), for which Breslin received a nomin ...

, in addition to executive producing its soundtrack. ''Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'' Anders worked as the Executive Song Producer and Soundtrack album Producer for DreamWorks' '' Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie'' based on the series of children's novels of the same name by

Dav Pilkey David Murray "Dav" Pilkey Jr. (; born March 4, 1966) is an American comic book writer of children's fiction. He is best known as the author and illustrator of the children's book series ''Captain Underpants'' and its spin-off children's graphic ...

. Anders, with longtime collaborator Peer Astrom, produced the eleven-song album. The soundtrack included artists such as

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...

Lil Yachty Miles Parks McCollum (born August 23, 1997), known professionally as Lil Yachty, is an American rapper. He first gained recognition in August 2015 for his viral hit "One Night (Lil Yachty song), One Night", the lead single from his debut extend ...

Andy Grammer Andrew Charles Grammer (born December 3, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been signed to Mushroom Music Publishing since March 2022. His debut album, '' Andy Grammer'', was released in 2011 and spawned the s ...

, Weird Al Yankovic on the film's theme song and original score by Theodore Shapiro (''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

'', ''The Devil Wears Prada'', '' Marley & Me''). MundoNick's ''Kally's Mashup'' In 2017, Anders Media aired its inaugural international program ''

Kally's Mashup ''Kally's Mashup'' is a musical telenovela inspired by the life of Swedish producer Adam Anders. The series first aired on Nickelodeon (Latin American TV channel), Nickelodeon Latin America on October 23, 2017 and aired for two seasons (120 episo ...

'' on

Nickelodeon (Latin America) Nickelodeon is a Hispanic/Latin American pay television channel, counterpart of the American network of the same name. It is owned by Paramount Networks Americas and was launched on 20 December 1996. Aside from airing Nick and Nick Jr. conten ...

. Anders serves as Co-Creator, Executive Producer and Executive Soundtrack Producer alongside Nikki Anders and Peer Astrom. In May 2018, ''Kally's Mashup'' was renewed for a second season, following the wide success of the first season. Monarch In 2021, Anders joined the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

country music drama series ''

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

'' as the show's music supervisor and wrote and produced several songs for the first season, which premiered on September 11, 2022.

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

, - ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Glee: The Music, Volume 1 , Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media , , - ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, Glee: The Music, Volume 4 , Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media , , - ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, Rock of Ages (2012 film) Soundtrack , Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media , , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Cee Lo's Magic Moment (with Cee Lo Green) , Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album , , -

Golden Globe Awards

, - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Best Musical or Comedy , , - ,

, Best Musical or Comedy , , -

ARIA Awards

, - ,

, Wrapped Up Good (with The McClymonts) , Best Country Album , , -

People's Choice Awards

, - ,

, Favorite New TV Comedy , , - ,

, Favorite TV Comedy , , -

Filmography

Television

Film

Discography

Feature films

Movies for television

Television

Albums/songs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anders, Adam Living people 1975 births American people of Swedish descent American record producers Businesspeople from Stockholm