David Hodges (born December 5, 1978) is an American songwriter and record producer from

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

. He was a studio contributor to the rock band

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

from 2000 to 2002, and has co-written and co-produced for pop,

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artists, including

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

, Daughtry,

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 ...

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...

David Archuleta David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American singer and songwriter. At the age of ten, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years ol ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

Carrie Underwood Carrie Marie Underwood (born March 10, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence after winning the fourth season of ''American Idol'' in 2005, returning as a judge beginning with the twenty-third season. Underwood's f ...

, Jessie James,

5 Seconds of Summer 5 Seconds of Summer, often shortened to 5SOS, are an Australian pop rock band formed in Sydney, New South Wales in 2011. The group consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Luke Hemmings, lead guitarist Michael Clifford (musician), Mic ...

, Christina Perri, and

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Career

Hodges co-wrote on

's 2000 demo CD ''

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

'' and 2003 debut album, '' Fallen''. In 2002 in

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, he co-founded with Mark Colbert a band called Trading Yesterday, which released a demo CD called ''The Beauty and the Tragedy'' on May 15, 2004. In 2004, as a credited name on ''Fallen'', Hodges received two

Grammy Awards 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 a ...

for Best Hard Rock Performance and Best New Artist. He and former Evanescence member

Ben Moody Benjamin Moody (born January 22, 1981) is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is known as co-founder of rock band Evanescence, which he departed in 2003 after the release of their debut album '' Fallen'' (2003). After leav ...

co-wrote on

's songs " Because of You" and "Addicted" from her 2004 album '' Breakaway''. "Because of You" reached number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2004, Trading Yesterday, which was renamed The Age of Information, signed a record deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

and moved to Los Angeles, California to work on their major label album. The single "One Day" was released on the soundtrack to the film '' Stealth''. In 2006, they parted ways with Epic and the album, tentatively titled ''More Than This'', was shelved; it was independently released in September 2011. Hodges co-wrote on the single " What About Now" from Daughtry's 2006 debut album. In 2007, The Age of Information released an EP, ''Everything is Broken''. Hodges co-wrote on

's " This Time" and the

' " Something That I Already Know". In July 2008, he signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

as a solo artist. Under Warner, ''The Rising'' (EP) was released digitally on August 11, 2009. He co-wrote and co-produced on ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

'' runner up

's song "

Crush Crush may refer to: * Infatuation or limerence, the romantic attraction to another person * Puppy love, feelings of love, romance, or infatuation felt by young people Crush may also refer to: Film * Crush (1972 film), ''Crush'' (1972 film), a H ...

", which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Hodges took home BMI pop awards for both "Crush" and "What About Now" in 2010. Hodges next worked with

, co-writing "What Can I Say" for her third album '' Play On'' (2009), which went to No. 1 on the Country Billboard Charts. He also co-wrote the songs "Open Up Your Eyes" and "Supernatural" with Daughtry for their second album '' Leave this Town'' (2009), and Jessie James's " Wanted". In 2010, Hodges released a project with John Campbell entitled Avox. He co-wrote with Underwood and Hillary Lindsey on " There's a Place for Us", the end title song of the film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader''. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for best original song in a motion picture. In 2011, Hodges released an album entitled ''Kings & Thieves'' with the band Arrows to Athens. That year, he co-wrote and co-produced on Christina Perri's debut album '' Lovestrong'', including the singles "Arms" and "Distance" featuring

Jason Mraz Jason Thomas Mraz ( ; born June 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He rose to prominence with the release of his debut studio album, ''Waiting for My Rocket to Come'' (2002), which spawned the single "The Remedy (I Won't Wo ...

. Hodges co-wrote the song "Stitch by Stitch" that '' The Voice'' winner

Javier Colon Javier Colon (stylized as Colón; born April 29, 1978) is an American acoustic singer-songwriter. He has referred to his style of music as being "acoustic soul." He was a member of EmcQ and The Derek Trucks Band, and worked with many musicians ...

performed on the first season as his first single, which topped the iTunes pop charts. He also had credits on several songs from David Cook's second album '' This Loud Morning'' (2011). Hodges and songwriting partner Steven Solomon wrote multiple songs together with Tristan Prettyman for her

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

album ''Cedar and Gold''. Hodges worked again with Perri to co-write the song " A Thousand Years" for the soundtrack of the film '' The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1'' (2011). He then co-wrote " The Woman I Love" with Mraz from his album '' Love is a Four Letter Word'' (2012). In 2012, Hodges was one of the producers on

's self-titled album, and co-wrote on multiple songs in the album including " Here's to Never Growing Up", " Rock n Roll", " Let Me Go" featuring

Nickelback Nickelback is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in 1995 in Hanna, Alberta, Hanna, Alberta. Throughout its history, it has consisted of lead guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist Ryan ...

Chad Kroeger Chad Robert Kroeger (, Turton; born November 15, 1974) is a Canadian musician who is best known for being the lead singer, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, and founding member of the rock band Nickelback. In addition to his work with Nic ...

, and "

Hello Kitty , also known by her real name , is a fictional character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as a British anthropomorphized white cat with a red ...

". Hodges also began writing with Tonic frontman Emerson Hart for Hart's solo record ''Beauty in Disrepair''. 2012 also marked the end of Hodges' seven-year publishing relationship with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

after the company was bought by Sony/ATV. Hodges signed with

Kobalt Music Group Kobalt Music Group, Ltd. is an independent Performing rights, rights management and music publishing company. Founded in 2000 by CEO Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt acts primarily as an administrative publishing company, not owning any copyrights. Also ...

and started his own publishing joint-venture with them called Third and Verse. In 2013, Hodges co-wrote for

's single " See You Again" from her album '' Blown Away''. The song went to No. 1 at country radio, and was certified platinum. He also co-wrote Colbie Caillat's "When The Darkness Comes", featured in the soundtrack of the film '' The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones'' (2013). In 2014, he helped write the song "Faith" with

Lacey Sturm Lacey Nicole Sturm ( Mosley, previously Carder; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer and songwriter, known for being lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Flyleaf (band), Flyleaf. In February 2016, Sturm became the first solo femal ...

for her album '' Life Screams''. In 2015, he co-wrote "The Girl You Think I Am" with Underwood from her album '' Storyteller'', and " Jet Black Heart" on

's album ''

Sounds Good Feels Good ''Sounds Good Feels Good'' is the second studio album by Australian pop rock band 5 Seconds of Summer. It was released on 23 October 2015 through the labels Hi or Hey and Capitol Records. In support of the album, the band embarked on the Sounds ...

''. Hodges has also co-written songs from

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...

Gavin DeGraw Gavin Shane DeGraw (born February 4, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. DeGraw rose to fame with his song "I Don't Want to Be" from his debut album ''Chariot (album), Chariot'' (2003); the song became the main theme song for The WB/The CW, ...

, Phillip Phillips,

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music, country singer, songwriter and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin (Blake Shelton song), Austin" from his Blake Shelton (album), self ...

Dan + Shay Dan + Shay is an American country pop duo composed of vocalists and songwriters Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. They are signed to Warner Records Nashville and have released six albums, '' Where It All Began'', '' Obsessed'', '' Dan + Shay'', '' ...

, Hey Violet, Tonight Alive,

Steven Tyler Steven Victor Tallarico (born March 26, 1948), known professionally as Steven Tyler, is an American singer and songwriter. Tyler is best known as the lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the keyboards, h ...

, Molly Kate Kestner,

Hunter Hayes Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an American multi-genre singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is proficient at more than 30 instruments. Hayes released his Hunter Hayes (album), self-titled debut alb ...

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, ...

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...

Discography

*''Musical Demonstrations Part 1'' (2000) *Trading Yesterday - The Beauty & the Tragedy (2004) *Trading Yesterday - One Day (2005) *The Age Of Information - Everything is Broken (2007) *''The Rising EP'' (2009) *AVOX - The Fragile World (2010) *Trading Yesterday - More Than This (2011) *''The December Sessions, Vol. 1'' (2011) *Arrows To Athens - Kings & Thieves (2011) *''Passengers: Weapons EP'' (2013) *''The December Sessions, Vol. 2'' (2013) *''Passengers: Sirens EP'' (2014) *''The December Sessions, Vol. 3'' (2015) *''The December Sessions, Vol. 4'' (2016) *Arrows To Athens - Exile (2016) *''The December Sessions, Vol. 5'' (2017) *''Discrepancies in the Recollection of Various Principles / Side A'' (2019) *''Discrepancies in the Recollection of Various Principles / Side B'' (2019) *Hemiispheres - Grief (2016) *''In The Round'' (2021) *''The Unattainable'' (2023) *''The Unavoidable'' (2023) *''The Inevitable'' (2025)

Awards

: 2004 – Evanescence – Best Hard Rock Performance for " Bring Me to Life"; Best New Artist *

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

: 2010 – Carrie Underwood – " There's a Place For Us" (nomination)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, David American heavy metal keyboardists American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters Musicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Evanescence members Grammy Award winners Living people Writers from Little Rock, Arkansas American performers of Christian music 1978 births 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Arkansas Rock musicians from Arkansas