David Ernest Malloy is an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

and pop songwriter, record producer and A&R executive with 41 number one hits in some category. He has received multiple

Grammy 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 ...

nominations, as writer and/or producer, and has worked with many artists and projects including

USA for Africa "We Are the World" is a charity record, charity single recorded by the charity supergroup, supergroup USA for Africa in 1985. It was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones for the album ''We Are the World (al ...

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 ...

, ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

'' Julianne Hough,

Eddie Rabbitt Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as " Kentucky Rain ...

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

Reba McEntire Reba Nell McEntire ( ; born March 28, 1955), or simply Reba, is an American country music, country singer and actress. Dubbed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Queen of Country", she has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Sin ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

Mindy McCready Malinda Gayle McCready (November 30, 1975 – February 17, 2013) was an American country music singer. Active from 1995 until her death in 2013, she recorded a total of five studio albums. Her debut album, 1996's '' Ten Thousand Angels'', w ...

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock music, rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (musician), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for th ...

, and Tanya Tucker. Malloy received Grammy nominations for writing the songs "Driving My Life Away" and "One Voice". He received the BMI Burton Award for " Suspicions", a song he wrote with Rabbitt.

Early life

Music was a major part of Malloy's life from an early age. His father, Jim Malloy, is a

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 ...

–winning recording engineer. When Malloy was young, his father worked in recording studios around Los Angeles, but the family moved to

Nashville 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 ...

when David was 13. Malloy took his first guitar lesson at 15 and immediately knew that he wanted to write and produce music for a living.

Music career

Malloy's first major success as a songwriter/producer came in a collaborative effort with country music artists and songwriters

and Even Stevens. Together they produced 16 number one hits. The success Malloy experienced with Rabbitt laid the groundwork for production and songwriting work with artists like

, Tanya Tucker,

and Billy Burnette in the 1980s. Malloy worked in the A&R department of Columbia/Epic Records and then ran the Nashville division of

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

, and was a producer at Elektra in Los Angeles. Malloy produced the Mercury Records debut of Dancing with the Stars' Julianne Hough. The CD entered the country charts at number 1 and at number 3 on the overall Hot 100 chart. He also enjoyed chart success with Tim McGraw's version of "Suspicions" (written with Rabbitt). Other recent projects include co-producing a beach-themed concept album, ''Edge of the Blue'', with songwriter/producer Tim Johnson. Malloy largely retired from music in 2005 following the death of his son, but returned in 2024 to release an album titled ''Mirror''.

References

External links

Teen Hoot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malloy, David Year of birth missing (living people) American country songwriters American male songwriters Record producers from Tennessee Songwriters from Tennessee Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Living people American country record producers