William Gregory Wells (born 1968) is a Canadian

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and mix engineer. He has worked with

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Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Regarded as a pop icon and an influential figure in popular music, Grande is known for her four-octave vocal range, which extends into the whistle re ...

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, J*Davey,

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, Lin-Manuel Miranda,

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

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Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Regarded as a pop icon, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American ...

Stephen Schwartz Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written hit musicals such as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin (musical), Pippin'' (1972), and ...

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Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Every ...

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, the Count Basie Orchestra, Rufus Wainwright, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Ryan Tedder,

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, Jazmine Sullivan,

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, Carrie Underwood,

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, Theophilus London,

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, Crash Test Dummies, and

Sir George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

. Throughout his career, Wells has written or produced projects selling a cumulative 130 million units. A classically and jazz trained multi-instrumentalist, Wells is featured as a drummer in '' Modern Drummer'',"Features: Greg Wells"
''Modern Drummer'', Stephen Belans, July 2016. as a pianist in '' Keyboard'', as a synth programmer in '' Electronic Musician'', as a songwriter in ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' and ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', and as a producer, mix engineer, and music maker on the cover of '' Mix'' with Ryan Tedder in the May 2017 edition.

Early life

Wells grew up in the town of

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

, Canada, the son of

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

Reverend Dr. Bill Wells. At age 11, he was in a wheelchair unable to walk for two years with Perthes' disease. Wells attended Adam Scott CVI, learned to play several instruments, and joined many musical ensembles in his hometown from the local orchestra to bar bands to being a church organist/choir director, as well as DJing dances and presenting a weekly radio show on Trent University Radio CFFF-FM. He studied classical piano, drums, pipe organ, orchestral percussion and music theory at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music. At age 15, Wells was awarded the top prize out of all categories in the Peterborough Kiwanis Music Festival, the Founders Award, and represented Peterborough twice at the Kiwanis Music Provincial Finals for the province of Ontario. At age 17, he attended the

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...

Jazz Music Program in Toronto as a piano major.

Career

After moving from Peterborough to Toronto at age 17, Wells worked as a live and studio musician with Canadian musicians Rob McConnell and Kim Mitchell. He joined Kim Mitchell's band at age 19. Wells recorded keyboards and backing vocals on Mitchell's '' Rockland'', toured Canada several times with the band, and won the award for Best Keyboardist at the 1990 Toronto Music Awards. Wells was awarded a

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

arts grant to study in California with

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorat ...

, composer and string arranger for

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

. He traveled to Los Angeles at age 21 with the intention of returning to Canada, but Fischer began recommending Wells as a pianist. Wells joined k.d. lang's band soon afterward, performing with her on the 1993 Grammy Awards where she won Best Pop Female Vocal. His first recorded song as a songwriter was with

on the double platinum '' Nine Lives'', followed by " The Reason" on

's 31 million selling album, ''

Let's Talk About Love ''Let's Talk About Love'' is the fifteenth studio album and fifth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 14 November 1997 by Sony Music. The follow-up to the commercially successful '' Falling into You'' (1996), ''Le ...

''. DreamWorks executive Lenny Waronker tapped Wells in 2001 to produce Rufus Wainwright. Songwriter Kara DioGuardi started collaborating with Wells in 2003. Wells then produced, mixed and played most of the instruments on Mika's 6 million selling #1 debut album ''

Life In Cartoon Motion ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' is the debut album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was produced by Greg Wells, mixed by Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant. The album was released via Casabl ...

''. In 2007, Wells produced both

's and

's version of the song, " Apologize". The song ranked number 50 on the list of the Billboard Hot 100's All-Time Top Songs list from the chart's first 50 years. It stayed at number one for eight consecutive weeks on the Billboard Pop 100 chart, and spent 25 consecutive weeks in the top 10. It was ranked number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade. The biggest selling worldwide album of 2018 '' The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was produced and mixed by Wells. Wells has designed best selling music software, creating the "El Rey" compressor plugin with Acustica Audio and Studio DMI, and a signature series of plugins with

Waves Audio Waves Audio Ltd. is an Israeli developer and supplier of professional digital audio signal processing technologies and audio effects, used in recording, mixing, mastering, post production, broadcast, and live sound. The company's corporate headq ...

. Wells, Ryan Tedder and Nina Woodford co-wrote (with Wells producing and mixing) the 2019 Special Olympics theme song "Right Where I'm Supposed To Be", executive produced by

. The song was performed by Ryan Tedder,

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 ...

Luis Fonsi Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for his soulful and dance oriented songs, most notably 2017's "Despacito". Fonsi received his first Latin ...

, Hussain Al Jassmi, Assala Nasri and

Tamer Hosny Tamer Hosny Sherif Abbas Farghaly (; born 16 August 1977), known by his stage name Tamer Hosny (), is an Egyptian singer and actor. He first came to public attention when he appeared on mixed tapes with other Egyptian artists. Hosny launched his ...

live at the opening ceremonies in Abu Dhabi. Wells produced the

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 ...

and

Golden Globe 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 Januar ...

nominated song " Beautiful Ghosts" performed by

for the 2019 film ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', an adaptation of the 1981 musical of the same name. The song is co-produced with ''Cats'' creator

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

, and written by Taylor Swift and Lloyd Webber. Wells received a Grammy nomination for co-producing and mixing all songs for Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2021 movie and soundtrack album '' In the Heights'', directed by Jon M. Chu. Wells worked on a second film with Alex Lacamoire and Miranda, the animated hit movie musical '' Vivo'' directed by

Kirk DeMicco Kirk DeMicco (born May 15, 1969) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his work on animated films, such as writing and directing ''Space Chimps'' (2008), ''The Croods'' (2013), ''Vivo (film), Vivo'' (2021), and ''Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kr ...

. Wells also worked on a third film for Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial debut, mixing the songs in the musical film '' Tick, Tick... Boom!''. Wells is the music producer, mix engineer, and multi-instrumentalist for both '' Wicked'' films and soundtrack albums.

Personal life

Wells is married to Swedish songwriter Nina Woodford. He has six children. He worked out of his studio in Los Angeles until it was destroyed along with his home in January 2025 during the Palisades Fire.

Credits

*'' Wicked'' - Wells is music producer for all songs in both films and soundtrack albums, mix engineer and rhythm section multi-instrumentalist playing drums, keyboards, bass and guitars. *

– Best R&B Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards Wells co-produced, mixed, performed piano, and co-wrote the song "Never Break" from the album ''

Bigger Love ''Bigger Love'' is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter and musician John Legend. It was released on June 19, 2020, through Columbia Records. The album includes the singles " Conversations in the Dark", "Actions", "Bigger Love", a ...

''. *

– '' 21'', the best-selling album of the 21st century, co-wrote the song "One and Only" *'' The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' – Wells won a 2019

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 ...

for producing and mixing this number 1 album on iTunes in 77 countries, number 1 in the UK album sales chart for 28 weeks, number 1 in the US album sales chart for three weeks, with the single "This Is Me" winning a 2018 Golden Globe and nominated/performed on the 2018 Academy Awards. The album is the best-selling worldwide album of 2018. *

– 2× Platinum album '' Vessel'' produced and mixed. *'' In the Heights'' – received 5th Grammy nomination for co-producing and mixing the songs with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Lacamoire, and Bill Sherman. *

– produced the

and

nominated song " Beautiful Ghosts". *

and

– produced worldwide number 1 hit " Apologize", both the

remix and the original version. * Mika – produced, mixed, and played electric guitar, drums, piano and bass guitar on Mika's chart-topping debut single " Grace Kelly" from the album ''

Life in Cartoon Motion ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' is the debut album released by British singer-songwriter Mika. The album was produced by Greg Wells, mixed by Wells, with co-production on two songs by Jodi Marr and John Merchant. The album was released via Casabl ...

'' which stayed at number 1 for seven weeks in the UK. *

– cowrote #1 European single "The Reason" from the 31 million selling album ''

Awards

Wells received the Pensado Giant Award at the 2017 Pensado Awards for achievements in the field of record-making. He has been nominated for a Grammy six times, won a Grammy in 2019 for his production and mixing on ''The Greatest Showman'' film and soundtrack album, and in 2023 won a 2nd Grammy for Michael Buble's album ''Higher''. In June 2015, Wells was awarded an honorary degree from his alma mater Humber College, a music school in Toronto. Wells was nominated as producer of the year in 2000 and 2019 at the Canadian Juno Awards. , - ! scope="row" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, " Love Today" ,

Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

, , - ! scope="row" ,

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 ...

, '' Teenage Dream'' ,

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the r ...

, , - ! scope="row" ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, '' The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' ,

Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media The Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media has been awarded since 2000. History In 2000 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album, and from 2001 to 2011 as Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for ...

, , - ! scope="row" ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, '' In The Heights: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' ,

, , - ! scope="row" ,

, '' Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella'' , Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album , , - ! scope="row" ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, '' Higher'' , Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album ,

References

External links

Wells interviewed in ''Variety'' July 2018

Wells interviewed in ''The Advocate'' August 2018

Wells interviewed by Grammys June 2018

Wells interviewed in ''Electronic Musician'' magazine, Dec 2011

Wells interviewed in ''American Songwriter'', Nov 2011

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Greg Living people Canadian male songwriters Canadian record producers Grammy Award winners Humber College alumni Musicians from Peterborough, Ontario 21st-century Canadian male musicians 1968 births