Leah Jacqueline Cooney, known professionally as Haywood (formerly Leah Haywood), is an Australian record producer, songwriter and singer. Born in New Zealand, she grew up in

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, and recorded a top-40 album, ''

Leah Leah () appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has thr ...

'', released in 2001 on

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 ...

, which contained her top-10 single, " We Think It's Love". Two more top-40 hits followed with "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

" in 2000 and " Takin' Back What's Mine" in 2001. She also performed

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

for

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 ...

on " That's the Way It Is", the 1999 hit single from Dion's album '' All the Way... A Decade of Song''. Haywood's song "Summer of Love" was the theme for Channel Ten Australia at the Start of 2002. She opened for

Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...

on the Australian leg of his International tour. Haywood was nominated as Best Female Artist at the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards of

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

. "We Think It's Love" was nominated for Most Performed Australian Work at the 2001 Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA)

Awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

. In 2002, Haywood and husband, Daniel Pringle, relocated to Los Angeles to run Dreamlab, their production and songwriting company.

Career

Haywood was born in New Zealand, but moved to

, at a young age, where she trained on piano and vocals before moving to Sydney by 1999. She signed with

(Australia) to release her debut single, " We Think It's Love", in February 2000, which peaked at number 7 on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. Two more Top 40 hits followed with "

" in August and " Takin' Back What's Mine" in April 2001. Her debut album, ''

'', followed in July and peaked in the Top 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart. In 2002, Haywood moved to Los Angeles, California with her husband, Daniel James, and started Dreamlab, a production and songwriting company managed b
Advanced Alternative Media Inc.
A discography of songs written, co-written and/or produced by Leah Haywood/Dreamlab may be viewed on the AAM website. From their Los Angeles studio, Haywood and James, as Dreamlab, co-wrote and co-produced

Aly and AJ Aly & AJ is an American pop rock duo consisting of sisters Alyson "Aly" Michalka (born 1989) and Amanda Joy "AJ" Michalka (born 1991) from Torrance, California. They signed with Hollywood Records and in 2005, they released their debut album '' ...

's debut top 40 single "Rush" and produced eight tracks on the record; which has sold in excess of a million records worldwide. They have worked with actors

Emmy Rossum Emmanuelle Grey Rossum (born September 12, 1986) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. The accolades she has received include a Saturn Award and Critics' Choice Movie Award, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award, an Independ ...

and

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor and musician. The recipient of numerous accolades in a career on screen spanning four decades, he is known for his leading roles in action films, his amiable public imag ...

on their respective musical endeavours, and had further releases in 2008, including Epic Records rock band, Automatic Loveletter. Dreamlab co-wrote half the tracks and produced the entire record for

Ryan Cabrera Ryan Frank Cabrera ( ; born July 18, 1982) is an American musician. He began his career as a lead singer for the Dallas band Rubix Groove before pursuing his solo career. Following the 2001 release of independent album '' Elm St.'', he released ...

. They have printed a limited number of copies of their electronica EP self-titled ''Dreamlab''. An LP version was completed by late 2008. Also in late 2008, Haywood provided background vocals for the ballad "Out from Under" sung by American pop singer

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

off her sixth studio album, ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

''. In 2009, Haywood co-wrote Perth singer

Cassie Davis Cassie Davis (born 1987) is an Australian singer and songwriter from Perth. Her debut album, '' Differently,'' was released in 2009. Biography Davis was born in Gnangara, Western Australia, the second child of a family of four. Her father, ...

' third single, " Do It Again", and "Pieces", a track on

Allison Iraheta Allison Iraheta (; born April 27, 1992) is an American singing, singer who was the fourth place finalist on the American Idol (season 8), eighth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to ''Idol'', Iraheta won the Telemundo competition ''Quinceañera: ...

's debut album '' Just Like You'', she also wrote "Masquerade" for

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 ...

's second album, ''

Guilty Pleasure A guilty pleasure is something, such as an activity or a piece of media, that one enjoys despite understanding that it is not generally held in high regard or is seen as unusual. For example, a person may secretly enjoy a film while acknowledg ...

'' . She is also known to have co-written and produced at least two tracks from Australian singer Amy Pearson's upcoming second studio album ''Aftershock'', and these are the title track "Aftershock" and "Doctor Love". In 2011, Haywood co-wrote three songs on American singer-songwriter

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

's third studio album " Unbroken"; "Hold Up", "Mistake" and title track "Unbroken". Also co-wrote " Hit the Lights" by American singer

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 ...

from '' When the Sun Goes Down''. Haywood also co-wrote and co-produced the track "

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

" by American rapper

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

from '' Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded''. In 2020, Haywood co-wrote " Lovesick Girls" by South Korean girl group

Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...

from their debut studio album, '' The Album''. In March 2021, Haywood released her first single in 20 years as an artist under the new stage name Haywood, titled "Cheers to Us" featuring Jackson Foote of American pop duo, Loote. A second single, "Backbeat", was released in June with "Bleeder", the third single, released in August. In April 2022, Haywood and her husband were nominated at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

for their work on

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

's ''

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

'' album track, "Off My Face". Haywood's second studio album (and first under the "Haywood" stage name), ''Pressure on My Heart'', was released in July 2022.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Note * After resuming her music career in 2021, from "Cheers to Us" onwards, Haywood began being credited as just "Haywood".

Production and songwriting credits

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. , - ! scope="row" rowspan="1",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, rowspan="1", " Never Really Over" (by

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

) (co-written by Haywood) , Most Performed Pop Work ,

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions o ...

. They commenced in 1987.

Grammy Awards

The

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 ...

, or Grammys, are presented annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc. (NARAS), doing business as The Recording Academy, is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is widely kno ...

. The ceremony honors outstanding achievements in the music industry, with awards of the most popular interest presented during the live televised event.

References

External links

Dreamlab Official MyspaceLayer Cake Records Official WebsiteAAM Management Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Leah 1976 births Living people Musicians from Perth, Western Australia Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian women pop singers 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian women singers