Albert Hammond

Albert Louis Hammond OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a Gibraltarian singer, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he collaborated most notably with the songwriters Mike Hazlewood, John Bettis, Diane Warren, Holly Knight and Carole Bayer Sager. He wrote commercially successful singles for artists including Celine Dion, Joe Dolan, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Leo Sayer, Tina Turner, Glen Campbell, Julio Iglesias, Willie Nelson, Lynn Anderson, and Bonnie Tyler, and bands Ace of Base, Air Supply, Blue Mink, Chicago, Heart, Living in a Box, The Carpenters, The Hollies, The Pipkins, Starship, and Westlife. Notable songs co-written by Hammond include "Make Me an Island" and "You're Such a Good Looking Woman" by Joe Dolan, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship, "One Moment in Time" sung by Whitney Houston, "The Air That I Breathe", a hit for The Hollies, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" a Julio Iglesias/Willie Nelson duet, and "When I Need You" by Leo Sayer. In 2015 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection. He is a solo singer in his own right. His biggest (and only Top 20) Billboard hit was "It Never Rains in Southern California", #5 US 1972. Other songs of his include "Down by the River", "The Free Electric Band", "I'm a Train", and "When I'm Gone". For a time he was part of the vocal group The Family Dogg, with whom he had the hit "A Way of Life". He has also produced for a number of artists.