Quick Facts
Biography
Basil Glen Ballard, Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill (1995), which won Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" , and was ranked by the Rolling Stone as one of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. He is also well known for his collaborations with composer Alan Silvestri. He was involved in the recording and writing of Michael Jackson's Thriller and Bad. As a writer he co-wrote songs including "Man in the Mirror" (1987)and "Hand in My Pocket" (1995). He is the founder of Java Records. He won the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture for the song "Believe" (The Polar Express). In 2011, he founded his own production company known as Augury, a Hollywood atelier focused on developing music-driven projects in film, television, and theatre.
Discography
He has performed on or produced the following:
- Michael Jackson — Thriller (1982)
- Pointer Sisters — Break Out (1983)
- Patti Austin — Patti Austin (1984)
- Evelyn King — So Romantic (1984)
- Jack Wagner — All I Need (1984)
- Jack Wagner — Lighting Up the Night (1985)
- Teddy Pendergrass — Workin' It Back (1985)
- The Pointer Sisters - "Hot Together" (1986)
- Michael Jackson — Bad (1987)
- Jack Wagner — Don't Give Up Your Day Job (1987)
- Paula Abdul — Forever Your Girl (1988)
- Paula Abdul — Shut Up and Dance (1990)
- Wilson Phillips — Wilson Phillips (1990)
- Curtis Stigers — Curtis Stigers (1991)
- Michael Jackson — Dangerous (1991)
- Wilson Phillips — Shadows and Light (1992)
- Trey Lorenz — Trey Lorenz (1992)
- Jack Wagner — Alone in the Crowd (1993)
- K. T. Oslin — Greatest Hits: Songs from an Aging Sex Bomb (1993)
- Lea Salonga — Lea Salonga (1993)
- Evelyn King — Love Come Down: The Best of Evelyn "Champagne" King (1993)
- Alanis Morissette — Jagged Little Pill (1995)
- Sheena Easton — My Cherie (1995)
- Chynna Phillips — Naked And Sacred (1995)
- Toto - Tambu (1995)
- Curtis Stigers — Time Was (1995)
- Van Halen — Best Of – Volume I ("Me Wise Magic" and "Can't Get This Stuff No More") (1996)
- Aerosmith — Nine Lives (1997)
- The Corrs — Talk On Corners (1997)
- Brendan Lynch — Brendan Lynch (1997)
- Alanis Morissette — Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998)
- Block — Timing Is Everything (1998)
- The Moffatts — Chapter I: A New Beginning (1999)
- No Doubt — Return of Saturn (2000)
- TITAN A.E. — Music From The Motion Picture (2000)
- Judith Owen — Limited Edition (2000)
- Bliss 66 — Trip to the 13th (2001)
- Shakira — "The One" (2001)
- Dave Matthews Band — Everyday (2001)
- Crashed..... (2001)
- Live - "Forever Might Not Be Long Enough" (2001)
- Shelby Lynne - Love, Shelby (2001)
- Sheila Nicholls — Wake (2002)
- Christina Aguilera — Stripped (2002) (co-wrote The Voice Within)
- Lisa Marie Presley — To Whom It May Concern (2003)
- Anastacia — Anastacia (2004)
- Elisa — Pearl Days (2004)
- Van Halen — The Best Of Both Worlds (2004)
- Fragile System — Atomic Tiger (2004)
- Katy Perry — (A) Katy Perry (2004; Album Filed)
- Alanis Morissette — Jagged Little Pill Acoustic (2005)
- O.A.R. — Stories of a Stranger (2005)
- Hayley Westenra - The New World Soundtrack (2005)
- Goo Goo Dolls — Let Love In (2006)
- P.O.D. — Testify (2006)
- Annie Lennox — Dark Road (2007)
- Carina Round — Slow Motion Addict (2007)
- Emmy Rossum — Inside Out (2007)
- Annie Lennox — Songs of Mass Destruction (2007)
- Anouk — Who's Your Momma (2007)
- A Hero Comes Home (2007)
- Katy Perry — One of the Boys (2008)
- Idina Menzel — I Stand (2008)
- Anna Vissi — Apagorevmeno (2008)
- Wilson Phillips — Christmas in Harmony (2010)
- Stevie Nicks — In Your Dreams (2011) (produced tracks with Dave Stewart)
- Anastacia — It's a Man's World (2012)
- Ringo Starr - Ringo 2012 (2012)
Screenplay
Ballard wrote the screenplay for Clubland, a music-driven film about an aspiring musician in Los Angeles. He has written songs in half-a-dozen films including The Slugger’s Wife, Navy Seals, The Polar Express, and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Musical theater
Ballard co-wrote the music and lyrics for Ghost The Musical with David A. Stewart and Bruce Joel Rubin, which opened in London's West End on 19 July 2011 and opened on Broadway in the spring of 2012.
On 31 January 2014, it was announced that a stage musical adaptation of the film Back to the Future was in production. The show, which is being co-written by original writers Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, is expected to be performed in 2015, on the 30th anniversary year of the film. Ballard will team up with Alan Silvestri to compose a new score, with the addition of original songs from the film, including "The Power of Love", "Johnny B. Goode", "Earth Angel" and "Mr. Sandman".