Let’s kill the myth right now: Pop stars don’t write their own songs?
Some don’t. Elvis didn’t. Frank Sinatra didn’t. Whitney Houston built a legendary career singing songs written for her.
But today? The biggest stars in the world are in the writing room, and if they’re not, you find out in the Spotify credits in 5 seconds.
Here are the music stars who actually write — and why it makes their music hit different.
1. Taylor Swift — Wrote An Album Alone Just To Prove A Point
Pop stars — especially women — have a reputation of not writing their own songs, despite singers like Taylor Swift (who responded to criticism by releasing an album entirely of songs written only by herself, Speak Now), Shania Twain, Ariana Grande, and Madonna writing or co-writing many of their biggest hits.
Taylor began writing at 12, moved to Nashville at 14 to pursue a music career, and has a writing credit on every song she’s ever released. Speak Now — 14 songs, zero co-writers — is still the ultimate clapback.
She also wrote for others: “Best Days of Your Life” for Kellie Pickler and “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home” for Hannah Montana, back when she was 18.
2. Billie Eilish & Finneas — The Bedroom Hit Factory
No outside team. No songwriting camp. Billie and Finneas wrote “Ocean Eyes,” “bad guy,” “Happier Than Ever,” and “What Was I Made For?” in a small bedroom in LA.
Finneas produces, Billie writes top-lines. They own 100% of their publishing. That’s why their songs feel like diary pages — they are.
3. Ed Sheeran — Writes For Everyone
Ed is the reason Rihanna, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and One Direction have some of their biggest hits. Before he headlined stadiums, he was part of the Smeezingtons-adjacent writing circuit, penning “Love Yourself” (Bieber), “Cold Water” (Major Lazer), and “Little Things” (1D).
He famously writes 7-9 songs a day when he’s in album mode. His manager says he has over 1,000 unreleased songs in a vault.
4. Miley Cyrus — 90 Songs Deep
Miley is one of these pop stars; the singer does write her own songs and has songwriting credits on over 90 of the songs she’s released in her long career.
From “The Climb” at 16 to “Flowers” at 30 (which won Record of the Year), Miley co-writes everything. She says she needs to have lived the lyric to sing it — which is why her breakup songs sting so much.
5. Beyoncé — The Architect
Singers who write their own songs: Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Prince, Rihanna, Beyonce, Jonas brothers, Natasha Bedingfield, Britney Spears, Katy Perry.
Beyoncé doesn’t just add a word for credit. She rebuilds tracks. For “Single Ladies,” “Drunk in Love,” “Break My Soul,” she comes in with melody changes, vocal arrangements, and lyrical flips that turn a demo into a Beyoncé song. She’s credited as writer/producer on every album since B’Day.
6. Kendrick Lamar — No Ghostwriters, Ever
In hip-hop, writing credit is respect. Kendrick Lamar writes every verse, every hook, every spoken-word interlude himself. No ghostwriters. That’s why he became the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music for DAMN.
He still writes in paper notebooks. No notes app. Just ink.
7. Olivia Rodrigo, Lorde, and Olivia’s Heroes
Olivia Rodrigo wrote “drivers license” at 17 in her living room. Lorde wrote Pure Heroine at 16 in her mom’s house in New Zealand. Both refused songwriting camps for their debuts.
Olivia even credits her influences before she’s asked — she added Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff as co-writers on “1 step forward, 3 steps back” and “deja vu” because she interpolated their melodies. That’s songwriter-to-songwriter respect.
8. The Legends Who Started As Songwriters
Many great singers couldn’t write (Elvis, Frank Sinatra) There are many people who wrote great songs for years, some of whom later broke out with their own voice (Carole King, Willie Nelson, Neal Diamond).
Carole King wrote The Shirelles’ “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” Aretha’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” and James Taylor’s “You’ve Got a Friend” before she ever recorded Tapestry.
Before Bruno Mars became a household name, he wrote hit songs for other artists including Adam Levine from Maroon 5, Brandy, Flo Rida, and Sean Kingston. He was part of a production team called the Smeezingtons who were behind hits like B.o.B’s “Nothin’ on You.”
Willie Nelson wrote Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” before anyone knew his name.
While it is true that
some pop stars do write their own music, it is more common for them to collaborate with songwriters and producers.
Collaboration isn’t cheating — it’s how pop is made. The difference now is transparency. If you see 12 writers on a 2-minute TikTok song, you know what happened. If you see one name — Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Ed Sheeran — you know that song came from a bedroom, not a boardroom.
And those are usually the ones that last.
