As far as pop stars go, Lady Gaga has never been one to shy away from the spotlight. But the first-rate performer is also a top-notch songwriter with an eclectic list of credits to her name she earned early on in her career, ranging from Britney Spears to Michael Bolton, Jennifer Lopez and more.
While Gaga’s focus seems to be mostly on pushing her own creative concepts these days — not to mention acting, art, fashion and more — her career accomplishments are stacked with impressive behind the scenes work. Here are 6 songs you may not have known Gaga was behind.
Britney Spears: “Quicksand”
Britney Spears’ chart-topping 2008 album, Circus, includes a bonus track called “Quicksand” Gaga cowrote with Fernando Garibay. Gaga also wrote her hit “Telephone” for this album, but it didn’t make the cut and wound up a hit for herself, with some help from Beyonce.
New Kids on the Block: “Full Service”
New Kids on the Block’s 2008 comeback album, The Block, included a guest feature from Gaga on the track “Big Girl Now” but also included her writing credits on the New Edition-featuring “Full Service,” which she cowrote with frequent collaborator RedOne and Donnie Wahlberg.
Michael Bolton: “Murder My Heart”
Michael Bolton and Gaga may seem like an unlikely pairing but the ’80s icon brought the budding pop star onboard to help with his 2008 album One World One Love on the ballad “Murder My Heart.” When Newsweek asked Gaga about the collaboration, she recalled, “The record label called me and said, ‘Michael is doing a new album, and who better to write an ’80s love song than Lady Gaga?'” We’ll say they were right.
Adam Lambert: “Fever”
Adam Lambert’s 2009 debut album, For Your Entertainment, got some of Gaga magic touch on its debaucherous fourth single, “Fever.”
Trina: “Let Dem Hoes Fight”
Rapper Trina’s fifth album Amazin’ might not be where you’d expect to find the pop-focuses Gaga contributing, but the mega star pitched in on the 2010 album’s “Let Dem Hoes Fight.” The track blends pop and hip-hop, just as you might expect a Gaga rap track to sound, and even included Gaga’s vocals on early leaked demos but those parts were later replaced by Kalenna Harper.
Jennifer Lopez: “Hypnotico”
“Hypnotic” was originally written by Gaga with RedOne, Akon, Claude Kelly and Tami Chynn for Chynn’s second studio album in 2007, but the album was never released and the song nearly never saw the light of day. But once Jennifer Lopez began working with RedOne on her 2011 album Love?, the song found new life.
