Meghan Trainor

An established professional songwriter before she'd even hit her 20s, Meghan Trainor became a star in her own right with a doo-wop throwback which promoted body acceptance in an impossibly infectious manner. Born on the island of Nantucket, MA, Trainor first began performing alongside her father, younger brother, aunt and uncle, the latter of whom also introduced her to the Trinidadian soca music which would later help to shape her sound. Trainor also played the trumpet in her high school jazz band and was taught guitar by Johnny Spampinato of The Incredible Casuals and NRBQ. But it was the songwriting skills she first started to develop on GarageBand at the age of 11 which would make the music industry sit up and take notice. While still in high school, Trainor attended the Berklee College of Music's five-week Performance Program in both 2009 and 2010, and then the Durango Songwriters' Expo where she was offered a publishing deal with Big Yellow Dog Music. In 2011, she independently released her debut album as a performer, "I'll Sing With You," and after moving to Nashville with her family, she penned tracks for the likes of country music trio Rascal Flatts ("DJ Tonight," "I Like The Sound Of That"), "Girl Meets World" (Disney Channel, 2014-17) actress Sabrina Carpenter ("Can't Blame A Girl For Trying"), YouTube star Macy Kate ("You Gave Me Love") and Polynesian musicians The Common Kings ("24/7"). However, it was "All About That Bass," a song she co-wrote with Grammy-nominated producer Kevin Kadish (Jason Mraz, Stacie Orrico) without any particular artist in mind, that changed the course of her career. Impressed by the demo recording, record company mogul L.A. Reid ignored the attempt to pass on the ode to bodies of all shapes and sizes to a big-name act and instead offered Trainor a solo deal with Epic Records. Accompanied by a striking pastel-colored video directed by Fatima Robinson, its infectious blend of doo-wop, country-pop and rock 'n' roll reached No. 1 in New Zealand, Australia and Canada in 2014, hit the US Top 10 and propelled Trainor from behind the studio desk into the global spotlight.