WATT

Andrew Watt is a prominent American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose credits span multiple genres and include everyone from rock icons like the Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, and Elton John to pop heavyweights like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, and Miley Cyrus. Born in New York and based in Los Angeles, Watt came up as a gigging musician working on his own career as a bluesy hard rock act, both solo and with the L.A. power trio California Breed. By the mid-2010s, he had already established a budding production career, working with Post Malone, Selena Gomez, and others. His output and influence as a producer became more prominent in the 2020s when he won his first two Grammy Awards for his work with Ozzy Osbourne. Over the next few years, Watt became one of the industry's go-to producers, working Pearl Jam, Brandi Carlile, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Maroon 5, and many others. He won additional Grammy Awards for his work on the Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds and Lady Gaga's Mayhem. In 2026, Watt composed the score for HBO's Rooster and co-produced Paul McCartney's The Boys of Dungeon Lane. Watt got his start as a teenager after sneaking into a Roots soundcheck; he became their gofer, and eventually was allowed to jam with them. His playing impressed the band, and through them he began to build up music industry contacts. He began a course of study at NYU's Clive Davis School of Music, but dropped out to tour Europe with singer/songwriter Jared Evan. Returning broke from Europe, he made ends meet by playing in the Bowery store of fashion designer John Varvatos -- former home of legendary punk club CBGB's -- before landing a gig with pop star Cody Simpson, touring the world opening for Justin Bieber. He and Bieber became friends, and soon he was writing and producing tracks for the star and other pop artists. In 2013, he co-founded the hard rock power trio California Breed with Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham; the group issued a well-received eponymous debut LP the following year before disbanding. In 2015, Watt inked a deal with John Varvatos Records and released his debut solo EP, Ghost in My Head, which featured drum work from Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Joey Castillo (ex-Queens of the Stone Age, Danzig). Over the next two years, while working on his own material, he continued to write and produce songs for numerous pop artists including Selena Gomez, Bebe Rexha, and Hailee Steinfeld. Briefly returning to his own music under the moniker WATT, he released the bluesy 2017 single "Burning Man," featuring Post Malone. After this, he focused almost exclusively on production work, and by the end of the decade, he had become a sought-after collaborator, working with artists like Lana Del Rey, Future, and Charli xcx. In 2020, Watt was pegged to co-produce Ozzy Osbourne's album Ordinary Man, which included appearences by Elton John, Post Malone, and Tom Morello. He took home a Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, raising his profile significantly. Between 2020 and 2023, Watt worked prolifically, as adept as producing legacy acts like Elton John, Iggy Pop, and the Rolling Stones as contemporary pop stars like Sam Smith and Dua Lipa. He also took home additional Grammys for his work with Osbourne (Patient Number 9) and the Stones (Hackney Diamonds). Having previously produced Eddie Vedder's solo album Earthling, he also helmed Pearl Jam's 2024 album Dark Matter. By the middle of the decade, Watt was riding a career high, having produced Lady Gaga's Mayhem (which earned him two more Grammys) and Elton John and Brandi Carlile's duo album Who Believes in Angels?, as well as Carlile's solo LP Returning to Myself, all in 2025. After composing the score to the 2026 HBO series Rooster, Watt resumed working with the Rolling Stones on their Foreign Tongues album and co-produced Paul McCartney's The Boys of Dungeon Lane. ~ James Christopher Monger & John D. Buchanan, Rovi