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Toby Gad Releases New Album PIANO DIARIES -THE HITS: His Iconic Songs Reimagined

NUOVO Editors

Updated: Oct 28, 2024

Celebrated Songwriter & Producer, with 15+ Billion Career Streams, Reinvents His Top Hits Featuring Victoria Justice, Keke Palmer & Aloe Blacc, Johnny Orlando & More


Toby Gad, the GRAMMY-nominated songwriter and producer behind some of the biggest global hits like John Legend’s "All Of Me," Beyoncé’s "If I Were A Boy," and Fergie’s "Big Girls Don’t Cry,” is embarking on a new journey with his project, PIANO DIARIES - THE HITS!


With a career spanning over two decades and an astounding 18 billion streams, Gad has shaped modern pop music, working with icons such as Madonna, Paul McCartney, John Bon Jovi, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson, and Donna Summer. Today, Gad is reimagining his timeless classics into emotive piano-vocal masterpieces featuring today’s stars, including Victoria Justice, Keke Palmer & Aloe Blacc, Johnny Orlando, Louisa Johnson, Angelina Jordan, and Celina Sharma. PIANO DIARIES - THE HITS offers a fresh interpretation of his beloved songs, captivating a new generation while honoring the emotional depth that made them resonate in the first place.


 

You’ve written and produced some of the most iconic songs of the past two decades, from “All of Me” to “If I Were A Boy.” What has been the most rewarding part of seeing your songs become such global hits?


Hearing these songs on the radio still today is the best feeling ever, a full-circle moment. It is incredible that many of these songs stand the test of time and are still going so strong. It has always been a dream of mine to write an evergreen, a song that stays around, defies trends and gets passed on from generation to generation.

 

What inspired you to revisit and reinterpret your biggest hits with PIANO DIARIES - THE HITS? How did the idea for this project first come to you?


Lately I felt like passing the torch to the new generation of singers with my biggest hits, re-imagining them as timeless piano-vocal-string recordings on my current album Piano Diaries - The Hits. We spent weeks working on my old Bösendorfer Grand Piano to give it this warm mellow sound that just wraps itself around the vocal in a way that you don’t even miss any other instruments.  I worked with Victoria Justice and several Universal Republic artists like 18-year-old AGT sensation Angelina Jordan on my Beyonce hit “IF I WERE A BOY”.  Angelina is a once-in-a-decade singer, and I could not have imagined a better artist to re-cent this song. TikTok sensation Camylio re-imagined by Demi Lovato hit “SKYSCRAPER” and 21-year-old Canadian singer Johnny Orlando did a brilliant new take on my Veronicas hit “UNTOUCHED”.  Keke Palmer and Aloe Blacc helped me on “LITTLE DO YOU KNOW“ and the youngest X-Factor winner, Louisa Johnson did a very strong rendition of my Jessi J hit “WHO YOU ARE”. This entire journey has been so much fun, and I have performed many of these new versions on stages in London and Los Angeles. 

  

Working with stars like Beyoncé and John Legend to now collaborating with emerging talents like Victoria Justice and Keke Palmer, what has been the most exciting part of working with both established and new artists?


I love how many young artists have their personal connection to my songs, growing up with them and remembering key scenes out of their lives when some of my songs mattered to them in a particular way, that makes me so happy.

 

You’ve had a career spanning decades with over 18 billion streams to your name. How has your approach to songwriting and producing evolved over the years, and what keeps you inspired?


I have always been fascinated with authentic songs that feel like they tell you about a page in the artist's diary. I love listening to artists' personal issues and turning them into songs that reflect that particular experience. I think over the years I have become more of a shrink to the artists and seeing how these songs then resonate, that keeps me going.

 

In PIANO DIARIES, we get a closer look at the stories behind your songs. What is one untold story or lesser-known fact about one of your hits that listeners might not know?


Fergie is an incredible songwriter. When we wrote Big Girls Don’t Cry, after we had written and recorded the verses and the chorus, I put a few chords down and then Fergie just free-styled the entire bridge lyric and Melody. She is so talented. And that song is 100% autobiographical to her. I love artists who are so expressive about their feelings.

 

You’ve started performing PIANO DIARIES live in both Los Angeles and London. What has it been like bringing these reimagined songs to the stage, and how have audiences responded to this new version of your work?


I was invited to do a 25-minute show in the 2500 seat Theater of Andrew Lloyd Webber in London and at that show I had a lev-microphone and walked around the stage like in a Ted-Talk, telling the story and origins of 4 songs and then performing them with amazing singers like Zack Abel, Marisha Wallace, Louisa Johnson and the incredible Angelina Jordan. I was so moved by the audience's response to my story telling. It was so interactive. They laughed, they were astonished, they cheered. I got a standing ovation, and I did not expect this, especially performing that night on the same stage as Celeste, Cian DuCrot, Bernie Taupin and many legends. That gave me the courage to do evening-filling shows with my songs. I would love to one day take my project on tour. Like David Foster, featuring new talent and new songs, but based around the songs of mine that the audience can sing along with. I did one appearance with Casey Abrams in the London Jazz Cafe in Camden and the 500 people in the sold-out audience sang the entire song “All OF ME.” Casey was just baffled that he didn’t have to sing one word when his audience was leading the entire song from beginning to finish, a surreal experience. 


Toby Gad x Celina Sharma

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