Birth name Peter Eric Zizzo Role Music Producer Origin New York, NY, U.S. Education Tufts University | Years active 1988–present Movies The Girlfriend Experience Name Peter Zizzo Genres Pop music, Rock music | |
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Occupation(s) producer, songwriter, musician Labels Universal Music Publishing Record label Universal Music Publishing Group Awards Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Direction And Composition Similar People Marit Larsen, Marion Raven, Avril Lavigne, Marc Roberge, Nadine van der Velde Profiles | ||
Six feet above by evan watson cover by ari zizzo peter zizzo
Peter Eric Zizzo (born February 22, 1966) is an Emmy and Grammy Award winning American songwriter, music producer, musician and writer. Zizzo has written hits for artists such as Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, Jennifer Lopez, Marit Larsen, O.A.R, Jason Mraz, Donna Summer, Diana Ross, M2M, Sir Cliff Richard, Clay Aiken, Howie Day, Kate Voegele, Jackie Evancho] and many others. He has been considered instrumental in developing the careers of artists Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton in the US, and Pixie Lott in the UK. Recordings of his songs have collectively sold in excess of 100 million copies worldwide.
Contents
- Six feet above by evan watson cover by ari zizzo peter zizzo
- Early life
- Entrepreneurial ventures
- Acting career
- References
Early life
Born in New York to musical parents, Peter Zizzo was initially a teen rock guitar prodigy, featured in Guitar Player magazine. As a songwriter, he got his first cut, "March", by The Weather Girls, at age 18. He attended college at Tufts University, graduating with a Bachelor's in English. Shortly thereafter, he won BMI's "Best New Songwriter" award on the heels of his first hit, the dance track "Whispers" by Corina. Zizzo found more success working alongside top 80s producer Ric Wake on records by Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez. It was through Wake's company that he signed his first developing artist, Billy Porter, whose A&M debut Untitled was largely written and produced by Zizzo, and featured "Love Is On The Way", the central ballad from the hit film The First Wives Club. Porter went on to win a Tony award for his starring role in Broadway's Kinky Boots.
Entrepreneurial ventures
In his role of Artist Development, Zizzo discovered, developed, produced, and helped launch prominent artists such as Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, Pixie Lott, and more recently, People Magazine's "One To Watch, 2017" Hailey Knox. Zizzo has also spoken and led seminars at South by Southwest and other music industry events. Peter Zizzo's songs and productions have sold over 100 million copies worldwide. In 2010, Peter's production and writing on BeBe and CeCe Winans "Still" won a Grammy for Best Gospel Album Peter has also written and produced songs for several shows on Nickelodeon, including "The Fresh Beat Band", which in 2013 won him an Emmy Award for best musical composition. He was nominated again the following year for Outstanding Original Song for "Spring Has Sprung", from the show "Peter Rabbit".
Peter is also a published author of short fiction and has written several screenplays, one of which, "Timmy Tilson", placed in the finals in The Creative World Awards international screenplay competition.
Acting career
In 2009 Peter played a character named after himself in the Steven Soderbergh film The Girlfriend Experience starring adult film star Sasha Grey. "Girlfriend Experience" was written by Peter's lifelong friends Brian Koppelman and David Levien who also named a character after him in the poker classic Rounders.