3 Times When Pop Artists Brought In Rock Producers (and It Worked)

Music doesn’t have hard borders. It doesn’t take much for an artist of one genre to hitch a ride into another. Pop artists have tapped many rock producers and artists to give their sound an added edge. The three unlikely collaborations below have been the best examples of what can happen when you put two opposites together.

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Shania Twain and Mutt Lange

Shania Twain and Mutt Lange are perhaps the most famous example of a pop artist working with a rock producer. Though Twain started as a country singer, she eventually made her way into pop crossover territory with Lange’s help.  

The pair created Twain’s pop breakthrough record Come On Over. This record solidified Twain’s status as a genre-bending artist—something that wouldn’t have likely happened with the help of an outside producer. Twain needed to bring in flavors foreign to her country roots to achieve this kind of pop success. Though her relationship with Lange (both personal and working) eventually fractured, Come On Over will always be a testament to how strong they were as collaborators at one point.

Miley Cyrus and Andrew Watt

Fans have long wanted Miley Cyrus to go full-blown rocker. Her voice lends itself to that genre, with its grit and gravitas. Though she hasn’t completely abandoned her pop roots, she has ventured into rock in the past, with the help of producer Andrew Watt.

Watt has worked with several pop artists, including Cyrus, on Plastic Hearts. This neon-pink-colored record flexed Cyrus’ unique vocal ability and caught the attention of several rock greats. Both Stevie Nicks and Billy Idol were a part of the album rollout. Similar to Twain, Cyrus needed someone with a foothold in rock to help her make a genre leap. Her choice of producer proved more than fruitful.

Taylor Swift and Aaron Dessner

Aaron Dessner helped Taylor Swift rewrite her career. The National member worked with Swift first on her 2020 record Folklore. Since then, Dessner has become a familiar face in the Swift-sphere, collaborating on many of her most beloved songs.

Dessner’s sprawling and heady instrumentation helped Swift be at her most prosaic. The songs they worked on together feature some of Swift’s best lyrics to date, which benefitted from an approach more akin to a rock album than a pop one. On Folklore, for example, Swift paid very little mind to earning hits and instead let her creative ambition loose. While the bravery was Swift’s, Dessner’s experience certainly offered a guiding hand.

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