3 Underrated Songwriters Who Were Behind Some of the Biggest Hits of the 1980s

The 80s brought many iconic artists into the spotlight, but it also gave plenty of songwriters their own opportunity to shine. Here are three of the biggest songwriters of the 80s, whose voices and words are behind so many of those classics we sing along to now.

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Diane Warren

As far as prolific songwriters go, Diane Warren definitely takes the cake. In the 80s, Warren wrote hits for huge artists like Cher, Celine Dion, and LeAnn Rimes. In the late 90s, she also penned Aerosmith’s iconic “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” ballad, which is still one of the group’s biggest hits. She’s also done significant work for film soundtracks, and has even been nominated for the Oscars 17 times. When talking about her process, Warren told the Broken Record Podcast that she tries to focus on making a song great first.

“I just try to write a great song, I don’t want to have any preconceived notions. Like, if I write it for one person in mind, that’s gonna only be for that one person,” Warren shared. “So, if you write a great song, you know, it can go a million different ways.”

Desmond Child

Desmond Child has worked with iconic artists such as Kiss, Cher, Aerosmith, Bonnie Tyler, and Alice Cooper. However, you might know him best for penning Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer”. In more recent years, Child has also been known to write songs for artists like Ava Max, Zedd, Selena Gomez, and even JoJo Siwa. Remember “Karma”? Yeah, Desmond Child co-wrote the TikTok phenomenon. When it comes to his own writing process, Child told The Guardian that it differs significantly from that of his friend, Diane Warren.

“Diane Warren writes songs like they’re confessionals about her own life,” he explained. “In my case, I’m fitting the songs on the person like a suit.”

Jim Vallance

Much of songwriter Jim Vallance’s early success came from his writing relationship with rocker Bryan Adams. Together, they penned hits like “Summer of ’69”, “Run To You”, and “Heaven”. Some other famous names Vallance has collaborated with include Aerosmith, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt, and Carly Simon. For his writing process, Vallance shared last year that he finds a lot of his success from the outside.

“It seems to me the only way to get a song on an album is if the artist or the manager or the record company or the publisher approaches you with a request,” he told Outsider Rock. “So that was really how my songwriting career unfolded and continued through the 80s and 90s and 2000s, was just waiting for the phone to ring, and it was exponential.”

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