Mark Ronson

Mark Ronson, rooted in hip-hop while remaining open to pop influences, channeled his wide-ranging musical passions into a career as one of the most commercially dominant producers since the middle of the 2000s. Although the former DJ achieved his genuine first solo outing via the 2003 single “Ooh Wee,” a Top 20 U.K. entry recorded with Ghostface Killah and Nate Dogg, his defining breakthrough arrived as co-producer of Amy Winehouse’s retro-infused Back to Black (2006), a worldwide blockbuster that delivered his initial trio of Grammy Awards, one of them Producer of the Year. Every subsequent solo album from Ronson, each packed with prominent guest contributors, has reached the summit or come close on the British album chart. Uptown Special (2015) proved especially rewarding, climbing to Top Five pop status in the United States, capturing a Grammy, and propelled by Bruno Mars’s lead vocal on “Uptown Funk,” itself a global smash that garnered multiple Recording Academy nominations. Since then Ronson has helmed tracks for Lady Gaga on Joanne and the Grammy-winning “Shallow,” overseen Queens of the Stone Age’s Villains, joined forces with Diplo under the Silk City moniker for the Grammy-winning “Electricity,” and re-emerged as solo artist with Late Night Feelings (2019). Continuing his collaborative streak, he linked with Raissa Khan-Panni on “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” (2020) and again with Diplo on “New Love” (2021). In 2023 he also acted as executive producer of the Grammy-winning soundtrack for the blockbuster Barbie film.

Born to Laurence Ronson, manager of Bucks Fizz, and stepson of Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Mark Ronson lived his first eight years in England. He took up guitar and drums early and developed a strong affinity for hip-hop acts such as Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. After relocating with his mother to New York during his mid-teens, Ronson immersed himself in DJ mixtapes, prompting him to repurpose his father’s record collection for mixing experiments. Displaying an eclecticism beyond his years, he quickly attracted attention from New York socialites and celebrities, among them fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, who cast Ronson in a 1997 campaign spotlighting celebrity offspring. The following year hip-hop entrepreneur Sean “P. Diddy” Combs engaged Ronson to DJ his twenty-ninth birthday celebration.

These prominent engagements elevated Ronson’s visibility and accelerated his emerging career, which advanced through underground beat production, membership in the Flip Squad All-Star DJs (the collective issued a self-titled MCA album in 1998), and sessions alongside Nikka Costa and Sean Paul. Merging his skills, nascent songwriting, and expanding network, Ronson launched his debut solo project under major-label Elektra. Recruiting contributors from Sean Paul and Mos Def to Jack White and Rivers Cuomo, he issued Here Comes the Fuzz in 2003. The set performed strongest in Britain, where “Ooh Wee,” featuring Ghostface Killah, Nate Dogg, Saigon, and Trife, peaked at number fifteen; the LP later earned silver certification from the BPI.

Remaining active behind the scenes, Ronson reached peak productivity in 2006 and 2007. He contributed to Christina Aguilera’s “Hurt” (number eleven U.K., number nineteen U.S.) and Lily Allen’s “Littlest Things” (number twenty-one U.K.), and participated in Rhymefest’s Blue Collar (number ten U.S. R&B/hip-hop), released via his J Records-affiliated Allido imprint. These accomplishments were eclipsed by his work with Amy Winehouse. Although production duties on the 2006 blockbuster Back to Black were shared roughly equally with Salaam Remi, Ronson handled the majority of its singles, among them “Rehab” (number seven U.K., number nine U.S.) and “Back to Black” (number eight U.K.). At the 49th Annual Grammy Awards the album secured Best Pop Vocal Album, “Rehab” earned Record of the Year, and Ronson received Producer of the Year, Non-Classical.

Building on that momentum, Ronson delivered his second album, Version, in 2007, enlisting Winehouse, Allen, and Robbie Williams to reinterpret mostly recent British songs. The project came within a hair of topping the U.K. chart (later attaining double-platinum status), led by the number-two single “Stop Me,” a Daniel Merriweather collaboration blending the Smiths and the Supremes. Between his own releases Ronson added further hits with Adele’s “Cold Shoulder” (number eighteen U.K.) and Merriweather’s “Change” (number eight U.K.), while spanning genres and eras through work with Solange, Bebel Gilberto, Foreigner, Wale, the Like, and Quincy Jones.

Ronson returned to the U.K. album chart at number two in 2010 with Record Collection, credited to Mark Ronson & the Business Intl. The producer’s third LP, on which he sang for the first time, opened with the number-six hit “Bang Bang Bang” featuring MNDR and Q-Tip and included an unexpected pairing of Simon Le Bon and Wiley on the title track. He deepened his Duran Duran ties by producing All You Need Is Now, supplied music for the film Arthur, and handled principal production on Black Lips’ Arabia Mountain.

Ronson’s longest interval between solo albums was punctuated by co-production of Bruno Mars’s 2012 single “Locked Out of Heaven” (number two U.K., number one U.S.), a Grammy nominee for Record of the Year. Additional sessions with Paul McCartney and the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger preceded the November 2014 unveiling of another Mars collaboration, “Uptown Funk,” which topped charts throughout Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and beyond. Certified diamond platinum in the United States, the track anchored Uptown Special, Ronson’s fourth album, released in January 2015. Containing lyrics by novelist Michael Chabon and further contributions from Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco), and Mystikal, Uptown Special led the U.K. chart and debuted at number five on the Billboard 200. “Uptown Funk” claimed the 2015 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

Although more than four years elapsed before Ronson’s fifth album, he stayed active. In the latter half of 2015 alone he earned credits on releases by Elle King, Action Bronson, A$AP Rocky, Duran Duran, Cee Lo Green, and Adele. He also contributed to the documentary Amy, whose music received a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. During 2016 and 2017 his chief engagements were Lady Gaga’s Joanne and Queens of the Stone Age’s Villains; he co-produced the entire Gaga set, which topped the Billboard 200, and performed primary production on Villains.

In 2018 Ronson formed the duo Silk City with Diplo and released “Electricity” featuring Dua Lipa, which reached number four in the U.K. and number one on the U.S. dance chart. That same year he co-wrote “Shallow,” the lead single from A Star Is Born by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Both tracks achieved transatlantic success, and by year’s end “Electricity” had secured the Grammy for Best Dance Recording while “Shallow” earned the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media plus the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Following that awards-season triumph, Ronson issued the single “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” featuring Miley Cyrus. A number-two U.K. hit that echoed Dolly Parton’s disco experiments, it introduced the “sad bangers” aesthetic of his fifth studio album, Late Night Feelings. Released in June 2019, the project also featured Lykke Li, Camila Cabello, King Princess, and others, peaking at number four in Britain and number sixty-one on the Billboard 200. The non-album single “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” with Raissa Khan-Panni appeared in 2020, after which Ronson reunited with Diplo for the 2021 Silk City track “New Love” featuring Ellie Goulding. Also in 2021 he hosted the Apple TV+ documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson. Another non-album release, “Too Much” featuring Lucky Daye, surfaced the next year. In 2023 Ronson executive-produced Barbie: The Album and supplied production and songwriting for several tracks, including “Dance the Night” and “I’m Just Ken.” The collection received the Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.