Nellee Hooper facts for kids

Paul Andrew "Nellee" Hooper (born March 15, 1963) is a British music producer, remixer, and songwriter. He is famous for working with many big music artists since the late 1980s.

Nellee Hooper also started composing music for movies. His first movie soundtrack was for Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996. He worked on this with Scottish composer Craig Armstrong and Marius de Vries.

Hooper has produced seven recordings that won Grammy Awards. These include works for artists like Smashing Pumpkins, U2, Soul II Soul, and Sinéad O'Connor. He has also won Q magazine's Best Producer award and was Music Week Producer of the Year twice.

Who is Nellee Hooper?

Nellee Hooper was born in Bristol, England. He started his music journey in 1982 as a percussionist and singer. He was part of a band called Maximum Joy.

Later, he became a DJ with The Wild Bunch. This was a famous sound system group from Bristol that later became the band Massive Attack.

Producing Hit Albums

Between 1989 and 1992, Hooper produced many important albums. These include:

• Club Classics Vol. I for Soul II Soul
• I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got for Sinéad O'Connor
• Debut for Björk (her first album)
• Protection for Massive Attack

In 1995, Mixmag magazine called Björk's Debut one of the best dance albums ever.

Awards for His Work

At the 1995 BRIT Awards, Nellee Hooper was named Best Producer. This was for his work on:

• Protection by Massive Attack
• Post by Björk
• Bedtime Stories by Madonna

In 1998, he won a BAFTA Award for Film Music. This award was for his work on the music for Baz Luhrmann's movie Romeo + Juliet.

Later Work and Collaborations

In the late 1990s, Hooper started his own music label called Meanwhile..., which was part of Virgin Records.

He continued to be very active in the 2000s. In 2003, he was nominated for a Grammy Award. This was for his work on Rock Steady by No Doubt and Learning from Falling by Lamya.

He also produced hit songs like "GoldenEye" (1995) for Tina Turner. He produced "Under the Bridge" (1998) for All Saints and "Down Boy" (2002) for Holly Valance. He also created remixes for artists such as Janet Jackson and Sade.

Nellee Hooper worked with Gwen Stefani on her solo albums. He also worked with U2 on their 2004 album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which won him another Grammy Award. He produced the first solo album for Andrea Corr from The Corrs, called Ten Feet High, released in 2007.

In 2010, Hooper produced the album Fight Or Flight for Disney actress and singer Emily Osment. In 2011, he produced Paloma Faith's album Fall to Grace, which was nominated for two Brit Awards.

Nellee Hooper's Awards

Grammy Award Winners

Nellee Hooper has produced several recordings that have won Grammy Awards:

• Soul II Soul (1989): Their album Club Classics Vol. One (also known as Keep on Movin’ in the US) won two Grammys. The song "Back to Life" won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. "African Dance" won Best R&B Instrumental Song.

• Sinéad O'Connor (1991): Her album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got won the Best Alternative Music Performance Grammy.

• Smashing Pumpkins (1997): The song "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" won the Best Hard Rock Performance award at the 1997 Grammys.

• U2 (2006): Their album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb won Album of the Year at the 2006 Grammys. The song "Sometimes You Can't Make it on Your Own" won two awards: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Song of the Year.

Romeo + Juliet Movie Music

Nellee Hooper created the music for Baz Luhrmann's movie Romeo + Juliet in 1996. This soundtrack won a BAFTA award. He worked with Scottish composer Craig Armstrong and English composer Marius van Wyk de Vries.

This was Hooper's first and only time composing music for a movie. He mixed big choir and orchestra sounds with his usual hip hop, electronica, and trip hop styles. Hooper has not worked in the movie industry since then.

Technology and Music

In 2021, Hooper became an advisor for Tone, a company that invests in new businesses. He joined Gee Roberson, who used to be the chairman of Geffen Records and managed Kanye West.

Selected Production Credits

See also

In Spanish: Nellee Hooper para niños