MY PLAYLIST – CHELCEE GRIMES

For this edition we sit down with Liverpool’s own Grammy nominated and Brit Award winning songwriter, Chelcee Grimes!

With over 1 billion streams on songs she has penned, Chelcee’s solo artist project has also been featured in MTV, Cosmo, Wonderland Magazine, Gay Times and more. Have a read below on the songs that have shaped her prolific career so far…

 1. Chelcee Grimes – Liverpool 

How else could I start? It was my dream to be a football player, I played for Liverpool ladies from ages 9-16. But then I discovered music. My 2 worlds collided when Liverpool won the Premier League after 30 years of waiting – and here is the crazy part – I wrote this song when I was 30 and it became the opening tune for the movie ‘End of the Storm’, which was all about Liverpool winning the Prem. A star aligning moment, and a ‘pinch me’ record – what began as a song about being homesick ended up.

 2. The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun 

I couldn’t do a playlist for my city without the OGs in here. I travel all around the world and I’ve been lucky enough to visit almost every country writing songs. Once I was in the middle of South Korea and nobody spoke English. I went for a walk to get inspiration for a songwriting session and I stumbled upon a bar called ‘The Beatles Bar’ in Seoul. It was a moment where I was like ‘WOW, I’m so proud to be from Liverpool’. When I walked inside and told them I was from there, I got a free drink and they treated me like royalty. Nice one lads!!!

 3. Lady Gaga – Just Dance 

I can’t remember how old I was when this song came out, but I knew I had never seen anybody like this in my generation. Back then in the early 2000s, girls were oiled up and very sexualised. Then I saw this woman who looked a bit mad, playing piano, singing dance music. I was hooked. I listened to her first album ‘The Fame’ like the bible and learned about song structure, melody changes, tempo – everything. I wonder if I’d have ever made music if I wasn’t as obsessed with Gaga. One day I got a call when I was in LA to work with Red One, the producer who made this album. I told him I used to tweet him daily to tell him I would work with him, and it happened. Don’t give up.

 4. Stanaj – Romantic (NOTD Remix) 

I have this tattoo’d on me. It was one of the first songs I had as a songwriter that smashed 100 million streams on Spotify alone. That’s a pretty big number! For me, this is a song I’ll always be proud of. I was invested in the whole lyric as I was going through my first relationship with a girl, and it pulled all kinds of emotions out of me. Something I look back on and smile, thinking about how far I’ve come. Such a happy memory.

 5. Mic Lowry – Heart of Yours

I wrote this with Esco Williams, another artist I played so many shows with on the Liverpool circuit when I was coming through. He told me he was working with some lads from Liverpool who can SIIIIING! He wasn’t wrong. This was a record that, as a songwriter, doesn’t happen too often – when you can give an artist a song and they completely turn it into something more than you could ever imagine. Plus, everyone involved is from Liverpool. Love that. It has a special place in my heart.

 6. Dua Lipa, BLACKPINK – Kiss and Make Up 

For me, this is a memory that reminds me that you shouldn’t give up on a song or in life. Me and Dua Lipa wrote this song before her debut album was released (when we could go to Tesco for a meal deal), then she blew up. This song wasn’t put on the first album but I knew it needed to be released. The labels passed, so many people told me that the lyric was too young for anyone to sing – but I stuck to my guns! I didn’t conform. Then one day, I got a call that the biggest girl group in the world wanted to feature on it. It now sits just under 700 million streams on Spotify… Crazy.

 7. Dua Lipa – Love Again

Another one from me and Dua – this song brought many many firsts for me, as well as our last release together. It was my first big record in America as a songwriter. As a girl from Liverpool, it was mad getting a call to say my song was in the Top 10 airplay chart in America. Netflix did a documentary on how we wrote the record (Song Exploder) if you want to check it out. I don’t really know what to say other than this song really changed my life. It also allowed my mum to leave Primark and work with me now 🙂

 8. Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers, Pharell – Get Lucky

Soooooo this song is great, but it’s on the playlist because I was recently in Abbey Road Studios (YES I walked the famous Beatles crossing photo then walked into the studio with Nile) WTF! He is a legend! Well and truly, there’s not many of the greats left. He’s a great person, we wrote some great songs. But we played this song in the studio and the rest of his hits! It was a core memory for me. We have plans to write a lot more too!!!

 9. Santana – Maria Maria

This is just for my mum. She loves this song.

 10. Bonnie Raitt – I Can’t Make You Love Me 

One of the songs I wish I’d written. That’s all I’ll say about this song. Hope you enjoyed the playlist. So many memories unlocked!

For more on Chelcee Grimes, follow her here.

Written by Kate Hazeldine