About Annie
80 million albums sold
7 Singles on Billboard’s Top 40 at the same time
Winner CMA Song of the Year
Songs on 2 Grammy-winning albums
Songs on 2 Grammy-nominated albums
7 songs cut by Faith Hill
80 million albums sold
7 Singles on Billboard’s Top 40 at the same time
Winner CMA Song of the Year
Songs on 2 Grammy-winning albums
Songs on 2 Grammy-nominated albums
7 songs cut by Faith Hill
When Annie Roboff moved to Nashville in 1994 little did she know that within one year she would co-write her first #1 hit, Diamond Rio’s “Walking Away.”
Depending on how you see things, she was either lucky or blessed. But there’s no doubt that she had put in years of hard work and dedication into her songwriting craft.
Annie’s path to her first hit record started in New York City’s Greenwich Village. She remembers, “I was in an acapella group of four women called The Bondinis. We would sing all kinds of songs on the streets for literally hundreds of people. It immediately became a big deal.” During their 3 years together the Bondinis enjoyed appearances in the mobile and television show FAME. At the prompting of her bandmates, Annie started to compose songs, which became part of their repertoire as they started playing in clubs.
Annie writing with Kandi Burruss and Donna Summer in Nashville
When the group disbanded, Roboff began a career writing/arranging television themes for various sports, news, and TV movies. Before long she was writing opening music for TBS and CBS sports, ABC movie after-school specials, and ESPN’s original Sports Center theme. That success showcased her penchant for coming up with memorable melodic themes. Soon after her music and arrangements were heard for TV’s mega-events including the Olympics, Presidential election coverage, and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana.
During this time Annie had the privilege of working with legendary singer/songwriter Laura Nyro.
After this, renowned publisher Denis Lambert (We Built This City, Nightshift, etc) offered Annie a publishing deal which prompted a relocation to Los Angeles. She soon had songs recorded by pop and R&B artists such as Olivia Newton-John, 4Real, Phil Perry, and others.
When her deal ended, Lance Freed, a publishing giant who headed Rondor/Almo/Irving Music, signed her immediately. Annie says, “Lance was the best publisher a person could ask for. He was supportive and fair. Most of all he was an encourager–creatively.”
A part of that encouragement was to send Annie to Nashville to work with legendary publisher David Conrad. Annie remembers, “David had faith in me. More importantly, he took me under his wing which helped me be welcomed into the music community.”
Annie with Lance Freed
Annie needed that help for when she arrived in Music City she was told ‘the rules’ of country songwriting; don’t do this–don’t do that. “Knowing the rules is great–but not being afraid to twist them or break them a little is even better,” she says. Bringing that spirit to her collaborations, Annie began an uncertain creative journey that would gently stretch the genre outside of its norms. Soon her partnerships started to bear fruit.
“There Goes My Baby” by Trisha Yearwood and “This Kiss” by Faith Hill became #1 singles in the summer of 1998. “This Kiss” won the 1999 CMA Song Of The Year as well the ASCAP Country Song Of the Year. Its perfect blend of Country and Pop sensibilities wasn’t lost on just award committees.
Annie accepting CMA Song of the Year Award in 1999
Taylor Swift recalls that the song was key to her musical maturation: “I sang this song for my fourth-grade chorus audition. I think it changed the way I saw country music and music in general. Everyone loved “This Kiss,” not just country fans. Pop and rock fans loved it too. I guess you could say that theme rubbed off on me.”
Roboff’s successes gave her–and others–permission to be a bit more daring in the country genre. She sums it up to that old adage that timing is everything. “Fortunately for me, I moved to Nashville when country music was expanding and my skill set was perfect for that evolution.”
Annie with Bonnie Raitt, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Gladys Knight
She is consistently known for contributing songs that differ from one to another. Her music embodies a wide array of emotional and musical moods. Artists such as Whitney Houston, Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Loveless, Bonnie Raitt, Reba McEntire, Rascal Flatts, Wynonna, Martina McBride, The Indigo Girls, Take 6, Lonestar, and others have all called on her tasteful talent.
Additionally, her songs have appeared on countless soundtracks and television shows.
Annie with Olivia Newton-John and Amy Sky during Beth Nielsen Chapman’s induction into the Songwriter Hall of Fame, Nashville
One of her multi-Grammy nominations was for “The Mighty Sky” an album by her longtime collaborator Beth Nielsen Chapman. The album innovatively (and accurately!) teaches astronomy concepts thanks to the lyrics of Rocky Alvey, the director of the Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory.
Annie’s songs have sold over 80 million records. She has won the prestigious ASCAP Country Music Award 11 times and is considered one of the driving forces behind the resurgence of female artists in 90’s-2000’s country music. At one time, Annie had seven singles on the charts simultaneously–an incredible achievement by anyone’s standards.
Annie with Gary Bartz, Beth Chapman, Gladys Knight, Judy Collins, Bonnie Raitt at the Bottom Line, NYC
More than anything else, Annie attributes her success to her formative years spent with her ears glued to a transistor radio and listening to every kind of music being played in her house; from Ragtime to Sinatra, Showtunes, Motown, Rock N Roll, Singer-Songwriters, etc. She recalls, “when my piano teacher taught me chord inversions–I started to get a glimpse of the universality of all popular music–it allowed my small hands to hit any chord I wanted; all of a sudden every song that I listened to became available to me.”
There are countless ways these early influences came bursting throughout Annie’s songbook, personifying a unique writing voice that speaks through the unique artists that sing them.
—Herb Powell, Jessie Friedman
