What Is Glen Ballard's Net Worth?
Glen Ballard is an American songwriter, lyricist, record producer, film producer, and music video director who has a net worth of $60 million. Glen Ballard has won several Grammy Awards, and one of his biggest hits was the 1995 Alanis Morissette album "Jagged Little Pill." Ballard co-wrote and produced the album, which won Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album and went on to sell more than 30 million albums worldwide. He was also involved in writing and recording three of Michael Jackson's albums, including 1982's "Thriller." He co-wrote Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and Christina Aguilera's "The Voice Within," and he founded Java Records and the production company Augury.
Ballard won a Grammy Award and earned an Academy Award nomination for writing the song "Believe" (performed by Josh Groban) for the 2004 film "The Polar Express." Glen has worked with artists such as Pointer Sisters, Teddy Pendergrass, Paula Abdul, Wilson Phillips, Sheena Easton, Van Halen, Aerosmith, No Doubt, Shakira, Dave Matthews Band, Shelby Lynne, Christina Aguilera, Lisa Marie Presley, Katy Perry, O.A.R., Goo Goo Dolls, Annie Lennox, and Ringo Starr. He wrote and produced the 1999 film "Clubland," and he produced the 2002 film "Trapped" and the 2020 miniseries "The Eddy" and has directed six Katy Perry music videos. Ballard co-wrote music and lyrics for "Ghost the Musical" and wrote the lyrics for "Back to the Future: The Musical." The musical "Jagged Little Pill," which features music from the hit album of the same name, won a Grammy and received 15 Tony nominations. Glen was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023.
Early Life
Glen Ballard was born Basil Glen Ballard Jr. on May 1, 1953, in Natchez, Mississippi. Glen moved to Los Angeles at the age of 22 and took a job at music manager John Reid's company. Reid was Elton John's manager at the time. Ballard told "SongwriterUniverse" in 2015, "I started there by answering the phones and operating the telex machine—the way we talked to London back then—and essentially just trying to make myself useful. I had a chance to learn about the business of the music business, seeing it at the highest level. I learned how big tours came together, what managers did and didn't do, and I learned about music publishing. And of course getting to be around the creative genius of Elton and all the talented people around him was the biggest education. I didn't ever really meet Elton until I had been there over a year. After three years of working at John Reid's company, I was able to get a publishing deal at MCA Music."
Career
In the '80s, Glen worked on albums such as Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (1982) and "Bad" (1987), the Pointer Sisters' "Break Out" (1983) and "Hot Together" (1986), Teddy Pendergrass' "Workin' It Back" (1985), and Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" (1988). He produced Alanis Morissette's 1995 album "Jagged Little Pill" and co-wrote every track on the album. "Jagged Little Pill" earned Ballard three Grammy awards and was certified Platinum or higher in 19 countries (16× Platinum in the U.S.). In 2019, the "Jagged Little Pill" musical debuted on Broadway, and it would go on to earn more than a dozen Tony nominations and win a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. After the success of the "Jagged Little Pill" album, Glen worked on albums by No Doubt (2000's "Return of Saturn"), Shakira (2001's " The One"), Christina Aguilera (2002's "Stripped"), Van Halen (2004's "The Best Of Both Worlds"), Annie Lennox (2007's "Dark Road" and "Songs of Mass Destruction"), Katy Perry (2008's "One of the Boys"), Stevie Nicks (2011's "In Your Dreams"), and Ringo Starr ("Ringo 2012" and 2017's "Give More Love").
Ballard executive produced and co-wrote the music for the 2020 Netflix miniseries "The Eddy," and he co-wrote new songs for Disney's 2022 live-action adaptation of "Pinocchio." He co-wrote the lyrics and music for "Ghost the Musical," which premiered in London in 2011 and on Broadway in 2012. The West End production earned a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best New Musical. Glen wrote the lyrics for "Back to the Future: The Musical," which won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2022 and received a nomination for Best Original Score or New Orchestrations. The musical opened on Broadway in 2023.
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Personal Life
According to his biography on IMDb, Glen was previously married to a woman named Liv, and they welcomed two children together.
Awards and Nominations
Ballard has received 13 Grammy nominations, winning for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) for Siedah Garrett and Chaka Khan's "The Places You Find Love" (1991), Best Rock Song for Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" (1996), Album of the Year and Best Rock Album for Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" (1996), Best Long Form Music Video for "Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill – Live" (1998), Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Josh Groban's "Believe" from "Polar Express" (2006), and Best Musical Theater Album for the "Jagged Little Pill" Original Broadway Cast recording (2021). "Believe" from "Polar Express" also earned Glen an Academy Award nomination for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song – Motion Picture, a Satellite Award nomination for Best Original Song, and a World Soundtrack Award nomination for Best Original Song Written for Film. He also received a World Soundtrack Award nomination in that category for "A Hero Comes Home" from "Beowulf" (2008).
In 2006, Ballard won a Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Song for Sarah McLachlan's "Ordinary Miracle" from "Charlotte's Web." In 2012, he earned an Online Film & Television Association Award nomination for Best Music, Adapted Song for Wilson Phillips' "Hold On" from "Bridesmaids," and in 2022, he received a Hollywood Music In Media Award nomination for Best Original Song – Streamed Film (No Theatrical Release) for "I Will Always Dance" (performed by Tom Hanks) from "Pinocchio."
Real Estate
In 1993, Ballard paid $1.1 million for an 1,100 square foot beach house in Malibu, California. He put the two-bedroom, two-bathroom home on the market for $7.995 million in early 2019, and he lowered the asking price to $7.25 million a few months later. Here is a video tour of the Malibu mansion:
