The Hit Songwriter Behind "Livin' on a Prayer," "I Was Made for Lovin' You," "Poison," and Dozens More on How He Built One of the Most Remarkable Catalogues in Rock and Pop History
Desmond Child has written or co-written some of the most recognizable songs in rock and pop history. "Livin' on a Prayer." "I Was Made for Lovin' You." "Poison." "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)." "Livin' La Vida Loca." "I Hate Myself for Loving You." The list goes on -- and it spans genres, eras, and artists in a way that almost no other songwriter's catalogue can match. He has written hits for Bon Jovi, KISS, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Ricky Martin, Joan Jett, Cher, and scores of others, accumulating a body of work that has touched virtually every corner of popular music over the past four decades.
In this conversation with Elmo, Desmond goes deep on the craft and the business of being one of the world's great hit songwriters -- how he finds the song inside the collaboration, how he has navigated relationships with artists as different as Jon Bon Jovi and Ricky Martin, and what it actually takes to write a song that lasts. This is a master class in songwriting from one of the few people alive who can speak to it at this level.
"Every hit starts with an emotion that's so universal it belongs to everyone -- your job is just to find the words for it first."
Desmond's fully developed philosophy of what makes a song a hit -- the structure, the emotion, the hook, and the specific thing that separates a song people like from a song people can't forget. His account of how he approaches a writing session, what he's listening for in a collaborator, and how the process of co-writing with a major artist actually works from the inside. Decades of pattern recognition distilled into a conversation.
The full story of how one of rock's defining songs came together -- the collaboration with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, the specific creative decisions that shaped it, and what it felt like when it was clear that something extraordinary had been made. Desmond's account of what the Bon Jovi partnership was like at its peak, and what made that particular creative relationship so productive for so long.
What it was like to be in the room writing with the biggest rock acts of the era -- the specific personalities, the creative dynamics, and the stories behind songs that defined a generation. His account of writing "I Was Made for Lovin' You" for KISS and "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and "Poison" for Aerosmith and Alice Cooper -- the creative logic behind each, and what it took to write for artists whose identities were so distinct and so fully formed.
How Desmond moved from rock to pop -- the transition to writing for Ricky Martin, Cher, and others, and what it revealed about the universality of his approach. His account of "Livin' La Vida Loca" and what it was like to help define a moment in Latin pop that changed radio. What the shift from rock writing to pop writing required him to learn, and what stayed exactly the same.
The side of the music business that most people never see -- the publishing deals, the royalty structures, the politics of getting a song on an album, and what it has meant to own and control a catalogue of hits over decades. Desmond's specific and hard-won perspective on the business of being a professional songwriter, and what aspiring writers need to understand about how the industry actually works versus how they think it works.
How Desmond thinks about his catalogue now -- the songs that still surprise him, the ones he wishes had been bigger, and what it means to have written music that has been part of people's lives for four decades. His perspective on the current state of songwriting, what he sees in the next generation, and what he is still working toward. The view from the top of one of music's most extraordinary careers.
The "Livin' on a Prayer" breakdown: Desmond's specific and detailed account of how the song was built -- the chorus, the key change, the bridge, and the specific decision that made it into something that has outlasted everything around it. One of the most granular accounts of a hit's creation you will find anywhere, and it changes the way you hear the song.
On collaboration: Desmond's theory of the co-write -- why he believes the best songs come from collaboration rather than solo writing, what he looks for in a creative partner, and how he navigates the power dynamics of writing with artists who are already stars. His specific strategies for getting the best work out of a session, and his honest account of the sessions that didn't work and why.
The KISS story: his account of arriving as an unknown songwriter to write with one of rock's biggest acts, and what happened in the room. The specific dynamics of that collaboration, what Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were like to write with, and how "I Was Made for Lovin' You" was received when the band first heard it. A story that captures what the music business of that era actually looked like from the inside.
On what makes a great hook: Desmond's specific, technical, and deeply considered answer to the question every songwriter wants answered. Not vague inspiration talk but actual craft -- the melodic principles, the lyrical strategies, and the structural logic that he has used to write dozens of them. The most practical piece of this conversation and potentially the most valuable.
The advice for songwriters: his closing thoughts on what it actually takes to build a career as a songwriter -- not the romanticized version but the real thing, with its politics and its business and its long stretches of nothing punctuated by moments of something extraordinary. Blunt, earned, and worth more than a semester of music business school.