![\"bonnie-mckee-Issue-No30\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/bonnie-mckee-Issue-No30.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nHOMETOWN:<\/b> Vacaville, Calif.
\nINFLUENCES:<\/b> Madonna, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper
\nALBUM:<\/b> As-yet-untitled LP, due out 2014
\nWEBSITE:<\/b> bonniemckee.com<\/p>\n
Bonnie McKee started her musical education early, studying classical piano and touring Europe and North America with the Seattle Girls Choir. At the age of 12, she recorded a demo of Bette Midler and Fiona Apple songs that landed in the lap of family friend and Sub Pop label co-founder Jonathan Poneman, who had signed Nirvana and Soundgarden. \u201cJonathan said, \u2018That\u2019s great that you can sing, but anyone can sing. Can you write?\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cI had been writing\u2014I was just too embarrassed to show people anything. So that was a big moment for me. I knew I needed to be more than just a singer.\u201d Four years later, McKee\u2019s songs drew the attention of Reprise Records, and the label signed her to an artist contract. She recorded her debut album with renowned producer Rob Cavallo\u2014but was released from the label when\u00a0the singles failed to chart.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath, McKee refocused on songwriting and began collaborating with such famed tunesmiths as Dr. Luke and Max Martin. McKee has since become the girl with the golden pen, co-writing a half-dozen No. 1 hits for Katy Perry alone, including \u201cCalifornia Gurls,\u201d \u201cTeenage Dream,\u201d and \u201cRoar.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much over the last nine years,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m also excited to show people what I can do as a performer singing my own songs.\u201d Now McKee is seizing the opportunity to bask in the spotlight. After signing a record deal with Epic, she\u2019s set to release an album early next year, powered by her new single \u201cAmerican Girl.\u201d \u201cThe connection between the audience and the performer is so electric that you can\u2019t replicate it anywhere else,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a moment in time when a group of people are experiencing something together. It\u2019s so magical. That\u2019s when I feel the most alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Bonnie Mckee HOMETOWN: Vacaville, Calif. INFLUENCES: Madonna, Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper ALBUM: As-yet-untitled LP, due out 2014 WEBSITE: bonniemckee.com Bonnie McKee started her musical education early, studying classical piano and touring Europe and North America with the Seattle Girls Choir. At the age of 12, she recorded a demo of Bette Midler and Fiona Apple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[83],"tags":[7301,6689,7299,823,951],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11303"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11306,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11303\/revisions\/11306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}