20 Composers Who Got Rich From Songs Other Stars Made Famous

Irving Berlin was one of those songwriters who published his own songs, allowing him to maintain complete ownership of the revenue generated by them. When Bing Crosby released a recording of Berlin’s “White Christmas” in 1942, it became the highest-selling single of all time on physical media. Though Crosby received all the credit for its success, Berlin retained the publishing rights. Thus, each copy sold, each radio broadcast, and each subsequent rendition brought royalties his way.

In 1902, Scott Joplin, an African American ragtime composer, published the piano piece “The Entertainer.” He died in 1917 without ever reaping any benefit. Then, in 1973, film composer Marvin Hamlisch used it as the theme song for the movie The Sting. It went to number three on the Billboard chart in 1974, and the royalties that accrued from it went to Joplin’s estate rather than to Joplin.

In 1947, eden ahbez, a songwriter who had taken to living outside near the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, delivered sheet music for the song “Nature Boy” to Nat King Cole’s manager. Cole recorded the song, which topped the charts for eight weeks in 1948 and sold over a million copies. ahbez got more than $20,000 right away in royalties. That was plenty to live off of, and yet he chose to keep living outside anyway.

The pianist and songwriter Otis Blackwell wrote “Don’t Be Cruel” in 1956. To persuade Elvis Presley to record it, Blackwell’s publisher offered Presley a co-writing credit. This was a common practice used to entice performers to cut songs, though it wasn’t actual co-writing. Presley recorded “Don’t Be Cruel.” The single sold more than 3 million copies and was No. 1 on the pop, country, and R&B charts. Blackwell did very well from his remaining half of the royalties.

Carl Perkins, an American rockabilly singer-songwriter, wrote and recorded “Blue Suede Shoes” for Sun Records in December 1955. A few weeks later, on January 30, 1956, Elvis Presley recorded a cover of the song, but RCA did not release it until March 23, 1956. In March, Perkins was badly injured in a car accident while he was on tour and was forced to remain in bed. While Perkins was recovering, Presley’s version was climbing the charts, and Perkins was receiving songwriting royalties that helped sustain him while he was unable to perform.

Consuelo Velázquez was a Mexican concert pianist and composer. She wrote the bolero “Bésame Mucho” in Mexico City in 1940. In 1944, Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded the English-language version that topped the US charts, and the song became a standard. It was sung by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Elvis Presley; even The Beatles covered it. Royalties came pouring in from all corners of the world, making Velázquez independently wealthy for life.

Chuck Berry wrote “Roll Over Beethoven” in 1956 and “Sweet Little Sixteen” in 1958. The Beatles’ cover of “Roll Over Beethoven” and The Rolling Stones’ cover of Berry’s “Carol” resulted in millions of album sales, sending mechanical royalties back to Berry. When The Beach Boys took the tune from “Sweet Little Sixteen” to make their song “Surfin’ U.S.A.” without any attribution, Berry’s publisher made sure he received the songwriting royalties.

The music for “Summertime” was written by George Gershwin in 1935 for the opera Porgy and Bess, with lyrics by his brother Ira Gershwin and writer DuBose Heyward. More than 25,000 artists have recorded the song over the decades, from Ella Fitzgerald to Louis Armstrong to Janis Joplin. But one big hit wasn’t what made George rich. It was thousands of small royalty checks from that huge pile of covers that accumulated into a multimillion-dollar estate.

Lead Belly, real name Huddie Ledbetter, was an American folk and blues artist who recorded “Goodnight, Irene,” based on an 1886 waltz written by songwriter Gussie Lord Davis. He died in December 1949. In 1950, the folk group The Weavers put out their version of the song, and it went to No. 1 for 13 weeks, selling over 2 million copies. The money went to Lead Belly’s widow, Martha, and his estate. Lead Belly never got to enjoy any of the benefits.

American songwriter and performer Hoagy Carmichael wrote “Stardust” in 1927 and “Georgia on My Mind” in 1930. He sang his own songs, but much of his fortune came from other people’s recordings of them. For example, “Stardust” was recorded over 1,500 times, including by Nat King Cole and Artie Shaw. In 1960, Ray Charles took “Georgia on My Mind” to No. 1 on the pop chart, multiplying the royalties from the song three decades after Carmichael wrote it.

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller penned “Hound Dog” in 1952, originally for R&B singer Big Mama Thornton. Elvis Presley recorded a rockabilly version four years later, which became a massive hit, selling millions of copies. Leiber and Stoller continued to write hit songs for other artists, such as “Jailhouse Rock” for Presley, “Kansas City” for singer Wilbert Harrison, and “Yakety Yak” for The Coasters. They mostly kept the publishing rights for themselves, though “Jailhouse Rock” went to Elvis Presley Music, Inc.

It was Bart Howard, an American cabaret pianist, who wrote “In Other Words” in 1954. His publisher retitled it “Fly Me to the Moon.” When Frank Sinatra recorded a swinging version of it ten years later, it became an international hit. Years later, folks associated the song with the Apollo moon missions. The royalties from that Sinatra record and some 300 others that have covered the song paid for Howard’s retirement and ensured his financial security for life.

The melody to “Unchained Melody” was written by Alex North in 1955 as an instrumental score for the prison film Unchained, and lyrics were added by Hy Zaret. Several early cover versions of the song were big hits, but when The Righteous Brothers made theirs ten years later, the song became an enormous hit, later brought back to life when it appeared in the movie Ghost. North’s estate collected millions of dollars in royalties on more than 1,500 recordings of the song that North never performed.

Though born into wealth, Cole Porter created his own fortune through his prolific songwriting as a musical theater composer and lyricist. His hits from the 1930s, such as “Night and Day,” “Begin the Beguine,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” came from Broadway and Hollywood productions and were later turned into pop hits by bandleader Artie Shaw and singer Frank Sinatra. Sinatra’s 1956 hit version of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” alone generated significant amounts of income from sheet music and record royalties.

Nashville husband and wife Felice and Boudleaux Bryant pitched “Bye Bye Love” to 30 performers, only to get one yes, from Don and Phil Everly, who made it the Everly Brothers’ first hit in 1957. It went to number one on the country chart and sold over a million copies. Next came the Bryants’ own million sellers, “Wake Up Little Susie” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream.” By then they were Nashville’s first full-time, professional songwriting millionaires.

In February 1946, American songwriter Bobby Troup and his wife, Cynthia Troup, took a cross-country road trip from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles. They drove the length of U.S. Route 66, and during the drive, Cynthia suggested that they “get their kicks” on the highway. Bobby wrote the song “Route 66,” incorporating her phrase. The Nat King Cole Trio recorded the tune within a few weeks, and Troup’s royalties allowed him to buy a home in Hollywood and live comfortably off his music for decades.

The song “Misty” was written by American jazz pianist Erroll Garner in 1954 as an instrumental ballad. It was later given lyrics by lyricist Johnny Burke. It became a regular on pop radio when pop singer Johnny Mathis recorded a vocal version of the song in 1959, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Performances of covers of the song by Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan generated performance royalties for Garner well beyond the jazz sphere in which he originally composed it.

The American jazz composer and big-band leader Duke Ellington wrote “Mood Indigo” in 1930 and “Sophisticated Lady” in 1932. Touring with his orchestra made some money, but he was really made rich by his songs, thanks to performance royalties. When other bands and singers performed or recorded his compositions, Ellington received royalties through ASCAP, the performance rights organization that charges fees for broadcasts and performances. The royalties helped support the orchestra when business was slow.

“St. Louis Blues,” written by W.C. Handy, the so-called “Father of the Blues,” was published in 1914 by Handy’s company, Handy Brothers Music. Blues legend Bessie Smith recorded it in 1925, as did bandleader Glenn Miller, giving the song decades of additional royalties. Since Handy controlled the publishing rights, he received both the composer’s and the publisher’s shares. Consequently, Handy became one of the most financially successful Black composers of early American music history.

Richard Berry was an American R&B singer and songwriter who wrote and recorded “Louie Louie” in 1955. Needing cash to get married a few years later, he sold his publishing rights for $750. The song became a huge hit for the rock band The Kingsmen and led to hundreds of additional covers. Decades later, Berry used copyright reclamation provisions to recover most of his rights and collected more than $2 million in back royalties. He died as a millionaire.

This content was created with the help of AI.