From just his work in Weezer alone, it’s not a stretch to say that Rivers Cuomo is one of the most proven songwriters in rock music, but the evidence of his talent doesn’t end there.
Turns out, over the years, Rivers has written for and with several other artists outside his traditional genre lines, and the results have been outstanding. For example…
“Victorious” – Panic! at the Disco
OK, so this first one is maybe not that much of a surprise at all when you think about it, but it’s still pretty fascinating to learn that Rivers played a part in one of the catchiest Panic! at the Disco songs ever released as a single.
Rivers co-wrote the song with PATD frontman Brendon Urie, CJ Baran, Mike Viola, White Sea, Alex DeLeon, and Jake Sinclair, who also produced the song with Suzy Shinn.
The second single off of PATD’s fifth album, Death of a Bachelor, “Victorius” charted in the top 10 on Billboard’s US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, and has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.
“Anyway” – CeeLo Green
Of all the songs on this list, this might be the most surprising one to find out River co-wrote, in terms of the finished product. I think, however, if you really listen to the chorus hook, where CeeLo sings “You still love me anyway,” you can hear this super-poppy Rivers-esque guitar riff.
Rivers co-wrote the tune with Green, alongside Eric Frederic, Ross Golan, and Josh Alexander. Wallpaper and Daniel Ledinsky produced it.
“Hanging Around” – Charli XCX
Back in 2014, Charli XCX dropped her sophomore album, Sucker, which featured a surprising collab with Rivers, who co-wrote the song “Hanging Around.”
“It was really cool working with Rivers. I was really surprised when he wanted to work with me. He followed me on Twitter, and I was like, ‘Cool! Maybe this can happen!’ and then we got in touch, and I just went over to his house and we wrote two songs together in his studio in his backyard,” Charli previously said of working with Rivers.
“It was so interesting working with him, just because we’re from such different worlds, but he has such an interest in pop music — and in particular in the formulas in pop music, and the structure,” she continued. “That’s something that I actually have no interest in at all, but it was really interesting working with someone who is so into that.
“He’s just a cool, nice guy, you know? He’s the kind of guy that I want to go bowling with all the time,” she added, “cause I feel like he would let me cheat and win.”
Rivers co-wrote “Hanging Around” with Charli, Justin Raisen, and Jeremiah Raisen.
“Stupid Girl” – Cold
Man, I love Cold. I’ve always been a big fan of their albums 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage and Year of the Spider, having absolutely no idea for years that Rivers Cuomo co-wrote one of their biggest songs, “Stupid Girl,” from Year of the Spider.
The story reportedly goes that when Cold frontman Scooter Ward began working on the song, he found it to be too reminiscent of Weezer, whom his band had previously toured with and grown to befriend.
Considering his acquaintance with Rivers, Ward reached out to see if he would be interested/available to offer some input on the tune. Ultimately, the two found a perfect design and execution, making for one of the best nu-metal/post-grunge breakup songs of all time.
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