Songwriter Bonnie McKee Made Her Own Album, 'Hot City,' 10 Years Ago. Now, She's Releasing It
It’s TIIIIIIME!!! My album ‘Hot City’ will FINALLY be yours on May 31st!! GET IN BITCHES WE’RE GOIN TO HOT CITY!! 😭💃🌴 https://t.co/r0l5LCaur6 pic.twitter.com/OYQ43oqUOb
- Bonnie McKee (@BonnieMcKee) May 13, 2024
You may or may not be familiar with the name Bonnie McKee, but you've definitely heard the songs she's co-written. Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," "California Gurls," Part of Me," and Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me," just to name a few. In the early 2010's she scored multiple no. 1 hits, and even got a record deal with Epic Records. She released one single, "American Girl," a modest hit. But the label wasn't a fan of her second single, "SLAY," and plans for an album were completely scrapped.
"I found a forum that was dedicated to this unreleased album that was 500 pages long that had been going for 10 years," she tells PEOPLE. "Every time I've put something out, a single here and there over the years, they've always kept asking for these songs. And I was like, 'I'm going to give the people what they want because I want to put it out, too.'"
Taking a page out of Taylor Swift's playbook, McKee re-recorded each song originally meant for that album, and will release it independently on May 31.
"It feels really liberating. It feels like I'm finally coming full circle with it," the 40-year-old musician tells PEOPLE. "I think a lot of people in the industry - not the fans - think I'm nuts for putting something out that's so old. But I've always said a good song is a good song, and these songs always spoke to me."
She recently released a new music video for the project, "Jenny's Got a Boyfriend."
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https://t.co/z1YWGDv3rl pic.twitter.com/WhGoC5jJli
- Bonnie McKee (@BonnieMcKee) May 13, 2024
Tracklist
1. Don’t Get Mad Get Famous (feat. Sophie Powers)
2. Hot City
3. Jenny’s Got a Boyfriend
4. Show You Mine
5. I Wanna Call You
6. American Girl
7. Forever 21
8. SLAY
9. Electric Heaven
10. Worst in Me
11. Snatched (feat. Priyanka)
12. Sleepwalker
13. Just a Kiss
14. Rewind Your Heart
15. Everything But You
16. Stars in Your Heart
ONTD, what shelved/unreleased album do you wish would be released today?
Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8