Rob Fusari - Career

Career

It was during his college years at William Paterson University in New Jersey that Fusari began writing songs. He started recording demos, and he subsequently met hit songwriter Irwin Levine, who was known for writing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" and several other hits for Tony Orlando & Dawn. Although classically trained, he loved classic rock and roll: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. But it wasn't until he saw Prince live at the Roseland Ballroom that his artistry was changed forever.

Fusari became producing partners with Vincent Herbert. It was at this time that he created his first #1 hit single, “No, No, No” which launched Destiny Child’s career. It was years later that Rob introduced Vincent to Stefani Germonatta aka Lady Gaga at Interscope Records. Fusari named her "Gaga" while they worked together in the studio.

Fusari has worked with legendary artists including Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Jessica Simpson, and Will Smith. His discography of produced Billboard hits include Destiny’s Child’s “No, No, No” and “Bootylicious”, Whitney Houston’s "Love That Man", Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West” and Lady Gaga’s "Paparazzi (Lady GaGa song)”, which he also co-wrote, which subsequently lead to being honored with a Grammy and the Ascap POP award. He was recently featured in Billboard magazine’s Top 10 Songwriters in the world.

In 2001, Fusari produced Bootylicious for Destiny's Child's third studio album Survivor. The song peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. He produced 2003 hit "Train on a Track" by Kelly Rowland.

Fusari first worked with Britney Spears in 2003, on a track titled "Loves Suppose 2 Be" which failed to be included on In The Zone. Later in 2008, Fusari worked as the co-executive producer to Lady Gaga's Grammy winning debut album, The Fame. He co-wrote and produced and is credited for five songs: "Paparazzi", "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich", "Again Again", "Brown Eyes" and "Disco Heaven". Fusari also produced and co-wrote, "Vanity", "Glitter & Grease", and "Retro Dance Freak".

Multi-instrumentalist, Fusari plays keyboards, guitars, and drums with great ease and individuality that only a experienced music producer yields, he is able to communicate through music unlike anyone else. Known to spend days & late hours collaborating with topline writers, and singers, he lives and breathes for music; “Music is like a drug”, says Fusari and blatantly admits that he never had a Plan B for his career– for him it was only music.

Fusari is on a mission to keep raw & good music alive. His knack for discovering and developing new talent has made him a hit maker. His production company has also expanded with new social media, music video & television divisions. In the mid-90s, Fusari began collaborating with another songwriter, Josh Thompson, whose background was more R&B-influenced. "Josh and I worked together for two or three years, and I got into writing R&B with him," said Fusari. "I learned how to produce R&B vocals through working with Josh. We ended up writing about 300 songs together, and we would meet with labels to pitch our songs. One of the highlights, was when we got to record a song with George Benson.”

Fusari is currently signed with Sony ATV Publishing. In 2012, he started his own independent music label, “Last Quarter Records”, where he is currently developing music and original content for up and coming artists.