David Stewart, 34, produced and co wrote the song Punteria with Cardi B and Shakira, which was named the stand out track of her new award winning Latin Pop album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran.
His latest accolade comes after his massive track Dynamite for Korean boyband BTS, which he co-wrote and produced in his bedroom at his dad’s London home. It also follows up on previous collabs with Shania Twain and the Jonas Brothers.
And David says the project with Shakira, was three years in the making.
He exclusively told theshowbizlion.com: “Shakira flew me out to Barcelona two or three times to work on the song. It was the lead single off the album. We worked on it for three years on and off in a big studio in her house there, which was amazing. She's sensational. She's a pro. She knows everything about production, writing, the recording process and was very pernickety about every detail, every breath, which is what all the greats do. It was an amazing experience to work with someone of that caliber.”
David was unable to make the awards , but says he is catching up with ‘Shak’ this week in LA, once the dust settles.”
He laughed: “I mean, there's no point in texting someone who has 150 text messages coming through.”
David, who now lives between LA and London wrote his first song Bo’de’da aged five.
Glasgow born dad Allan, who also started writing songs at twelve before releasing his first single aged 16 with George Martin, recalled: “David came up with Bo’de’da and started playing drums on the couch. We recorded it and gave it to his gran and grandpa for Christmas. Then I got him a Gibson guitar, as my dad bought me one when I was 16. He then started writing songs at school on piano and learned how to produce there.”
Having been a session drummer on the Simply Red Tour, David played guitar for Example in his twenties.
Allan continued: “I thought that he was at the peak then, but little did we know that he was going to get to the levels that he's at now. I’m also incredibly proud of my daughter, a wonderful artist and singer and stunning looking girl. I've got two of the most unbelievably talented children.”
David initially tried to be an artist in his own right. Signed by Ludacris’s manager, he moved to Atlanta for three years and said: “It was amazing but I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. And I was sleeping on sofas.”
He said: “I'm still so grateful for it, because I did it for so long with no success and no one caring. I still close the door on my studio house in LA and think, Wow, I can't believe that that's mine.”
He recalled: “Before that I went on the road with Example for about five years, and saw him playing from 30 people to headlining arenas.”
“I put out a mixtape which featured me with Ed Sheeran, Example, Wretch 32 on it. Ed was nobody at the time but we became close friends because he lived on our tour bus for two years.”
Deciding he needed ‘more of a reliable living’ he started writing and producing for other artists.
“My biggest weakness was that I didn't really kind of have one genre I stuck to. Now my biggest strength as a producer and songwriter is that I can lend my hands to different genres.”
Following a publishing deal with Sony London and management in America, David got a Billboard hit with The Jonas Brothers song What A Man Gotta Do. Then he wrote BTS mega hit Dynamite during the pandemic. He smiled: “That was the one that really took me to the moon, I guess. That really swung the door open.”
Despite now bagging a Grammy, he insists : “I don't do this for money or accolades. I do it because I love doing it. Things like this are just a bonus. It looks lovely on my CV to say the word Grammy though and, I'm sure there's a place on mantelpiece for it.”
