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Jesse McCartney Recalls Writing 'Bleeding Love' and How the Collaboration with Leona Lewis Came About | Take Us Back
US Weekly
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1 year ago
Jesse McCartney Recalls Writing 'Bleeding Love' and How the Collaboration with Leona Lewis Came About | Take Us Back
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00:00
Hey there, I'm Jesse McCartney and I'm taking us back.
00:03
Alright, take us back to landing your first gig on All My Children.
00:06
I have so many great memories of this show.
00:09
It was my first time on a TV show.
00:12
I remember driving down after school one day for the audition
00:16
and I lived in Westchester County going down,
00:19
auditioning for the show, had a call back or two
00:22
and got the phone call, hey, we want you to be JR on All My Children.
00:26
And, you know, this is a legendary soap, obviously, Susan Lucci,
00:30
one of the, probably the most famous soap star of all time.
00:33
And getting to work alongside some of these legendary daytime actors
00:37
was really incredible and it was really challenging
00:40
because they, you know, I feel like soap actors don't get enough credit
00:43
for the amount of dialogue they have to memorize each day.
00:46
And I just remember having, like, more work than I thought I could handle
00:50
taking on the role. I would look at the first script thinking, like,
00:53
I don't know how I'm going to memorize all this stuff.
00:56
And so it was a test right out of the gate
00:58
and one of my greatest challenges, actually.
01:01
And I look at this picture, though, and I'm like, oh my god,
01:04
the part down the middle, this is, like, so late 90s.
01:07
It's hilarious.
01:09
Good memories, though.
01:10
Take us back to your first sold-out Dream Street concert.
01:13
Oh, man.
01:14
Dream Street was so much fun and it was especially cool
01:18
before my solo days because I got to be on stage
01:21
with other guys my age and it was a brotherhood, you know.
01:25
You got to hang out with your best friends
01:27
and then also sing music in front of screaming fans.
01:30
It was like the life, you know.
01:31
I was like, this is it.
01:32
This is what I want forever.
01:35
And I have just so many great memories.
01:37
We toured for a couple years.
01:38
We got pretty far.
01:39
We opened up for Britney Spears.
01:41
I remember Justin Timberlake coming backstage
01:43
before one of the performances and, like, giving us a little pep talk
01:47
and all of us being just sort of, like, goo-goo-eyed
01:50
that Timberlake from NSYNC, our boy band hero,
01:54
was talking to us.
01:56
Great memories and obviously this was the beginning
01:58
of my music career and sort of the stepping stone
02:02
for what was to come.
02:03
Specifically, honestly, I was in such shock
02:05
that he came backstage, but it was more like
02:08
I think it was our first performance in an arena
02:10
so he was giving us, like,
02:11
hey, don't worry about how many people there.
02:13
Easy for him to say.
02:14
Don't worry about how many of you guys are going to kill it,
02:16
you know.
02:17
You guys know your moves.
02:18
You guys know your marks.
02:19
Let me see your run-through.
02:20
And, like, we played the song.
02:21
We're, like, doing our moves for Justin in the back.
02:23
He was just being gracious and, like,
02:25
gave us a few minutes of his time
02:26
and it was really nice before we went out on stage.
02:29
Yeah, this is a wild story.
02:31
2007, I was going into my third album
02:35
and I was working with Ryan Tedder,
02:37
who we know from One Republic,
02:39
and he and I were working on songs for my album
02:42
and it almost didn't happen.
02:44
It was a really awful, rainy day in Los Angeles
02:47
which doesn't happen that often,
02:48
but when it does, people in L.A.
02:50
just don't like to show up to work
02:51
or show up to things
02:52
and we were no different.
02:53
He and I were on the phone like,
02:54
eh, it's kind of awful today.
02:55
Do we want to drive to the studio?
02:57
And he's like,
02:58
I'm leaving my house now
02:59
so let's just knock it out.
03:01
If in a few hours it's awful,
03:02
we'll call it.
03:03
And we got in the studio
03:05
and it came out.
03:07
Like, in three, four hours
03:08
we had written this whole song.
03:10
He had this B3 organ that he played
03:12
and this simple drum track
03:14
and all of a sudden
03:16
we had this record
03:17
that did sound really amazing,
03:20
but it kind of fell flat
03:22
because the label
03:23
actually originally
03:24
didn't like the song
03:25
from my project
03:26
and they were like,
03:27
this doesn't feel right.
03:28
We're going to release Leavin.
03:29
You know, it was the first single.
03:31
Sonically, it wasn't really the same.
03:33
It didn't feel like the right tone.
03:35
And I was bummed about it
03:36
but it just sort of sat
03:38
in our hard drive
03:39
for months,
03:40
or maybe a year.
03:41
And thank goodness
03:43
for Ryan's,
03:45
you know,
03:46
for Ryan being so,
03:48
for just kind of
03:49
hammering the song
03:50
and pitching it
03:51
because he pitched it
03:52
to Simon Cowell
03:53
a year later who loved it.
03:54
And he goes,
03:55
I have the artist.
03:56
I think she's going to be great.
03:57
Her name's Leona Lewis.
03:58
We had never heard of her.
03:59
But we were like,
04:00
look,
04:01
somebody singing the song
04:02
is better than it
04:03
just sitting on my laptop.
04:04
So she recorded it
04:05
and then
04:06
it became like
04:07
the biggest song
04:08
of the decade.
04:09
It changed my life
04:10
immediately
04:11
as a writer,
04:12
as a performer
04:13
and it was a huge
04:14
validating moment
04:15
in my writing career.
04:16
So,
04:17
yeah,
04:18
that was a good one.
04:19
Good moment.
04:20
Take us back to when
04:21
Levin reached
04:22
Billboard Top 10.
04:23
Yeah,
04:24
this was wild.
04:25
Levin was my first
04:26
number one at radio
04:27
and it was my first
04:28
Top 10.
04:29
I think it was my,
04:30
no,
04:31
Beautiful Soul
04:32
was my first
04:33
Top 10,
04:34
I think.
04:35
I actually don't remember
04:36
but I do remember
04:37
Levin because
04:38
it was a part
04:39
of a new project
04:40
where I was kind of
04:41
going in more
04:42
of like a rhythmic
04:43
tone and sound.
04:44
I was working
04:45
with a whole new
04:46
You Want Me album
04:47
and,
04:48
yeah,
04:49
I mean,
04:50
it's funny
04:51
because Levin and
04:52
Bleeding Love
04:53
are so closely
04:54
related
04:55
in terms of the
04:56
timeline.
04:57
I remember
04:58
Levin was number
04:59
one at radio
05:00
and the only song
05:01
that bumped it off
05:02
of number one spot
05:03
was Bleeding Love.
05:04
So,
05:05
I kind of like
05:06
was in competition
05:07
with myself
05:08
but I was a writer
05:09
so I was like
05:10
it's all good
05:11
but Levin was great
05:12
and,
05:13
you know,
05:14
it opened the door
05:15
for me and
05:16
eventually T-Pain
05:17
and a lot of people
05:18
in the hip-hop world
05:19
that I never thought
05:20
after Beautiful Soul
05:21
that I'd be working with.
05:22
So,
05:23
very great moment
05:24
in my career.
05:25
Take us back to the
05:26
first time you heard
05:27
one of your songs
05:28
on the radio.
05:29
This is great.
05:30
First time I heard
05:31
Beautiful Soul
05:32
on the radio
05:33
I was coming out
05:34
of the SAT exam
05:35
senior year
05:36
of high school
05:37
and feeling
05:38
really down
05:39
because I knew
05:40
I had just
05:41
bombed the math.
05:42
I was terrible
05:43
at math
05:45
and I was like
05:46
oh my parents
05:47
are going to kill me
05:48
but I had just
05:49
released the song
05:50
and I get in my car
05:51
I was driving a Jeep
05:52
and I get in my car
05:53
I turn on the radio
05:54
and Beautiful Soul
05:55
is on Z100
05:56
on Elvis Duran
05:57
and the Z-Morning Zoo
05:58
one of my
05:59
childhood radio station
06:00
and I just remember
06:01
in that moment
06:02
thinking
06:03
I don't care
06:04
what happened
06:05
to my SAT exam
06:06
my song's on the radio
06:07
I made it
06:08
and,
06:09
yeah
06:10
and the rest
06:11
was history
06:12
but great moment.
06:13
Take us back
06:14
I've told this story before
06:15
but it's a good one
06:16
I was in Chicago
06:17
we were doing a mall
06:18
like a press tour
06:19
at a mall
06:20
I think it was
06:21
in Chicago
06:22
or Springfield, Illinois
06:23
and they expected
06:24
like maybe
06:25
a few hundred people
06:26
to show up
06:27
and
06:28
Summerland
06:29
had also just come out
06:30
and there was this
06:31
synergy of like
06:32
the TV show
06:33
on the WB
06:34
and the first single
06:35
just colliding
06:36
and
06:37
I think over
06:38
8,000 people
06:39
showed up to the mall
06:40
and they just
06:41
did not have
06:42
the security detail
06:43
so they set up
06:44
the stage
06:45
in the middle
06:46
of the audience
06:47
so there was
06:48
no way
06:49
for me to get
06:50
to the stage
06:51
without walking
06:52
through the audience
06:53
so they set up
06:54
like this
06:55
barrier
06:56
of security guards
06:57
that were
06:58
much much older
06:59
these were like
07:00
old retired
07:01
frail men
07:02
who just
07:03
could not
07:04
you know
07:05
hold up
07:06
to these
07:07
screaming
07:08
14 year old girls
07:09
and we're
07:10
making our way
07:11
to the stage
07:12
out of my head
07:13
and like
07:14
my head is bleeding
07:15
it's like
07:16
the pain was so sharp
07:17
I'm like tears
07:18
are rolling down my face
07:19
but I'm getting
07:20
to the stage
07:21
and I'm like
07:22
I'm bleeding
07:23
thank you Chicago
07:24
and I just
07:25
remember thinking
07:26
wow this is real
07:27
the fandom
07:28
is real
07:29
and
07:30
I'm gonna need
07:31
a tighter
07:32
security team
07:33
going forward
07:34
take us back
07:35
to this moment
07:36
this is
07:37
Paris Hilton
07:38
and I
07:39
at I think
07:40
either the
07:41
because I didn't
07:42
interview
07:43
the other day
07:44
where they told me
07:45
what the
07:46
award was for
07:47
and I think it was
07:48
like biggest dodgeball
07:49
fight or something
07:50
which I
07:51
didn't realize
07:52
deserved an award
07:53
but I was up there
07:54
with Paris Hilton
07:55
presenting
07:56
and this is my
07:57
first experience
07:58
with the tabloids
07:59
about a day later
08:00
everyone was saying
08:01
that she and I
08:02
were dating
08:03
which was not true
08:04
good times
08:05
take us back
08:06
to your first
08:07
red carpet
08:08
it's hard to
08:09
remember the
08:11
I just remember
08:12
not expecting
08:14
the light bulbs
08:15
to be blinding
08:16
as they were
08:17
I you know
08:18
I was a teenager
08:19
I was also like
08:20
battling a little bit
08:21
of acne
08:22
and I was like
08:23
oh my god
08:24
they're gonna see
08:25
all those zits
08:26
on my face
08:27
and I remember
08:28
being like
08:29
kind of insecure
08:30
about it
08:31
but yeah
08:32
I mean
08:33
there is something
08:34
very cool
08:35
about walking
08:36
a carpet
08:37
having your photo
08:38
taken
08:39
it's like
08:40
to feel
08:41
like you've done
08:42
something cool
08:43
you know
08:44
when you're walking
08:45
down the carpet
08:46
and people are
08:47
praising you
08:48
a lot of fun
08:49
and I've done
08:50
a few since then
08:51
but yeah
08:52
the early days
08:53
of experiencing
08:54
all that
08:55
is certainly
08:56
the most fun
08:57
because it's new
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