Adele/ Star Tribune photo by Tom Wallace
Dan Wilson/ Star Tribune photo by Jeff Wheeler
Former Minneapolis songwriter-singer Dan Wilson just scored his first No. 1 song, Adele's "Someone Like You." They cowrote the piano ballad, which vaulted from No. 19 to No. 1 in one week (thanks, in part, to her performance on the MTV VMA Awards).
"It's fun and a little hard to get a grasp on," Wilson said via email. "I already felt amazed and overserved by the song going to No. 1 in the U.K.; this is really unexpected and great —especially since it's just Adele singing and me on the piano."
Actually, Wilson was still officially living in Minneapolis when they collaborated; he moved to Los Angeles late last year. But the song was written and recorded in L.A.
"We wrote and recorded it over two days in a tiny studio on Santa Monica Blvd, Harmony Studio," Wilson recalled. "It's a place with a high ceiling and a beautiful piano that I love — the piano on the track — very simple and unglamorous. I think the space really affected the song and obviously the recording."
Adele acknowledged Wilson when she sang "Someone Like You" in St. Paul last month; when the mention of his name drew a hearty applause, she promised to tell him. He cowrote three songs on her blockbuster "21" album.
Wilson won a Grammy for best song for co-writing the Dixie Chicks' "Not Ready To Make Nice," and he, of course, was the voice and writer of Semisonic's hit "Closing Time," which peaked at No. 11 on Billboard's Hot 100. Wilson is working on his second solo album.
