Dave Tozer

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Dave Tozer is an American Grammy-winning producer, songwriter and musician. He has worked with several R&B, hip-hop and rock artists including John Legend, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Natasha Bedingfield and Heather Headley.

Hailing from Bridgeton, New Jersey, Tozer taught himself guitar, bass and keyboard. After moving to Philadelphia in the late 1990s, Tozer honed his production skills at various Philadelphia-area studios and began working as a freelance musician playing everything from hip hop to rock to R&B. Through a mutual friend, Tozer met University of Pennsylvania student John Stephens (later Grammy Award-winning R&B star John Legend) and began a fruitful nine-year professional relationship. In addition to developing creatively with Legend and Tozer produced his three independently released albums, John Stephens (2000), Live at Jimmy‘s Uptown(2001) and Live at SOB’s (2003).

In 2004, Tozer contributed to eight tracks on Legend‘s Grammy Award-winning major label debut Get Lifted and his writing skills garnered him a publishing deal with Viacom-owned Famous Music Publishing. 2005 proved to be an important year for Tozer with the massive success of Get Lifted, which earned eight Grammy nominations. Legend won three awards including Best New Artist and Best R&B Album. Tozer won his first Grammy as a producer on Get Lifted and the track “Stay With You,” which Tozer co-wrote and produced, was also nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.

Soon, he was crafting songs for artists such as singers Heather Headley and Natasha Bedingfield. He has also lent his instrumental abilities to Kanye West‘s Grammy-winning single “Diamonds From Sierra Leone,” and produced another Legend track for the Luther Vandross tribute album So Amazing: An All Star Tribute. The year culminated in a deal with Sony Music as an in-house producer and a renewal of his Famous Music Publishing contract.

In 2006, Tozer worked as a musician on the track “Do U Wanna Ride” from Jay-Z comeback album Kingdom Come and collaborating with Grammy Award-winning artist John Mayer. Tozer also reunited with his old friend Legend and produced three songs from his acclaimed sophomore effort Once Again, including the iTunes single “On Top Of The World.”