Tamara Savage
{{short description|American songwriter (born 1979)}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Tamara Savage-Thompson
|birth_date = 1979
|birth_place = Ventura, California, United States
|alma mater = University of Southern California
| module = {{Infobox musical artist |embed=yes
|genre = {{hlist|R&B|soul|hip hop|gospel}}
|label = EMI Music Publishing
|occupation = Songwriter
|background = person
}}
}}
Tamara Savage is an American songwriter born in 1979 in California, who started writing songs in 1998 at the age of 19. She has written for Tamia, Monica, Faith Evans, Mary Mary, Heather Headley, Shanice, Whitney Houston, Mýa and Tracie Spencer, among others.
Early Career
Savage and her three younger siblings were attending a private Christian school in Texas ran by their mother when she realized she enjoyed creative writing.{{cite magazine|first=Dylan|last=Siegler|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQ0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41&dq=tamara+savage&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilmdPu7vSMAxUmg4kEHc3VJ7sQ6AF6BAgEEAM#v=onepage&q=tamara%20savage&f=false|title=Budding Singer Blossoms as Writer|magazine=Billboard}} She began writing songs to Aaliyah instrumentals while in her early teens.
By the mid-1990s, Savage, then a USC student and musical performer, began shopping a demo of hers around in hopes of receiving a record deal, when it was heard by Big Jon Platt. Platt would later sign her to a development deal with EMI while still in college.{{cite web|first=Alain|last=Vendargon|url=http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/savage.html|title=Tamara Savage Co-Writes Top Hits For Monica, Whitney Houston And Shanice|website=Songwriter Universe|accessdate=May 3, 2015|archive-date=April 28, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428121912/http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/savage.html|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|first=Adrienne P.|last=Samuels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PNMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA59&dq=tamara+savage&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwilmdPu7vSMAxUmg4kEHc3VJ7sQ6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&q=tamara%20savage&f=false|title=Ear Candy: Big Jon Platt|magazine=Ebony}} In 1997, her new mentor Platt, then Senior Vice President of Creative at EMI Music Publishing, started setting up collaborations between her and EMI writers such as Soulshock & Karlin and Jermaine Dupri. EMI flew Savage to Atlanta to co-write a song with Dupri for the South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut soundtrack, which was expected to be recorded by singer Janet Jackson, but when Savage began working with Dupri, they decided to focus first on writing a song for Monica, which resulted in Savages' first placement: Billboard number one single "The First Night".
Selected songwriting discography
Credits are courtesy of Discogs, Tidal, Apple Music, and AllMusic.
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col" style="width:22.5em;"| Title ! scope="col"| Year ! scope="col"| Artist ! scope="col"| Album |
| scope="row"|"The First Night"
| rowspan="6"|1998 |
|---|
| scope="row"|"Take Me There" (Featuring Blinky Blink & Mase)
|Blackstreet & Mya |
| scope="row"|"One Wish" |
| scope="row"|"When I Close My Eyes"
| rowspan="2"|Shanice | rowspan="2"|Shanice |
| scope="row"|"Wanna Hear You Say" |
| scope="row"|"Heartbreak Hotel" (Featuring Faith Evans & Kelly Price) |
| scope="row"|"My Life"
| rowspan="4"|1999 |TLC |
| scope="row"|"Get None" (Featuring Jermaine Dupri & Amil) |
| scope="row"|"If U Wanna Get Down"
| rowspan="2"|Tracie Spencer | rowspan="2"|Tracie |
| scope="row"|"Feelin' You" (Featuring Sonja Blade) |
| scope="row"|"Ride & Shake"
| rowspan="4"|2000 |Mya |
| scope="row"|"Joy" |
| scope="row"|"Big Momma's Theme" (Featuring Destiny's Child)
| rowspan="2"|Big Momma's House (soundtrack) |
| scope="row"|"Treated Like Her" |
| scope="row"|"If I Could"
|2002 |
| scope="row"|"It's A Party"
|2003 |
| scope="row"|"You're Gonna Get It" (Featuring Diamond Stone)
|2004 |
| scope="row"|"Everytime I..."
| rowspan="3"|2006 |
| scope="row"|"Wait a Minute" |
| scope="row"|"So Special" |
| scope="row"|"Always Gonna Be Somethin'"
|2008 |
| scope="row"|"Amnesia"
|2010 |
| scope="row"|"Try Harder"
|2019 |Torch |
=Guest Appearances=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col" style="width:31em;"| Title ! scope="col"| Year ! scope="col"| Artist ! scope="col"| Album |
| scope="row"|"Pitch In on a Party" (background vocals)
|1999 |
|---|
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable" |
| style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! scope="col"| Year ! scope="col"| Ceremony ! scope="col"| Award ! scope="col"| Result !Ref |
| 2000
| Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (Heartbreak Hotel) | {{nom}} | style="text-align:center;"| {{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/tamara-savage/6315|title=Tamara Savage|website=The Recording Academy}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Tamara}}
Category:Songwriters from California
{{US-songwriter-stub}}