Unless you’ve been living with a doomsday cult in an underground bomb shelter, à la Kimmy Schmidt; your life has been touched by Justin Tranter.  Songs he’s written and/or collaborated upon – just over the past year or so – include such worldwide chart-toppers as “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy, “Love Myself” by Hailee Steinfeld, “Good for You” by Selena Gomez featuring A$AP Rocky, “Used to Love You” by Gwen Stefani, “Sorry” by Justin Bieber, and “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE (the new band fronted by Joe Jonas).

Articles about Tranter have abounded of late, whether focusing on both him and his songwriting partner, Julia Michaels (The New York Times, Rolling Stone); or on the influence of the glam-rock band he fronted, Semi Precious Weapons (New York Post); and as they were all particularly comprehensive and well-written,  I’m gonna focus on something to which I bore witness, myself.

Recently, I was in LA for the Golden Globes, and – as I am wont to do whenever I’m in LA, over a weekend – I grabbed my friend, Armen Ra (who looked resplendent in a custom-made black velvet catsuit and Charles Jourdan heels, with a dramatic, floor-length champagne mink), and booked it to Giorgio’s, Bryan Rabin and DJ Adam XII’s fabulous temple of disco-fied glamour that goes-down on Saturday nights, at mmhmm at the Standard, Hollywood.   Armen is the conduit by which Justin and I became friends, and as I’d forgotten to text Justin, I asked Armen to invite him to join us. 

As Armen and I were walking into Giorgio’s, Bryan introduced us to crooner Sam Smith, who was in LA because his song “Writing’s on the Wall” (the theme to the James Bond film, Spectre – which had already landed Smith in the Guinness Book of World Records when it became the first ever Bond theme to all the way to the top of the UK charts), had been nominated for a Golden Globe, the next day, for Best Original Song.  Of course, after his sweep of the 2015 Grammy Awards, Smith had already become a huge player on the pop music stage, winning four of the six Grammys for which he was nominated – including “Best New Artist;” “Record of the Year” and “Song of the Year” (for “Stay with Me”); and “Best Pop Vocal Album” (for In the Lonely Hour).

Unbeknownst to me, Smith was a huge Justin Tranter fan; and while the two have been corresponding – first via social media, then email – for some five years, they’d never met, in person.  So, Armen and I looked at each other, and then he texted Justin, while I told Bryan to expect him, at the door, shortly.  Sure enough, Justin arrived, and was brought over to our booth; and within seconds, he and Smith were jumping up and down, shrieking like twin sisters who’d been separated at birth.

Throughout the rest of the evening (Armen and I left, around 2am – while Tranter and Smith remained), in between bouts of dancing to Adam’s fabulous set-list; quick forays to get some air on the patio; and rehydrating at our table; some very sincere thoughts were expressed, about success and the pros and cons that accompany it; being a proud gay man both personally and professionally, and the obligations entailed, therein; and the importance of not getting caught-up in one’s hype.

When the topic of friends arose, Justin gestured at Armen and said “This was my best-friend before all this happened; and he’s still my best friend, with all of this happening.  Nothing has changed.”  As the topic changed to ‘crossing over’ I looked at Sam and said “I think it’s a sign of both your appeal and the times we live in, that within the past year you’ve gone from being ‘gay singer, Sam Smith’ to ‘singer, Sam Smith’ – and that’s a wonderful thing.”  I mean, with the exception of a hilarious comedy bit, by Wanda Sykes, nobody refers to Tiger Woods as “black golfer, Tiger Woods” (nor have they in many years).

I also got to tell Smith how much I enjoyed his soulful rendition of “My Funny Valentine” (that was shown via satellite) at the Sinatra100 concert, at Wynn Las Vegas, last month.

The next day, Smith would win that Golden Globe (hooray!), and Tranter headed back to the studio (where he and Michaels have their talented fingers in many pies, including completion of Stefani’s and DNCE’s albums, contributing to Britney Spears’ upcoming LP, and projects for John Legend and Nick Jonas).

Here’s wishing these two tremendous talents all the success and happiness they so richly deserve.

Justin Tranter
Warner/Chappell Music
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