1. Kara DioGuardi primarily writes music in the pop rock genre.
38 Facts About Kara DioGuardi
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Kara DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales of albums on which her songs appear exceed 160 million worldwide.
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Kara DioGuardi was a judge on American Idol for its eighth and ninth seasons.
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Kara DioGuardi's father is former Republican Congressman and 2010 US Senate candidate Joe DioGuardi; her grandfather was Albanian.
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Kara DioGuardi grew up in the Wilmot Woods section of suburban New Rochelle, New York and attended elementary school at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School in Scarsdale, New York.
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Kara DioGuardi graduated from The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York and earned a degree in political science at Duke University.
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Kara DioGuardi has a songwriting catalog of several hundred songs; over 300 have been released on major labels worldwide and over 150 have appeared on platinum selling albums.
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Kara DioGuardi has had 50 international charting singles over the course of her career, and her songs have helped propel more than 66 albums into the top ten of the Billboard 200.
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Kara DioGuardi's songs have been featured in major motion pictures, television shows, film soundtracks, and radio spots, as well as in national and international commercial campaigns.
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Kara DioGuardi wrote with Ashlee Simpson for Simpson's first and second albums, in 2003 and 2004.
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Kara DioGuardi collaborated with Thalia in 2003 for her self-titled album Thalia.
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In 2004, Kara DioGuardi co-wrote one-sixth of the tracks off Kelly Clarkson's sophomore album Breakaway including Clarkson's hit "Walk Away".
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Kara DioGuardi then worked with Australian singer, Ricki-Lee Coulter on her 2005 single, Sunshine from her debut studio album, Ricki-Lee, which was released in October of the same year.
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Kara DioGuardi worked with Christina Aguilera on her album Back to Basics in 2006, co-writing twelve of the thirteen tracks on disc one of the album, among them being "Ain't No Other Man" and "Back in the Day".
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In 2007, Kara DioGuardi worked with many notable artists, one of whom was Britney Spears.
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Kara DioGuardi wrote and produced "Ooh Ooh Baby" and co-produced "Heaven on Earth" on Spears' album Blackout.
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Kara DioGuardi contributed a majority of the songs on Hilary Duff's fourth studio album, Dignity.
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Kara DioGuardi co-wrote the song with lead singer Tyler Connolly, and is featured as the love interest in the music video which was released on March 10,2009.
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In 2009, Kara DioGuardi wrote "If I Can't Have You" for Meat Loaf's 2010 album Hang Cool Teddy Bear and recorded the vocal as a duet with him.
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Kara DioGuardi is one of the writers for "Ghost", which was released as a single from Fefe Dobson's album Joy.
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Kara DioGuardi wrote songs for Aussie singer Natalie Imbruglia's third studio album Counting Down the Days.
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Kara DioGuardi co-wrote "Rebel Hearts" for Hilary Duff's Breathe In Breathe Out album in 2015.
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Kara DioGuardi co-owns Arthouse Entertainment, a publishing company which is a resource business for record companies and other music entities seeking compositions, productions, artists, and related music services.
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In July 2006, Kara DioGuardi was a judge in an Idol-like TV show called The One: Making a Music Star.
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Kara DioGuardi returned to Idol for its ninth season alongside Cowell, Jackson, and new judge Ellen DeGeneres who replaced Paula Abdul after she quit the show in contract disagreements.
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However, Kara DioGuardi decided to leave the show on September 3,2010 and did not return for the tenth season of Idol.
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Kara DioGuardi has had Idol connections in the past: in 2000, DioGuardi and former Idol judge Paula Abdul co-wrote the UK number-one single "Spinning Around", performed by Kylie Minogue.
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Kara DioGuardi has written many songs sung by Idol winners and alumni such as Kelly Clarkson, Allison Iraheta, David Archuleta, Carrie Underwood, Diana DeGarmo, Katharine McPhee, Kris Allen, Danny Gokey, and Adam Lambert.
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Kara DioGuardi co-wrote the American Idol season eight coronation single, "No Boundaries", which was performed by both finalists during the competition.
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Kara DioGuardi co-wrote with Jason Reeves a song called "Terrified" for Katharine McPhee's album Unbroken, which was covered by Didi Benami, an American Idol contestant from Season 9, during Hollywood week.
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Kara DioGuardi recorded a video of herself singing "Terrified" with Jason Reeves on YouTube, which has over 1,800,000 views.
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Kara DioGuardi appeared on Hannah Montana as herself in the episode "Judge Me Tender".
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Kara DioGuardi guest starred as herself on The Simpsons and Sesame Street.
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Kara DioGuardi released an autobiography after her departure from American Idol named A Helluva High Note; Surviving Life, Love and American Idol.
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In 2003, DioGuardi won a BMI Cable Award for co-writing and performing "Somethin' To Say", the theme to the Lifetime Television series For the People, which starred Lea Thompson, Debbi Morgan, A Martinez, and Cecilia Suarez.
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Kara DioGuardi has been awarded 15 BMI Awards for having co-written the most performed songs on the radio.
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Kara DioGuardi began dating teacher-turned-general contractor Mike McCuddy in 2007 after the two met while he was working on a home adjacent to her property in Maine.
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Together, Kara DioGuardi and McCuddy have one son, born via gestational carrier on January 31,2013.