28 Facts About Mike Elizondo

Mike Elizondo was born on October 22,1972 and is an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

Mike Elizondo's father hosted jam sessions at home, and in the early 80s converted the garage into a recording studio to record local bands.

Mike Elizondo learned to play the accordion at age 9 and the tenor saxophone at 12.

Mike Elizondo went to Hamilton High School Music Academy, where he met future engineer Manny Marroquin and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr.

Mike Elizondo discovered an affinity for jazz, and while he continued to play the electric bass with hardcore and metal bands he formed, in his senior year he picked up the upright bass, studying classically to understand the full scope of the instrument.

Mike Elizondo met bassist and California State University, Northridge music professor Gary Pratt when Pratt guest-conducted Hamilton's jazz band.

Mike Elizondo subsequently studied privately with Pratt, who encouraged Mike Elizondo to apply to CSUN.

Mike Elizondo was accepted, and enrolled in the university's music program in 1991.

Already well-versed in jazz and other genres of music, Mike Elizondo's emphasis was on classical music at CSUN; as he studied with Pratt, in addition to Ed Meares, he played in chamber groups and the school orchestra.

Mike Elizondo played in bands with musicians such as Nels and Alex Cline, Vinny Golia, Peter Erskine, and in 1994, as his extracurricular gigs became more time-consuming, he left CSUN to focus professionally on music full-time.

In 1996, Mike Elizondo was booked as a session musician for the recording of The Album, by The Firm, a hip hop supergroup composed of Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature.

Mike Elizondo met Poe through Matt Wallace in 1997, and co-wrote four songs for her second Atlantic album, Haunted, including its title track.

Shortly after he signed his publishing deal, Mike Elizondo began to work steadily on Aftermath projects as part of Dre's core creative team.

Mike Elizondo played on Dre's solo album 2001 in 1999, and continued to work closely with him for the next 11 years as a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer.

In 2003, in addition to playing bass, guitar and keyboards, Mike Elizondo co-wrote five songs on 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Trying, and co-wrote and co-produced the album's first and final singles, "In da Club" and "If I Can't".

Mike Elizondo's run of hits continued through the end of 2004, with Mary J Blige's "Family Affair", charting at No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" by Eve ft.

Mike Elizondo co-wrote four songs on The Eminem Show and eight songs on Eminem's Encore, including "Just Lose It" an international hit.

Mike Elizondo produced the Alanis Morissette song "Wunderkind", which appeared on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe soundtrack and was nominated in the Best Original Song category at the 2006 Golden Globe Awards.

Similarly, Mike Elizondo was brought in to help Rilo Kiley make their fourth album, Under the Blacklight, more rhythmic.

Mike Elizondo stripped it down, and made it kind of a banger.

Mike Elizondo was nominated for the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year in 2008 based on his body of work between October 1,2007, and September 20,2008.

In January 2011, recruited by Lenny Waronker and Rob Cavallo, Mike Elizondo was named Sr.

In 2013, to "keep things fresh for himself and his fans," Keith Urban collaborated with Mike Elizondo, who co-wrote and co-produced two tracks on his album, Fuse.

In 2015, Mike Elizondo was contacted by Lin-Manuel Miranda to develop The Hamilton Mixtape, which would be based on Hamilton.

Mike Elizondo produced four songs on Twenty One Pilots breakout album Blurryface in 2015.

In September 2018, Mike Elizondo became the music director of Live from Here with Chris Thile.

Mike Elizondo played bass on several early episodes of the show and was offered the full-time music director gig in July 2018.

In 2021, Mike Elizondo was nominated for the 2022 Producer of the Year Grammy Award, non-classical.