Justin Tranter
Justin Drew Tranter (born June 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, singer, and activist. Frequently co-writing with Julia Michaels, Tranter has written songs for artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Linkin Park, Kelly Clarkson, Sara Bareilles, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, DNCE, Citizen Queen, Kesha, Imagine Dragons, The Knocks, Fifth Harmony, 5 Seconds of Summer, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Raye, Bea Miller, Demi Lovato, Dua Lipa, Måneskin, and Fall Out Boy. From 2004 to 2014, Tranter was the lead singer of Semi Precious Weapons, a rock band based in New York. Since February 2017, they have been a board member of GLAAD, an organization that promotes LGBT acceptance in the entertainment and news industries. Tranter's songs have garnered over 50 million single sales and 40 billion streams on Spotify and YouTube as of May 2021.[1]
Justin Tranter
Early life[edit]
Justin Drew Tranter was born and grew up in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois. They have three older brothers.[2] Tranter says that they experienced bullying during their youth,[3] which caused them to be transferred from the Lake Zurich public high school to the Chicago Academy for the Arts after a semester.[2][4] While studying musical theater at the Academy, they started the AIDS Benefit, an annual show run by students to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS.[4][5] Tranter graduated in 1998.[5] Following this, they studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Along with songwriting, they also took classes in business management.[6] While at Berklee, they founded Musicians with a Mission, a scholarship fund for LGBT youth education.[6]
Personal life[edit]
Tranter is bisexual,[28] gender nonconforming,[29] and non-binary.[30] They have stated that, with regard to pronouns, "they/them/theirs is what I relate to the most".[29]
