Some of the most popular and commercially successful songs in the world were written by Albert Hammond, but how does it feel to record a song yourself that a better-known pop star takes to the top of the charts? Jo Roberts reports

Ever heard of a little song called When I Need You, a No.1 hit for Leo Sayer in 1977? What about The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies? When You Tell Me That You Love Me by Diana Ross? One Moment in Time by Whitney?

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to worldwide hit songs written by London-born Albert Hammond, who performs at two Kent venues this week.

While Albert has produced many albums of his own, and scored a US hit single in 1972 with It Never Rains in Southern California, his biggest successes have been as the songwriter behind tracks from the likes of Tina Turner, Julio Iglesias and bands like Chicago, Aswad and Starship.

What’s On asked the legendary songwriter about his career highs and seeing the musical legacy continued in his son, The Strokes’ guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.

Your family originates in Gibraltar and you’ve spent much of your life there – do you feel first British or Gibraltarian?

“Even though I was born in London, raised in Gibraltar and have lived in Los Angeles for the last 45 years, I feel a man of the world. My songs have touched people in all corners of the world so I feel close to everyone and everything everywhere.”

Where did your own love of music originate?

“It’s hard to say. No one in my family was musical, but I always felt music within me whatever I did when I was young, if it was sports or singing in the church choir. It all had a connection to music and rhythm within me. Sometimes I think something or someone out there connected with me and helped me fulfil my dream. It’s all a bit of a mystery to me, which is the magic of it and I want to keep it that way.”

How did the songwriting begin?

“The songwriting started at an early age. I don’t really remember when or where – it seems forever. When my father’s barber showed me three chords on his guitar at the age of nine, I would go there every day and as long as I swept the hair of the shop floor he would let me practise the three chords and I would make up songs. I think I wrote my first actual song as a teenager for a girl I met on a ship that docked in Gibraltar. When the ship left I waved goodbye and I felt a tear fall, so I went home and wrote my first song called Blue Boy.”

Do you think of yourself first as a songwriter or as a performer in your own right?

“I never looked at it that way. I would sometimes sing a Buddy Holly song or a Johnny Cash song, or I would make one up. It was the thrill of music and the satisfaction I got from it, and not what came first. I still feel the same way.”

How does it feel to see another artist have the big success with a song that you’ve written?

“It feels great to see another artist have success with one of my songs. It’s happened many times in my career. The Air That I Breathe and To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before are also songs that I recorded before anyone else, but I was really happy to see the songs become successful by them.”

What has been the highlight of your career?

“It has to be being inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, but there have been other highlights such as being nominated for an Oscar [for Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, the soundtrack to the 1987 film Mannequin] Golden Globe, Grammy, winning an Emmy, and receiving an OBE from The Queen.”

Which artists have you most enjoyed providing songs to?

“Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Julio Iglesias, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, Duffy, Whitney, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Art Garfunkel, Johnny Mathis, Ziggy Marley... I could go on.”

Which songs mean the most to you?

“It Never Rains in Southern California, because it’s biographical and it was my first big hit as a recording artist. Also One Moment In Time, because it’s such an Olympian song and because it’s a song about sacrifice and hope, just to have that one moment in time.”

Your son, Albert Jr, is also having success with The Strokes and in his own right – how does it feel to have shaped pop music so enormously and to see that continue in your son?

“It feels great. I love and respect Albert Jr in all ways – as my son, as a musician and as a human being. I’m extremely proud of him.”

Albert Hammond is at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells on Monday, May 26 at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £20. Call 01892 530613.

He moves on to Folkestone’s Leas Cliff Hall on Tuesday, May 27 at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £23.90. Call 0844 8713015.