Justin Tranter

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]

Tranter released their debut studio album Scratched in 2002 and followed it up with their second studio album Tear Me Together in 2004.^[6]

In 2004, following the release of Tear Me Together, Tranter formed the band Semi Precious Weapons in New York with fellow Berklee graduates Cole Whittle, Dan Crean, and Aaron Lee Tasjan;^[6] Tasjan was later replaced by Stevy Pyne.^[7] The band's debut studio album We Love You was released in 2008 and the band subsequently opened for Lady Gaga on her Monster Ball Tour from 2009 to 2011.^[8] Semi Precious Weapons released two more albums, You Love You (2010) and Aviation (2014), before disbanding in 2014.^[9] While still part of Semi Precious Weapons, Tranter moved to Los Angeles and signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music in 2012 to write songs for other artists.^[7]

After signing with Warner Chappell, Tranter began working with artists such as Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfeld, Fifth Harmony, and Fall Out Boy.^[10] In December 2015, Tranter was named one of the "20 Biggest Breakouts of 2015" by Rolling Stone for their songwriting contributions to the pop charts of that year.^[11] Tranter frequently collaborates with Julia Michaels and multiple songs co-written by the pair have appeared on Billboard charts; two such tracks, Gomez's "Good for You" and Bieber's "Sorry", topped the Mainstream Top 40.^[12] Tranter and Michaels also teamed up to co-write Gwen Stefani's third solo studio album This Is What the Truth Feels Like (2016).^[13] Tranter has since written for artists ranging from Britney Spears and Demi Lovato to Imagine Dragons and Linkin Park.^[2][14] Their songwriting work on Michaels's song "Issues" earned Tranter a Song of the Year nomination at the 2018 Grammy Awards.^[15]

Tranter has worked on music for film and television. They co-wrote the song "Home" performed by Nick Jonas for the soundtrack to the animated film Ferdinand (2017), which earned Tranter a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 2018 ceremony.^[9] They also co-wrote "Hindsight", the end title song for Billy Eichner's film Bros (2022).^[16] Furthermore, Tranter was an executive producer and songwriter for the soundtracks to the Hulu film Happiest Season (2020),^[17] Billy Porter's directorial debut Anything's Possible,^[18] the Netflix film Purple Hearts (both 2022),^[19] the Paramount+ Grease prequel television series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (2023),^[20] and Larin Sullivan's film The Young King.^[21]

Tranter was nominated for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical at the 2024 Grammy Awards for their work on songs by Reneé Rapp, Måneskin, Marisa Davila, Baby Tate, Talk, and Miley Cyrus.^[22] At the 2025 ceremony, Tranter received their second Song of the Year nomination for Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!", which they co-wrote with Roan and Dan Nigro.^[23] The three had previously collaborated on the track "My Kink Is Karma" from Roan's debut studio album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023).^[24]

Tranter's activism began in high school at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, where they created the annual AIDS Benefit to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS.^[4][5] This was followed by Musicians with a Mission, a scholarship fund for LGBT youth education that Tranter founded while attending the Berklee College of Music.^[6]

Tranter flew to Orlando to help in the aftermath of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.^[7] They also co-wrote and co-organized the release of the charity single "Hands" to raise funds for Equality Florida's Pulse Victims Fund, GLAAD, and the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida.^[26]

In February 2017, Tranter joined GLAAD's National Board of Directors.^[27] During the GLAAD Media Awards of that year, Tranter raised $123,000 for the organization by auctioning off four individual songwriting and recording sessions.^[28] Each year, Tranter hosts an in-person Spirit Day concert to raise funds for GLAAD's efforts to support LGBT youth. The fourth annual event in 2022 raised $400,000.^[29]

Tranter is also a supporter of Mercy for Animals and stopped eating meat in 1994.^[3] They are an advocate for fairer payment of songwriters in the music streaming era.^[30]

On November 17, 2019, Tranter was honored with the ACLU of Southern California's Bill of Rights Award for their activist work as "an outspoken and powerful voice for the LGBTQIA+ community, diversity, the climate crisis, arts education, animal rights, and ending gun violence".^[31]

Tranter is bisexual,^[32] gender nonconforming,^[33] and non-binary.^[34] They have stated that, with regard to pronouns, "they/them/theirs is what I relate to the most".^[33]

Tranter's jewelry company, Fetty, grew out of necklaces they designed to sell as merchandise for the Semi Precious Weapons shows. Fetty sold at retailers such as Urban Outfitters and Barneys.^[35] The designs typically feature hearts and weapons.^[35] In 2008, Tranter designed a limited-edition sneaker for DKNY.^[36]

Tranter is the founder and CEO of Facet Records and Publishing, which looks after a roster of artists, songwriters, and producers.^[37]

In 2008, Tranter appeared as a guest on the E! cable network show Chelsea Lately.^[38] In December of the same year, they served as a coach on the MTV reality show Made, in which they helped a young girl transform into a "rock star".^[39] In 2010, Tranter and their fellow Semi Precious Weapons members had cameo appearances in Lady Gaga's music video for "Telephone".^[40][41] In 2012, Tranter was interviewed for the documentary feature film Jobriath A.D. about rock musician Jobriath.^[42]

• Scratched (2002)
• Tear Me Together (2004)

• We Love You (2008)
• You Love You (2010)
• Aviation (2014)