Mark Ronson

Biography

Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British and American musician, record producer, songwriter and DJ. He has won ten Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album Back to Black (2006), as well as two for Record of the Year with her 2006 single "Rehab" and his own 2014 single "Uptown Funk" (featuring Bruno Mars). Ronson has also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award for co-writing "Shallow" (performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper) for the film A Star Is Born (2018).
Ronson signed with Elektra Records to release his debut studio album, Here Comes the Fuzz×Here Comes the Fuzz26 August 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Intro1:262Bluegrass Stain’d4:123Ooh Wee3:304High4:065I Suck2:556International Affair3:257Diduntdidunt3:598On the Run2:389Here Comes the Fuzz3:0910Bout to Get Ugly3:3311She’s Got Me3:4912Tomorrow3:5613Rashi (outro)4:33 (2003), which contained guest performances from prominent American hip hop acts and was met with lukewarm commercial reception. Due to this, he parted ways with Elektra the following year and co-founded his own label, Allido Records. By 2006, Ronson gained wider recognition for his production work on albums and singles for Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse.
During 2007, he signed with Columbia Records and released the Motown-funk cover singles "Stop Me×Stop Me9 April 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Stop Me (Dirty South remix)8:242Stop Me (Kissy Sell Out mix)5:573Stop Me (A Chicken Lips Malfunction)6:594Stop Me (A Chicken Lips dub Duluxe)7:57" (featuring Daniel Merriweather) and "Valerie" (featuring Amy Winehouse), both of which peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in promotion of his second album, the covers effort Version×Version14 April 2007 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1God Put a Smile Upon Your Face3:132Oh My God3:353Stop Me3:544Toxic4:055Valerie3:396Apply Some Pressure3:377Inversion1:478Pretty Green3:179Just5:2010Amy3:3211The Only One I Know3:5912Diversion1:1913L.S.F.3:3014Outversion1:53 (2007). It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart earned him the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist. His third album, Record Collection (2010), matched its chart position and moderately entered the U.S. Billboard 200.
Ronson's 2014 single "Uptown Funk" (featuring Bruno Mars), yielded his furthest commercial success internationally, spending 14 consecutive weeks atop the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, seven non-consecutive weeks atop the UK Singles Chart, and becoming one of the best-selling singles of all-time. "Uptown Funk" served as the lead single for his fourth studio album Uptown Special×Uptown Special12 January 2015 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Uptown’s First Finale1:392Summer Breaking3:073Feel Right3:434Uptown Funk4:305I Can’t Lose3:166Daffodils4:587Crack in the Pearl2:268In Case of Fire4:349Leaving Los Feliz4:1810Heavy and Rolling3:5811Crack in the Pearl, Pt. II2:16 (2015), which was dedicated to Winehouse and peaked atop the UK Albums Chart, as well as number five on the Billboard 200. In 2018, Ronson founded the record label Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records, and formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo; their debut single, "Electricity" (featuring Dua Lipa) was released in September of that year and won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
Ronson was lead and executive producer for the soundtrack to the 2023 Greta Gerwig film Barbie, on which he also composed and co-wrote several of its songs with his production partner Andrew Wyatt. The soundtrack won three Grammy Awards—"What Was I Made For?" won Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media, while the parent album won Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media—from 11 nominations, as well as an Academy Award for Best Original Song from two nominations. Ronson and Wyatt would collaborate with Gerwig again in 2026 for the soundtrack to her adaptation of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew for Netflix.

Early life

Mark Daniel Ronson was born on 4 September 1975 in Notting Hill, London, to Laurence Ronson, a then music manager and publisher, now real estate developer, and Ann (née Dexter), a writer, jewellery designer, and socialite. His Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors emigrated from Austria, Lithuania, and Russia. Ronson was brought up in a Conservative Jewish household and became bar mitzvah.
After his parents' divorce, Ann married Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones. Jones wrote Foreigner's song "I Want to Know What Love Is" about his burgeoning relationship with her.
Ronson, along with his mother, stepfather, and sisters, moved to New York City when he was eight years old. Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Ronson counted Sean Lennon among his childhood friends. At age 12, being a self-described music nerd, he pestered Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner into an internship at the magazine. Ronson attended high school at the private Collegiate School in Manhattan before attending Vassar College and then New York University. In 2008, he obtained American citizenship so that he could vote in that year's presidential election.

Family

Ronson was born into the Ronson family, who were one of Britain's wealthiest families during the 1980s, and the founders of Heron International. His family lost $1 billion of their wealth in the property crash of the early 1990s. He is the nephew of businessman Gerald Ronson. Mark is not related to guitarist Mick Ronson.
Through his mother, Ronson is distantly related to British Conservative politicians Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Leon Brittan, and Odeon Cinemas founder Oscar Deutsch.
Ronson has two younger sisters: twins Charlotte, a fashion designer, and Samantha, a singer and DJ. Through his mother's second marriage to Mick Jones, Ronson has two older step-siblings and two half-siblings, including actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones. Through his father's second marriage, Ronson has three other half-siblings.

Career

While attending New York University, Ronson became known as a DJ on the local club scene in the early 1990s. He played a diverse, genre-spanning selection, noting: "I've always loved everything. I've never had any kind of genre boundaries". In 1999, Ronson was featured in an ad for Tommy Hilfiger wearing the company's denim in the recording studio.

2001–2005: Here Comes the Fuzz and initial producing

Ronson transitioned from DJ to producer after Nikka Costa's manager, Dominique Trenier, heard one of his sets and introduced him to several musicians. Ronson produced Costa's song "Everybody Got Their Something", and Ronson soon signed a record contract with Elektra Records. He had already produced tracks for Hilfiger ads and, in 2001, used the connection to have Costa's single "Like a Feather" feature in an advertisement.
Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz×Here Comes the Fuzz26 August 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Intro1:262Bluegrass Stain’d4:123Ooh Wee3:304High4:065I Suck2:556International Affair3:257Diduntdidunt3:598On the Run2:389Here Comes the Fuzz3:0910Bout to Get Ugly3:3311She’s Got Me3:4912Tomorrow3:5613Rashi (outro)4:33, was released in 2003 and according to a retrospective review "the record sold poorly and (...) critical reception was lukewarm at best, dismissive at worst". The album featured performances from artists from diverse genres, including Mos Def, Jack White, Sean Paul, Nappy Roots and Rivers Cuomo. The lead single "Ooh Wee×Ooh Wee20 October 2003 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Ooh Wee (radio edit)2:502NYC Rules3:48," reached no. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, and was used in a number of films, including in Honey (2003). Two weeks after releasing Here Comes the Fuzz, Elektra Records dropped Ronson. In 2004, Ronson formed his own record label, Allido Records, a subsidiary of Sony BMG's J Records, along with his longtime manager Rich Kleiman.

2006–2009: Version

On 2 April 2007, Ronson released a cover of The Smiths' track "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before", in medley with the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On", under the shortened title "Stop Me×Stop Me9 April 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Stop Me (Dirty South remix)8:242Stop Me (Kissy Sell Out mix)5:573Stop Me (A Chicken Lips Malfunction)6:594Stop Me (A Chicken Lips dub Duluxe)7:57", featuring Australian singer and frequent collaborator Daniel Merriweather. It reached number 2 in the UK singles charts, giving Ronson his highest-peaking single until 2014's "Uptown Funk". Ronson remixed the Bob Dylan song "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go Mine" in promotion for the three-disc Bob Dylan collection titled Dylan released October 2007. Ronson has also produced Candie Payne's single "One More Chance" in 2007. The cover album Version×Version14 April 2007 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1God Put a Smile Upon Your Face3:132Oh My God3:353Stop Me3:544Toxic4:055Valerie3:396Apply Some Pressure3:377Inversion1:478Pretty Green3:179Just5:2010Amy3:3211The Only One I Know3:5912Diversion1:1913L.S.F.3:3014Outversion1:53 appeared on his own label with Alexis Petridis describing the song interpretations as "an affectionate pastiche of a 60s soul revue's brass-laden sound". In May 2007 it was awarded the title Album of the Month by the British dance music magazine, Mixmag. On 23 June, Ronson made the cover of The Guardian newspaper's Guide magazine, alongside singer Lily Allen.
In June 2007, Ronson signed DC hip hop artist Wale to Allido Records. In late 2007, he focused on production, working with Daniel Merriweather on his debut album, and recording again with Amy Winehouse and Robbie Williams. On 24 October 2007, Ronson performed a one-off set at The Roundhouse in Camden, London as part of the BBC Electric Proms 2007. The performance featured the BBC Concert Orchestra and included special guests Terry Hall, Sean Lennon, Tim Burgess, Alex Greenwald, Ricky Wilson (substituting for Lily Allen), Charlie Waller of The Rumble Strips, Adele and Kyle Falconer.
In December 2007, Ronson received his first Grammy Award nomination, for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Ronson's work with Amy Winehouse also received substantial accolades, gaining 6 nominations. Winehouse's Back to Black album, mostly produced by Ronson, was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Her song "Rehab" received nods for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Ronson would go on to win three Grammys: Producer of the Year as well as Best Pop Vocal Album and Record of the Year (the latter two of which he shared with Amy Winehouse) in early February 2008.
Ronson is credited as producer on a mixtape album called Man in the Mirror, released in January 2008 by the rapper Rhymefest which is a tribute to the pop star Michael Jackson. The album features Rhymefest appearing to speak to Michael Jackson using archive audio from interviews with the pop star. The same month Ronson received three nominations for the Brit Awards, including 'Best Male Solo Artist,' 'Best Album' (Version) and 'Song of the Year' ("Valerie"). Ronson won his first Brit for 'Best Male Solo Artist' in mid-February 2008 over favourite Mika. He also performed a medley of Coldplay's "God Put a Smile upon Your Face" with Adele, "Stop Me" with Daniel Merriweather, and "Valerie" with Amy Winehouse. The performance allowed for a large boost in sales in the iTunes UK Top 100. "Valerie" would jump almost 30 spots in the days after the event, while "Just", "Stop Me" and "Oh My God×Oh My God16 July 2007 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Oh My God3:412Oh My God (The Super Busdown remix) (clean)3:283Oh My God (instrumental)3:414Pistol of Fire3:00" all appeared in the chart as well. That same week, Ronson appeared twice in the UK Top 40, with "Valerie" rebounding to number 13 and "Just" at number 31, his fourth Top 40 entry from "Version". The Brits performance also allowed for "Version" to climb 18 spots to number 4.
Around this time, Ronson received his first number one on an international chart (Dutch Top 40) for "Valerie," which spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. He collaborated with the Kaiser Chiefs on their third album. Ronson toured the album "Version" extensively through both the UK and Europe during 2008. Notable sold-out performances at The Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy. Ronson is known to champion new upcoming artists on the road with him, such as Sam Sparro and Julian Perretta. Ronson's string backing was provided by the all-female string quartet Demon Strings.
On 2 July 2008, in Paris, Ronson performed live with Duran Duran for an invited audience. They played new arrangements by Ronson of some Duran Duran songs, along with tracks from the band's new album, Red Carpet Massacre. Ronson & the Version Players also performed songs from his album Version. Simon Le Bon sang. As of March 2009, Ronson was working with the group on their 13th album. The Album, titled All You Need Is Now, was released digitally exclusively via Apple's iTunes on 21 December 2010, while the physical CD was released in March 2011 with additional tracks. In 2013–14 Ronson was once again in the studio producing Duran Duran's 14th album, Paper Gods, making it the first time the band has worked with the same producer on consecutive albums since Colin Thurston produced their first two albums in the 1980s.

2010–2012: Record Collection

In the spring of 2010, Ronson confirmed the name of his new album Record Collection, and said that he hoped to have it out by September 2010. Additionally, Ronson announced the name of his new band, "The Business Intl.'", which is the alias adopted by Ronson on the third studio album. The first single, "Bang Bang Bang," which featured rapper Q-Tip and singer MNDR, was released on 12 July 2010, where it peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, giving Ronson his fourth Top 10 single. The single also entered the Irish Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 18. The second single from the album, "The Bike Song×The Bike Song17 September 2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1The Bike Song4:272The Bike Song (Major Lazer remix by Switch)3:333The Bike Song (Lil Silver remix)5:36", was released on 19 September 2010, and features the Scottish musician Kyle Falconer from The View and the American rapper Spank Rock. The album was released on 27 September 2010. This is the first Ronson album on which he features as a singer.
Although Ronson had never met Michael Jackson, he was given the vocal track to a song titled "Lovely Way", sung by Jackson, in 2010 to produce for his posthumous album Michael. He submitted the track, but it did not make the tracklisting for Michael. Ronson said about the rumours surrounding the vocals on the track (due to the controversy surrounding the Cascio tracks on that same album), "It was definitely him singing. I was given a vocal track to work with but I never actually met Michael. [...] It's in the vein of Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' and John Lennon's 'Imagine'." He provided the score for the 2011 film Arthur. Ronson was one of the artists featured in the 2012 documentary Re:GENERATION Music Project. His song "A La Modeliste" features Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, members of The Dap-Kings, and Zigaboo Modeliste.

2013–2017: Uptown Special and Amy

On 30 October 2014, Ronson announced, via Twitter, a new single from his upcoming album, to be released on 10 November 2014. The single, "Uptown Funk," features the American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars on vocals. On 22 November 2014, Ronson and Mars appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live performing "Uptown Funk" and "Feel Right×Feel Right23 November 2014 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Feel Right3:42" (featuring Mystikal). "Uptown Funk" reached number one in the UK and US singles charts, and also became the all-time most streamed track in a single week in the UK, having been streamed a record 2.49 million times in a week. "Uptown Funk" reached the top 10 in nearly every country it charted; it spent fifteen weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100, fourteen weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. In February 2015 the song won Ronson the Brit Award for British Single of the Year. As of August 2022, the song's music video on YouTube has amassed over 4.6 billion views.
In 2015, Ronson starred in the documentary film Amy about his late friend Amy Winehouse. His voice features in the film where he talks about his career and relationship with Winehouse and there is footage of Ronson from the recording session of the single "Back to Black" from March 2006 and also at Winehouse's funeral in London in July 2011. On 16 October 2015, Ronson became a patron of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. In January 2016, Ronson was nominated for two Brit Awards; Best British Male Solo Artist, and British Producer of the Year, at the 2016 Brit Awards.
At the 2016 Grammy Awards Ronson won two awards for "Uptown Funk", including Record of the Year. Jason Iley, the head of Sony Music UK and Ronson's UK label Columbia Records, hailed Ronson as "a true gentleman" and "one of the most considerate, kind and humble artists in our industry." He added, "the monumental success of Uptown Funk is so thoroughly deserved and has established itself as, not only one of the Records of the Year but of our lifetime." At the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show Ronson performed "Uptown Funk" with Mars. He went on to executive produce Lady Gaga's fifth album, Joanne. Ronson produced the Queens of the Stone Age's 2017 album Villains.

2018–present: Silk City, "Shallow", Late Night Feelings and Night People

In 2018, Ronson founded his own label, Zelig Records, an imprint of Columbia Records and the first artist he signed was singer King Princess. He formed the duo Silk City with fellow producer Diplo. Their first single "Electricity" featuring Dua Lipa was released on 6 September and peaked at the US Dance Club Songs and received the Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
In May 2018, it was revealed that Ronson was working with the American singer Miley Cyrus in the studio. Their first collaboration "Nothing Breaks Like a Heart" was released in November 2018. Ronson also co-wrote the song "Shallow" for the film A Star Is Born with his frequent collaborators Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, and Anthony Rossomando. The song earned Ronson an Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, as well as two Grammy nominations, winning the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.
On 12 April 2019, it was announced that Ronson would release his fifth album, Late Night Feelings×Late Night Feelings21 June 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 13 tracks1Late Night Prelude1:292Late Night Feelings4:113Find U Again2:564Pieces of Us3:265Knock Knock Knock1:326Don’t Leave Me Lonely3:367When U Went Away1:588Truth3:489Nothing Breaks Like a Heart3:3710True Blue5:4811Why Hide4:19122 AM3:1813Spinning3:11, on 26 June 2019. The album features Cyrus, Angel Olsen, Lykke Li and Camila Cabello. Ronson has described the album as a collection of "sad bangers," with the title track laying down a warm mid-tempo dance groove under Li's melancholy vocals. On 12 October 2019, BBC Two broadcast the documentary Mark Ronson: From the Heart, directed by Carl Hindmarch. In June 2021, Ronson, along with the Foo Fighters, shared a "re-version" of their single "Making a Fire".
In 2023, Ronson was announced as the executive producer of Barbie the Album, the soundtrack of the film Barbie by Greta Gerwig. In addition to executive producing the album, Ronson also served as co-producer and co-writer on several of the tracks, including "Dance the Night", "What Was I Made For?", "Man I Am", and "I'm Just Ken". He co-wrote the score of the film. In October 2023 Ronson released a remixed version of Mina's classic "Ancora, ancora, ancora". The song premiered at Gucci’s runway at Milan Fashion Week in September 2023.
Ronson's debut memoir Night People: How To Be A DJ in ‘90s New York City was published by Grand Central Publishing on 16 September 2025. He received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the Brit Awards in February 2026.

Personal life

Ronson divides his time among London, Los Angeles, and New York. Since childhood, he has been a fan of English Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. He is also a fan of the New York Knicks.
In 2009, Ronson was voted the most stylish man in the UK by GQ magazine.
In 2011, a portrait of Ronson was painted by British artist Joe Simpson; the painting was exhibited around the UK, including a solo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
In 2015, he was named one of the magazine's 50 best-dressed British men.
On 20 August 2019, Ronson and several other celebrities invested in a funding round for Lowell Herb Co, a California cannabis brand. He is known to be "a dedicated cannabis consumer".
Ronson was friends with American singer, actress, and model Aaliyah, meeting her at a photoshoot for Tommy Hilfiger and staying friends until her death in 2001.

Relationships

In 2001, Ronson began dating the actress Rashida Jones. They were engaged in March 2003, after Ronson proposed by creating a crossword puzzle with the message "Will you marry me." Their relationship ended about a year later.
On 3 September 2011, Ronson married French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, who had appeared in the music video for "The Bike Song×The Bike Song17 September 2010 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1The Bike Song4:272The Bike Song (Major Lazer remix by Switch)3:333The Bike Song (Lil Silver remix)5:36". On 16 May 2017, it was reported that de La Baume had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalized in October 2018.
On 4 September 2021, Ronson announced his marriage to actress Grace Gummer, after a year of dating. On 13 October 2022, Gummer and Ronson announced they were expecting their first child. Their daughter was born in December 2022. In February 2025 they welcomed their second daughter.

Videos

Ronson created a video, along with directors Gary Breslin and Jordan Galland, called Circuit Breaker, which was an homage to the video game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. In 2001, Ronson appeared in the Aaliyah music video "More Than a Woman", as a DJ; the video was released in January 2002, five months after Aaliyah's August 2001 death in a plane crash. On 30 July 2021, the documentary series Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson was released on Apple TV+.

Other singles

1997: Posse-O – "It's Up to You..."*
1998: Powerule – "Heatin' Up"*
1998: Powerule – "Rhymes to Bust" / "It's Your Right"*
2002: J-Live – "School's In"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "City Rules"*
2004: Daniel Merriweather – "She's Got Me"*
2005: Rhymefest – "These Days"*
2005: Rhymefest – "Brand New"*
2007: Candie Payne – "One More Chance"*
2007: Bob Dylan – "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) (Mark Ronson Re-version)"*
2007: Maroon 5 featuring Mary J. Blige – "Wake Up Call (Mark Ronson Remix)"*
2008: Leon Jean-Marie – "Bed of Nails"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Never Miss a Beat"*
2008: Wiley – "Cash in My Pocket"*
2008: Kaiser Chiefs – "Good Days Bad Days"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Change"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Red"*
2009: Daniel Merriweather – "Impossible"
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Out of the Game"*
2012: Rufus Wainwright – "Jericho"*
2013: Giggs – "(Is It Gangsta?) Yes Yes Yes"*
2015: Duran Duran featuring Janelle Monáe and Nile Rodgers – "Pressure Off"*
2016: Various Artists – "Hands"*
2018: Michael Jackson - "Diamonds Are Invincible"* (Mash-Up)
2018: Silk City - "Electricity"* featuring Dua Lipa, Diplo and Mark Ronson
2018: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper – "Shallow"*
2020: Troye Sivan featuring Kacey Musgraves and Mark Ronson - "Easy"*
2023: Dua Lipa - "Dance the Night"*