It is no easy thing to write a song. It is more challenging still to write a song that millions of people listen to and like, or create one of the elusive best selling albums of all time. As many of us also recognize it is quite difficult to find a partner with whom we can work with for any length of time. Throw in personality conflicts, differences of opinions, shifting priorities, varied life experiences, and working alongside someone else becomes nearly impossible. Yet, there are some partnerships that have proven incredibly successful. Some of these pairings have endured longer than others. Let’s take a look at some of the greatest songwriting duos of all time. Explore this list of the best songwriting duos of all time.

John Lennon & Paul McCartney

The general consensus is that there is no more impressive songwriting pair than John Lennon & Paul McCartney. This half of the Beatles were responsible for co-writing somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 songs, dozens of which proved to be hits. To put perspective on the popularity of their work, the Guinness Book of World Records at one time listed “Yesterday” as the most recorded song of all time with an estimated 2,200 cover versions. Debates continue as to which of the two wrote what in many of their jointly credited songs, but that may never be resolved. The world, however, is richer for their collaborative musical contributions. They began writing together as teenagers and continued to do so for about a dozen years. What is particularly amazing is that both contributed music and lyrics to many of the songs attributed to the partnership. “A Hard Day’s Night,” “All My Loving,” “And I Love Her,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Come Together,” “Eight Days a Week,” “I Feel Fine.” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “I’ll Follow the Sun,” “If I Fell,” “Let It Be,” “Love Me Do,” “Please Please Me,” “She Loves You,” and “The Long and Winding Road” are among the many songs written by the duo. They didn’t just write for the Beatles however. During the 1960s, Lennon-McCartney made others successful with songs that reached the UK charts. They wrote five hits for Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas including “From a Window,” “I’ll Be on My Way,” “Bad to Me,” “I Call Your Name,” and “I’ll Keep You Satisfied.” They provided hits for Cilla Black and The Fourmost and even gave the Stones an early UK hit with “I Wanna Be Your Man.” Peter and Gordon topped the 1964 UK and US Charts with the Lennon-McCartney song “A World Without Love.” No one denies their cooperative contributions to the world of music. Both have been indicted into the Songwriters and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame among many other well-deserved accolades. Few people would question whether or not these two deserve to be at the top of the best songwriting duos of all time list.

Elton John & Bernie Taupin

In 1967, Elton John and Bernie Taupin independently responded to a newspaper advertisement seeking songwriters. Taupin was a lad of 17 and John only 20 when they answered the ad that began a partnership that survived more than five decades. Twenty-five years after their start, they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2020, they won the Oscar for Best Original Song for an original composition for the Elton John biopic Rocketman. In 2024, they were awarded the Gershwin Prize for popular song by the US Library of Congress. They worked together on 30 albums over the decades and composed, among other hit songs, “Your Song”, ”Rocket Man,” “Tiny Dancer”, “Levon”, “Candle in the Wind”, “Crocodile Rock”, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”, “Bennie and the Jets”, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Honky Cat”, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, “Sad Songs”, “The One”, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”, “Simple Life”, “The Last Song”, “Club at the End of the Street” “The Bitch is Back”, “Daniel”, “I’m Still Standing”, and “Believe.” Both John (1995) and Taupin (2022) were appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for their contributions to music. There is a debate among many as to whether John and Taupin should be at the top of the songwriting duo list. That’s a hard call. No matter how you might vote, theirs is clearly the definitive partnership and the most enduring.

Burt Bacharach & Hal David

Burt Bacharach and Hal David worked together from 1956 through 1973. They are best known for writing numerous hits for Dionne Warwick including “Walk On By,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” and “I’ll Say a Little Prayer.”  They wrote “This Guy’s in Love,” which was a huge hit for Herb Alpert, “What the World Needs Now” for Jackie deShannon, “One Less Bell to Answer,” a hit for the Fifth Dimension, and “Always Something There to Remind Me,” which charted for Lou Johnson, Sandy Shaw, and Naked Eyes. Bacharach and David wrote multiple Oscar-nominated songs including “What’s New Pussycat”, “Alfie”, and “The Look of Love” and won the Oscar for best song with “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head.” Three of their songs have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame: “Don’t Make Me Over,” “Close to You,” and “Walk On By.” The pair also collaborated on two musicals, the second of which, Promises, Promises was nominated for a Tony Award for the Best Musical of 1969 and the original cast album of which won a grammy that same year. Many David-Bacharach compositions became American standards and were recorded by numerous artists like Johnny Mathis, Jack Jones, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Frank Sinatra. In 2011, Hal David and Burt Bacharach were awarded the Gershwin Prize, among a string of different awards. 

Gerry Goffin & Carole King

The one-time husband-wife duo, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, were writing songs before the Beatles were the Beatles. Should you want to know the extent of their talent, John Lennon is said to have expressed a desire for he and Paul to write as well as Goffin and King. The duo were 22 and 19 when they wrote their first big hit “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” a 1961 top song for The Shirelles. The partnership lasted a decade until they divorced, but only after writing a number of pop hits in the 1960s for The Drifters (“Up on the Roof,” which was also a hit for James Taylor), Herman’s Hermits (“I’m Into Something Good”), The Animals (“Don’t Bring Me Down”), and Aretha Franklin (“Natural Woman”). They were also responsible for “The Loco-Motion,” which charted in the 60s (Little Eva), 70s (Grand Funk Railroad), and 80s (Kylie Minogue). By the way, The Beatles recorded “Chains” and “Don’t Ever Change,” both written by Goffin and King.

Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson

Another husband and wife (married 1974) songwriting team that met with enormous success was Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. Their greatest success came as writers during Motown’s heyday. Beginning in 1966, they penned “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “You’re All I need to Get By,” and “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand).” Three were big hits for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and the last for Diana Ross. They also wrote the number one R&B song, “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” for Ray Charles. Ashford and Simpson compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap, The Guess Who, The Shirelles, and Maxine Brown. In 1978, they wrote Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman.” It reached 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, Whitney Houston recriderd it in 1992 and it reached number four. In 1979 and 1984, Ashford and Simpson recorded their own songs “Found a Cure” and “Solid.” Both climbed the soul and pop charts. The pair was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (2002), received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award, and the Grammy Trustees Award, which is given to “individuals who, during their careers in music… have made significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording.” Nickolas Ashford died of throat cancer in 2011.

The Sherman Brothers

On May 25th, the world lost Richard Sherman. He was 95. Many readers may not immediately recognize the name, but who isn’t familiar with Songs like “Chim Chim Cheree,” “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” “I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song),” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and “It’s A Small World (After All)”? Each was written by brothers Richard and Robert Sherman. The brothers are best known for the many songs they wrote for Disney, but they began their career with the top-ten hit “Tall Paul” for Annette Funicello and “You’re Sixteen” for Johnny Burnette (re-recorded by Ringo Starr in 1973). As staff songwriters for Walt Disney, the Shermans wrote the music for Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Parent Trap, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Happiest Millionaire, and The Sword in the Stone, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and many others for film, television, and Disney theme parks. They also composed the music for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Snoopy, Come Home, Tom Sawyer, Charlotte’s Web, The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella, and The Magic of Lassie. In 1974, Richard and Robert co-wrote the Tony nominated musical Over Here! Both Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang have been made into successful stage musicals. According to the Walt Disney, “the brothers garnered nine Academy Award nominations (winning two for Mary Poppins), won three Grammy Awards, and earned 24 gold and platinum albums over the course of their long career.” In 1976, they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in 2005, they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and, in 2008, President George W. Bush awarded the Sherman Brothers with the National Medal of the Arts.

Honorable Mentions

In case you think we left some off of the best songwriting duos of all time list, we put forward a number of other successful pairs from various musical genres. Mick Jagger & Keith Richards kicked off their music writing success in 1965 with “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” but added so many others including “Paint It, Black,” “19th Nervous Breakdown,” “Get Off My Cloud,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Sympathy For the Devil,” “Brown Sugar,” “Let’s Spend The Night Together,” “Gimme Shelter.” While these are among our favorites, you may like others of their music masterpieces. Other duos in the classic rock categories include Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend. I assume I need not reference band names for any of these entires in our list. Others in the pop category are Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.

Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, of Chic, wrote a number of hits including “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “Everybody Dance,” “Le Freak,” “I Want Your Love” and “Good Times” for Chic, “He’s the Greatest Dancer” and “We Are Family” for Sister Sledge, and “I’m Coming Out” for Diana Ross. They helped define disco and soul in the 1970s and 80s. Both are in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield brought their talents to Motown and beyond also helping to define the soul and R&B sound of the 1960s and 70s. Together, they penned Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Edwin Starr’s War, the Temptations “Just My Imagination” “Cloud Nine,” and “Ball of Confusion.” Strong and Whitfield, as they should be, are also members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The other great soul songwriting duo and Songwriters HOF inductees are Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who wrote for Janet Jackson, Human League, George Michael, Boys II Men, and Mariah Carey among others. The pair account for 41 top ten hits.

We would be utterly remiss if we overlooked the work of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Together, they transformed musical theater of the 20th century with their productions primarily of the 1940s and 1950s. Rodgers and Hammerstein are, rightly, credited with establishing the “golden age” of musical theater. Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King And I, and the Sound of Music are among their best, were all hugely successful with the public, and each was subsequently made into an equally well-received motion picture. Unlike their predecessors, Rodgers and Hammerstein introduced mature themes like war, racism, human frailty, and tangled relationships into musical theater. The duo garnered numerous Tony Awards (even though Oklahoma! and Carousel predated the Tonys) and Oscars, two Grammy Awards, and earned the pair Pulitzer Prizes for Oklahoma! and South Pacific.

Before we end this post, we thought it might be helpful to mention one contemporary songwriting pair. While still early in their career, they are seeing major success. So, we recommend keeping a close eye on their music. Sister and brother duo Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell have already earned a number of accolades and won multiple Grammy Awards. Time will tell if their music has staying power, but they certainly deserve a listening ear. 

While this list focuses on the best songwriting duos, we also have a list about the the best guitar players of all time, the top selling albums of all time, and the best music collaborations of all time.