A British woman ditched her sales job and went on a song writing retreat - and is now a K-pop chart topper with 20 number one singles. Claire Rodrigues Lee, 45, split up with her partner in 2001 after 17 years together, moved in with her parents and quit her job - where her partner worked.
Feeling “lost” and “depressed,” Claire turned to self-help books and song writing - a career path she’d unsuccessfully tried to pursue when she was 16. A friend introduced her to a music producer who loved her demos and sent her to a K-pop song writing retreat in Aarhus, Denmark.
Despite "knowing nothing" about the genre, she found she had a talent - and was snapped up by a label back in the UK. Within a year she was writing songs for J-pop, C-pop and K-pop mega stars.
Her biggest success is a song called Ki･mi･ni･mu･chu written for band Exile which reached number one in the charts. The music video has 33 million views on YouTube. Other big hits include I Dare You written for Jess Lee.
She won best song and album of the year at the 29th Golden Disk Awards in Beijing and was winner of the best international song at the 2015 Sony Music Japan Awards. Claire, from north London, said: "I don't have any desire to be famous in the music world.
"I appreciate recognition but most people don't know who I am because I write for such a specific music market. The beauty of being a songwriter is being behind the scenes and enjoying it without any fuss or attention."
Claire was part of a girl group named Teez and even performing at the Smash Hits Tour 1995 with Peter Andre, All Saints and PJ & Duncan. When their first single failed to chart, the band was dropped - and Claire enrolled into the London College of Fashion.
Subscribe here for the latest news where you live
Despite her bad experience, Claire still found song writing “cathartic”. Self-help books gave her the “confidence, self-love and motivation” needed to try again at the age of 34.
Claire said: “A friend introduced me to a music publisher called John - and I showed him some demos of my music. He pitched them around and, eventually, a Chinese girl band called Roomie expressed their interest in a song of mine called Infected.
"Although they later renamed it Tropical Cyclone. That first single gave me the fire to carry on - I started to think I could actually make it as a songwriter, and I was seeing the results first-hand.”
After working with Roomie, John sent Claire to a K-pop (Korean pop) song writing retreat in Aarhus, Denmark, in 2011. “We were met by some A&R reps from a multi-million dollar record label - based in Korea - called SM Entertainment," she said.
“I felt like I stuck out - I was just a Western songwriter and I knew nothing about K-pop. Structurally, K-pop songs are so much more technical than Western songs. In a Western song, you’ll have a verse, pre-chorus and a chorus.
“But in a K-pop song, it’s more like - intro, verse one, verse two… then two pre-choruses, a chorus and a post-chorus! But I grabbed the opportunity with both hands - and the reps were really impressed.”
Claire flew from Aarhus to Oslo, Norway, and was signed to her publisher John's publishing company, Notting Hill Music in 2012. Roomie's Tropical Cyclone was officially released in July 2013, and the music video currently has 11k views.
As of March 2023, Claire has amassed 20 number one singles - including I'm So Pretty by Nature, Candy by Red Velvet and Step by Step by 2PM. Her song, It's You, was recorded by South Korean girl group Girls Generation in 2017 - and went to number one in 19 countries, as well as topping the Billboard World Album Chart.
Claire has also gone on to write and compose the theme song for Orphan Black - a Japanese mini-series based on the hit Canadian Netflix show. She has now founded slow fashion brand Neon Army - which sells limited edition earrings, handbags, hats and badges among other things.
On living her dream, writing songs and founding a fashion brand, Claire said: "I'm a huge believer in manifestation - I believe I put love and positive energy into the world and it's given it back to me. Seeing one of my songs being played on the billboards in Shibuya in Tokyo, surrounded by neon lights, was something I'll never forget."
