Even if you’re not familiar with Bonnie McKee’s name, you most certainly know her body of work – the famed songwriter was behind some of the most massive hits of the aughts, including Roar, California Gurls, and Teenage Dream by Katy Perry, Hold It Against Me by Britney Spears, and Dynamite by Taio Cruz.

The Grammy-nominated artist is considered the ‘founding mother of recession pop,’ for her work with stars like Ke$ha, Cher, Christina Aguilera, and more.

Bonnie stopped by the Daily Mail office while she was in town for the Tribeca Film Festival.

Her music video for Hot City song Forever 21, which she directed, starred in, edited, produced, and cast, is an official selection this year.

The Los Angeles based singer unexpectedly blew up on TikTok during the pandemic when she started talking about her songwriting process on the platform. She writes in ‘an old school notebook’ and kept ‘relics from the past,’ which she was able to share with fans.

When she started a session, she would ask pop stars about their love life, who they were dating, and what kept them up at night. She’d then take notes as they were talking and found that usually had a track that she’d already started that would fit with the vibe.

When it came to co-writing with artists like Kesha and Katy, Bonnie called it ‘a truly collaborative effort.’

As for writing with Katy on some of her most iconic songs, Bonnie admitted it was ‘sometimes very difficult’ because ‘we have a really high standard, and we wanted to make the best pop music ever,’ admitting, ‘on some of them, I feel like we did.’

Bonnie McKee, seen above at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, is the songwriter behind the most massive hits of the 2000s

As for writing with Katy on some of her most iconic songs, Bonnie admitted it was ‘sometimes very difficult’ because ‘we have a really high standard, and we wanted to make the best pop music ever,’ admitting, ‘on some of them, I feel like we did’