David Ryan Harris is a writer on Nelly's 'Just a Dream'
The single won ‘Top Streaming Song’ at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards and is certified quadruple platinum in the US and Australia and platinum in the UK.
David co-wrote Guy Sebastian's 'Battlescars' and 'Like It Like That' and is a longtime touring member of John Mayer's band
Songwriter David Ryan Harris was honoured in Los Angeles with an APRA AMCOS Billions Award for Nelly’s ‘Just a Dream’ surpassing 1,000,000,000 streams. The American songwriter, producer, musician, artist and APRA AMCOS member and Ambassador has toured Australia extensively and is currently based in Los Angeles.
Harris was presented with his award by APRA AMCOS Chief Executive Dean Ormston. The song is published by Sony Music Publishing.
‘Just a Dream’ was released in August 2010 ahead of hip-hop superstar Nelly’s fifth studio album Nelly 5.0, and it quickly became a radio and digital hit around the world. The song’s writers are Harris, Nelly, Rico Love, Frank Romano, Damon Sharpe and James Scheffer.
The nostalgia-tinged single peaked at #3 US Billboard Hot 100 and topped both Billboard’s US Rhythmic and Mainstream Top 40 charts. In Australia, it reached #3 ARIA Singles chart and was #16 on the year-end chart. ‘Just a Dream’ hit #5 on Billboard Canada’s Hot 100, as well as #8 UK Singles Chart and #5 in New Zealand. The single won ‘Top Streaming Song’ at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards and is certified quadruple platinum in the US and Australia and platinum in the UK.
On release, Nelly said, “It’s a song that’s just relatable on all levels – rich, poor, black, white, child, adult – whatever level it is.”
Harris’ connection to Australia runs deep with writing and producing for Guy Sebastian (‘Battlescars’, ‘Like It Like That’) Jessica Mauboy (‘Just Like You’), Busby Marou (‘Getaway Car’) and Tina Arena (‘Heaven’). International credits include ZAYN, Hootie & The Blowfish and Trombone Shorty. He is a long-time touring member of John Mayer’s band and has a busy solo career with recent gigs at LA’s famed Hotel Café and The Troubadour.
In his acceptance remarks, Harris talked about joining APRA AMCOS later in his career and the importance of knowing people in the building, "So this (award) being a culmination of your support and love is fantastic."
“Congratulations to David for reaching one billion streams with ‘Just a Dream’. His career is truly global, from the work he’s done with Nelly and Australia’s biggest names in pop, to performing live around the world, as a solo artist and collaborating in the studio with a range of top artists, APRA AMCOS is proud to support him in all his endeavours,” said Ormston.
In his acceptance remarks, Harris talked about joining APRA AMCOS later in his career and the importance of knowing people in the building, "So this (award) being a culmination of your support and love is fantastic."
“Congratulations to David for reaching one billion streams with ‘Just a Dream’. His career is truly global, from the work he’s done with Nelly and Australia’s biggest names in pop, to performing live around the world, as a solo artist and collaborating in the studio with a range of top artists, APRA AMCOS is proud to support him in all his endeavours,” said Ormston.
'Just a Dream' by Nelly (David Ryan Harris, co-writer)