# Hayley Gene Penner

Hayley Gene Penner (born November 5, 1985) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and author based in Los Angeles. She is best known for the songs she has written for artists including The Chicks, Sabrina Claudio, Lennon Stella, Charlotte Lawrence and The Chainsmokers. As of 2018, Penner has been releasing music under her full name and in September 2020, she released her debut album, People You Follow, with a memoir of the same name.

## Early life and education

Penner was born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada, the eldest daughter of Canadian children's music performer Fred Penner and Odette Heyn, a choreographer and founder of a contemporary dance school.
At age 17, Penner was hosting CBC children's programming and lending her voice to commercials for companies like Cheez Whiz, McDonald's, Kraft Dinner and Hamburger Helper. She was the Manitoba regional host for Kids' CBC from 2003 to 2005.
Penner moved to Toronto, where she studied journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University and formed the electronic dance band TuZO with a friend. After university, Penner worked at Châtelaine before spending six months writing restaurant reviews for a magazine in London.

## Music career
### Songwriting

Penner moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to sign a publishing deal with BMG Chrysalis and The Messengers.
As a songwriter, Penner writes for other artists, including 11 songs with Sabrina Claudio across her first two projects Confidently Lost and About Time, 7 with Alina Baraz, and other artists such as Lennon Stella, Charlotte Lawrence, and Sinead Harnett. Hayley wrote “Everybody Loves You” on The Chicks' 2020 return album, Gaslighter.
Penner's songwriting partnership with Charlotte Lawrence continued with her joining Lawrence on tour and as an opening act at New York’s Bowery Ballroom and Los Angeles’s The Troubadour.

### Solo career

In 2011, Penner signed with Universal Music Canada and began releasing and writing music under the name W. Darling. Penner released two EPs comprising three songs each in 2015, "The Lost Girls Chapter One" and "Chapter Two".
In 2017, Penner split from Universal Music Canada and began releasing music through AWAL under her full name Hayley Gene Penner, moving away from the electronic pop returning to her roots as an acoustic, folk singer songwriter.
Penner released five singles in 2018, two in 2019, and five in 2020. Her full debut album, titled "People You Follow" is scheduled for release in September 2020.

## Memoir

Alongside her debut album, Penner wrote a memoir, also titled People You Follow, about her experience as a female songwriter in the music industry and the hidden, toxic side of the business. The book, released in fall 2020, was described by Lena Dunham as "a fucked up Alice in Wonderland journey down the rabbit hole of LA’s most subtly toxic industry, and it’s also funny. brilliant, coy, playful and wise." Cindy Crawford called the book "both heartbreaking and humorous" depiction "of how we, as women, struggle to find our value through the eyes of others."

## Discography
### Albums

* People You Follow (2020)

### Songs

| Title | Year |
| "Olive Juice" | 2018 |
| "Sleep at Night" | 2018 |
| "White Stripes" | 2018 |
| "Smaller" | 2018 |
| "Talking to Myself" | 2018 |
| "Silver Lining" | 2019 |
| "Two Birthdays and One Bad Christmas" | 2019 |
| "somethingyoumeverhad" | 2020 |
| "The Longer It Hurts" | 2020 |
| "Great Advice" | 2020 |
| "Alone Together" | 2020 |

### Songwriting credits

| Year | Artist | Album | Song |
| 2012 | Cody Simpson | Paradise | "Paradise" |
| 2013 | Victoria Justice | Single | "Shake" |
| 2014 | Catey Shaw | Revolution | "Revolution" |
| 2014 | Catey Shaw | The Brooklyn EP | "Human Contact" |
| 2014 | Bassnectar | Noise vs. Beauty | "You & Me" (feat. W. Darling) |
| 2015 | Jem And The Holograms | Jem And The Holograms (The Official Motion Picture Soundtrack)| | "We Got Heart" |
| 2015 | Jem And The Holograms | Jem And The Holograms (The Official Motion Picture Soundtrack)| | "Alone Together" |
| 2016 | Snow Tha Product | Halfway There...Pt. 1 | "Nights" (feat. W. Darling) |
| 2016 | Catey Shaw | The Ransom (EP) | "Tell Everyone" |
| 2016 | MAGIC | Primary Colours | "Red Dress" |
| 2017 | Virginia to Vegas | Utopian | "Wasted" |
| 2017 | Virginia to Vegas | Utopian | "F*** Me Up" |
| 2017 | Marcus & Martinus | Moments | "Get To Know Ya" |
| 2017 | K.I.D | Single | "Happy When I Cry" |
| 2017 | K.I.D | Single | "Elevator" |
| 2017 | About Time | Sabrina Claudio | "Wait" |
| 2017 | About Time | Sabrina Claudio | "Everlasting Love" |
| 2017 | About Time | Sabrina Claudio | "Wanna Know" |
| 2017 | About Time | Sabrina Claudio | "Frozen" |
| 2017 | About Time | Sabrina Claudio | "About Time (Intro)" |
| 2017 | Confidently Lost (EP) | Sabrina Claudio | "Tell Me" |
| 2017 | Confidently Lost (EP) | Sabrina Claudio | "Too Much Too Late" |
| 2017 | Confidently Lost (EP) | Sabrina Claudio | "Runnin Thru Lovers" |
| 2017 | Confidently Lost (EP) | Sabrina Claudio | "I Don't" |
| 2017 | Confidently Lost (EP) | Sabrina Claudio | "Orion's Belt" |
| 2018 | Sabrina Claudio | Fifty Shades Freed (Official Motion Picture Soundtrack) | "Cross Your Mind" |
| 2018 | Charlotte Lawrence | Single | "Everybody Loves You" |
| 2018 | Charlotte Lawrence | Single | "Young and Reckless" |
| 2018 | Charlotte Lawrence | Single | "Keep Me Up" |
| 2018 | Why Don't We | 8 Letters | "Talk" |
| 2019 | Amaal | Black Dove (EP) | "Later" |
| 2019 | Amaal | Black Dove (EP) | "Coming & Going" |
| 2019 | Amaal | Black Dove (EP) | "Not What I Thought" |
| 2019 | Lennon Stella | Love me (EP) | "Feelings" |
| 2019 | Dinah Jane | Dinah Jane 1 | "Fix It" |
| 2019 | Sinead Harnett | Single | "Pulling Away" (feat. Gallant) |
| 2019 | Cyn | Mood Swing | "Angel" |
| 2019 | Ekali | Single | "Be Fine" (feat. Wafia) |
| 2019 | TRACE | Like Hell EP | "Missing Me" |
| 2019 | Eric Nam | Before We Begin | "How'm I Doing" |
| 2019 | Fabolous | Summertime Shoutout 3: Coldest Summer Ever | "Time" |
| 2019 | The Chainsmokers | World War Joy | "See The Way" |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Charlotte OC | Single | "This Pain" |
| 2020 | Lennon Stella | Three. Two. One. | "Save Us" |
| 2020 | Leah Kate | Used To This (EP) | "Bad Idea" |
| 2020 | Leah Kate | Used To This (EP) | "Used To This" |
| 2020 | Alina Baraz | It Was Divine | "My Whole Life" |
| 2020 | Alina Baraz | It Was Divine | "The Beginning" |
| 2020 | Alina Baraz | It Was Divine | "Memo Blue" |
| 2020 | Alina Baraz | It Was Divine | "More than Enough" |
| 2020 | Alina Baraz | It Was Divine | "Off the Grid" feat. Khalid |
| 2020 | Alina Baraz | It Was Divine | "Endlessly" |
| 2020 | Alina Baraz | It Was Divine | "Morocco" feat 6LACK |
| 2020 | Eric Nam | The Other Side | "How You Been" |
| 2020 | The Chicks | Gaslighter | "Everybody Loves you" |
| 2020 | Aluna | Renaissance | "Off Guard" |
| 2021 |
| 2021 | Epik High | Epik High Is Here (Part 1) | "Lesson Zero" |
| 2021 | Epik High | Epik High Is Here (Part 1) | "True Crime" |
| 2021 | Surf Mesa | Single | "Carried Away" (with Madison Beer) |
| 2021 | Alina Baraz | Sunbeam | "If You Let Me" |
| 2021 | Sinéad Harnett | Ready Is Always Too Late | "Anymore" (feat. Lucky Daye) |
| 2021 | Wafia | Single | "Wide Open" (feat Ta-ku & Masego) |
| 2021 | Mallory Merk | Counterparts | "Switchblades" |
| 2022 |
| 2022 | Claire Rosinkranz | Single | "123" |
| 2022 | Fitz and the Tantrums | Let Yourself Free | "Good Nights" |
| 2023 |
| 2023 | Sara Kays | Single | "Bored" |
| 2023 | Del Water Gap | Single | "Losing You" |