Albert Hammond was born on May 18, 1944, in London and grew up in Gibraltar to Gibraltarian parents. In 1960, Albert left school, formed a band and began sending out recordings of his very first compositions to labels in England, where they were released by Parlophone Records. Soon thereafter, Albert met Mike Hazlewood and almost immediately, they teamed up as collaborators and began gaining recognition as a songwriting team: “Little Arrows” (Leapy Lee in 1968 - top 10 country and pop charts), “Make Me An Island” (a number one hit in 14 countries), “Gimme Dat Ding” (The Pipkins in 1970 - pop and R&B charts), “Freedom Come, Freedom Go” (The Fortunes in 1971), “Good Morning Freedom” (Blue Mink, 1970). “Gimme Dat Ding” was written for a children's television program called "Oliver In The Overworld" which starred Freddie and the Dreamers.
Having become one of Britain's most successful songwriting teams, Albert and Mike decided to move to southern California. Albert played his songs to every record company possible, until Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts gave him the first artist’s contract ever for their newly-built Mums label, a division of CBS’s Epic label. After auditioning for CBS president Clive Davis, and over 30 other people, Albert was asked to record some songs. Albert went into the studio to record what would become the It Never Rains In Southern California album. The title song went to number five in the U.S. and became a worldwide success. This offered Albert the opportunity to tour, which led him to almost all continents. Albert went on to record seven English-language albums for the CBS label.
Artists who covered Albert's tunes during the 1970s included Johnny Cash, Elton John, Mama Cass, The Association, Steppenwolf, Sonny & Cher, Johnny Mathis, Olivia Newton-John, Petula Clark, José Feliciano, Perry Como, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Helen Reddy, Glen Campbell, Oak Ridge Boys and many others. The Carpenters had a hit with "I Need To Be in Love", which Albert wrote with John Bettis and Richard Carpenter. Later Albert began collaborating with new co-writing partners such as Hal David, Carole Bayer Sager, Will Jennings (among others), and more albums for CBS followed.
Next, he was asked by Epic Spain to make a recording for the Latin market. Being bilingual, Albert began another important aspect of his career, recording and writing several Spanish-language albums which were very successful in South America, Spain and many other places.
Afterwards, since he wanted to spend more time with his wife Claudia, his newly-born son, Albert Jr., and his two daughters Debbie and Paula (which he couldn't do previously due to extensive touring), Albert decided he would not record or tour anymore and instead he would shift his focus to writing and producing for other acts.
Latin superstar Julio Iglesias, an old friend of Albert's, asked him to produce his first English-language album. Julio recorded several Hammond compositions including “Moonlight Lady,” “The Air That I Breathe” (a duet with American icons The Beach Boys), and what would become Iglesias' signature tune, “To All the Girls I've Loved Before,” a duet with country legend Willie Nelson. The song was also nominated for a CMA Award and a Grammy Award.
