Jess Cates (born July 27, 1976 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American songwriter who has co-written songs such as Nick Lachey's "What's Left of Me" and the Backstreet Boys' 2005 hit "Incomplete". In recent years, Cates has worked in a songwriting team with Lindy Robbins and Emanuel Kiriakou. In its 2008 "Roundup", ASCAP characterized the trio as "award-winning, multi-platinum selling songwriters."[1]
Cates wrote five songs for Nick Lachey's album "What's Left of Me", including the first two singles, the title track, and "I Can't Hate You Anymore". In April 2007, Cates received an ASCAP Award for "What's Left of Me" being among the most performed songs of 2006. In 2002, Cates was recognized by ASCAP for cowriting "I Don't Want to Go", one of the year's most frequently performed Christian songs.[4]
In 2008, he co-wrote David Archuleta's debut single, "Crush".[5] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times wrote that it was one of the "few dollops of good writing" on Archuleta's debut album.[6]
Jonas Brothers:
"Underdog"
"Take a Breath"
"Fall (from the JONAS L.A. soundtrack)"
Backstreet Boys:
"Incomplete"
"Inconsolable"[7]
"Any Other Way"
"Everything But Mine"
"One in a Million"
"You Can Let Go"
"Downpour"
"In Pieces"
"Dont Turn Out the Lights
^Getlen, Larry (November 2, 2008). "Making Daves: After their one-two finish on 'Idol', Cook and Archuleta set out to reinvent themselves for the real world", New York Post, p. 46.
