“You know how the bass guitar in a song represents the ‘thickness’, the ‘floor’? I somehow associated it with a body,” Meghan Trainor mused to Billboard in 2014 after her debut hit “All About That Bass” entered the Billboard Hot 100 in July of that year.
Kevin Kadish, who wrote and produced the song with Trainor, “came up with the title and said none of his previous co-writers knew what to associate it with,” she noted. “So I said, ‘How about a butt? Let’s talk about it!’ That became, ‘Let’s make a song about loving your body… and your butt.'”
A blend of pop, retro R&B/Motown and tropical elements—all influences that influenced Trainor during his childhood on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts—“All About That Bass” topped the Hot 100 for eight consecutive weeks, beginning with its chart debut on September 20, 2014.
One of the song’s lyrics caused a stir, particularly in social circles: “I’m bringing that ass back. Tell ’em, you skinny bitches!” “Despite some of the hate comments I’ve seen, they’ve started a discussion,” Trainor said. Billboard at the time. “But I don’t put skinny girls down. Some girls have commented, ‘I’m a size zero so you must hate me.’ But that’s not it at all! There have been arguments on my YouTube page like, ‘You don’t know what she’s talking about. She’s actually saying, ‘I know even you skinny girls have problems.’ And that’s exactly how I feel.
“I also wrote it for myself because I’ve struggled with body image since I was a kid,” Trainor added in 2014. “And my best friend is a beautiful goddess, but she blames herself in the mirror. ‘My forehead is too big’ or ‘My shoulders are too wide…’ So if other girls can relate to the song, it makes me feel even better. It’s incredible that I’m helping people in some way.”
Trainor’s first LP, titletopped the Billboard 200 for one week in January 2015. She was the lucky 13th woman to debut with both a No. 1 album and a Hot 100 song in the more than half-century that the charts have coexisted. Others to achieve such dual dominance include Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson and Britney Spears.
Trainor was also named Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards in February 2016.
title spawned two more Hot 100 top 10s: “Lips Are Movin” (No. 4) and “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” featuring John Legend (No. 8). Trainor added a fourth top 10, “No” (No. 3, 2016), in addition to eight career top 40 hits, most recently “Made You Look” in 2023.
Trainor achieved a second Billboard 200 Top 10, the number 3 peak position Thanksin 2016. Her sixth and most recent top 40 entry, Timelessdebuted at number 27 in June. The deluxe version of the set was released in August and the current single “Whoops” is at numbers 19 and 27 on the Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay charts (as of September 21). In addition, “Criminals” from the album, which was featured in Netflix’ The perfect couplelands at number 19 in Digital Song Sales.
Trainor has also contributed to two No. 1 hits on the Country Airplay chart: “I Like the Sound of That,” which topped Rascal Flatts in 2016, and “Road Less Traveled,” a chart-topping hit for Lauren Alaina in 2017. “Since my dad (Gary) is also a musician, he wanted me to be a songwriter who could do any genre. I’m all genre,” she said in 2014. “So at one point he said, ‘Girl, give me some country tunes!’ I said, ‘All right, Dad, I’ll get you those country tunes, no problem!'”
Trainor’s mother Kelli even had a hit with her daughter: her “Mom” reached Digital Song Sales after Mother’s Day 2020.
Trainor has also built an extensive TV presence, including as a consultant to NBC’s The voice in 2015 and published her first book, Dear future momin 2023. Their The Timeless Tour began on September 1 and runs through October 19 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.
Trainor is still signed to Epic Records, which released and promoted “All About That Bass.” According to Luminate, the song has attracted 4.9 billion radio listens and 1.1 billion on-demand streams in the U.S. and has been downloaded 5.8 million times to date.
“When I got my record deal and this song, I thought, ‘Perfect, I have an opportunity to say something to the world.’ I’m taking it,” Trainor shared in 2014. “This is the best message I can say.”
