10 Greatest Unsung Heroes In Rock And Roll

Not every band is known to have the greatest songwriters in the world. Even though the Beatles pretty much made it expected for everyone to write their own stuff, there's no shame in getting some help from a third party to turn your records into a smash. And when it comes to the poppier side of rock and roll, Desmond Child could pretty much be considered a songwriting doctor.

If you look back on this man's resume, he has his fingerprints on some of the most endearing classics of the '80s and '90s. While he got his start writing with KISS on I Was Made For Lovin You, that turned out to be the calm before the storm, as he co wrote songs with Jon Bon Jovi for Slippery When Wet, including the classics Livin on a Prayer and Wanted Dead or Alive. He's never really looked back from that album, taking the format that he knew worked and applying to the heavyhitters of '80s glam rock, like when he took a fragment of Steven Tyler's song and turned it into Dude Looks Like a Lady.

Don't think that this guy is just a one trick pony though. Desmond knows what people want to hear, and has managed to work with the more mainstream side of pop rock these days, from composing songs with Weezer to eventually making smash hits for the likes of Katy Perry. Getting a hit might seem impossible when you're starting out, but what Desmond has done is practically a clinic on how to keep the fans coming back for more.