15 millionaire musicians who have ghostwritten chart-topping hits

Ne-Yo has written songs for dozens of artists from Lindsay Lohan to Jay Z. The artist worth over £13 million also co-wrote "Irreplaceable" for Beyoncé in 2006, which reached number one in the US for that year.

Kesha — worth around £14.7 million — has written songs for Miley Cyrus, The Veronicas and Ariana Grande, as well as writing "Til the World Ends" for Britney Spears as part of her 2011 comeback album "Femme Fatale."

Sia may be a successful artist in her own right — earning herself a net worth of over £15 million — but she is also one of the most in-demand songwriters in the world. She has written an astonishing 73 songs for artists throughout her career, including "Diamonds" for Rihanna and "Perfume" for Britney Spears.

Surprisingly, she also wrote "You Don't Know" for former Pop Idol star Will Young's album "Let it Go."

Collectively, One Direction are worth almost £90 million, but Styles himself is worth £18.9 million, making him one of the youngest millionaire pop singers in the world.

He may have rose to fame in a boyband, but he's also a prolific songwriter, and has worked with Arianna Grande and Meghan Trainor.

His most recent piece of ghostwriting was a song called "Someday," written with Meghan Trainor for Michael Bublé's new album "Nobody But Me."

Former American Idol contestant Kelly Clarkson has risen to success over the years. She made over £9 million in tours in 2015, and her net worth is estimated at £23 million.

She may sometimes use ghostwriters to record new songs, but she's also ghostwritten for one of the world's biggest boy bands. In 2011, One Direction released their "Up All Night" album, which included "Tell Me a Lie" which was written by Clarkson.

"Halo" was one of Beyonce's biggest hits, but it was actually written by OneRepublic lead singer Ryan Tedder, who is worth nearly £25 million.

Ed Sheeran became one of the UK's highest paid musicians in 2016 with a net worth of over £27 million according to the Sunday Times. He has written for the likes of One Direction, Taylor Swift and Jessie Ware. Arguably his most successful work was 1D's "Little Things," which topped the UK charts when it was released in 2012.

Bruno Mars is hugely succesful in his own right. He is worth almost £60 million, while five of his own songs — such as RnB ballad "Just the Way You Are" — becoming number one hits in the UK charts.

He has also written for artists like Flo Rida, Justin Bieber and Cee Lo Green, and helped Adele to write "All I Ask."

The pop singer didn't quite make it into Forbe's list of America's wealthiest self-made women in 2016, but is still hugely successful with a net worth of over £100 million.

She has been writing songs for her peers, including Selena Gomez and Kelly Clarkson, throughout her career.

"Black Widow" — one of the songs on Iggy Azalea's debut album "The New Classic" – was actually written by Perry for her own album "Prism" but didn't make the cut.

R Kelly has ghostwritten for legendary artists like Britney Spears and Whitney Houston. The hip-hop artist with an estimated worth of £123 million also wrote "You Are Not Alone" for Michael Jackson.

Williams — worth an estimated £123 million — was famous as a producer before becoming a solo artist himself, but some of his biggest ghostwriting hits are surprising.

In 2003, he collaborated with The Neptunes to write Kelis' single "Milkshake."

The Bee Gees' members Robin and Barry Gibb had a net worth of £110 million in 2011 before Robin's death the following yea, while Barry is currently worth an estimated £40.8 million.

They may have been famous for their disco hits and glamorous stage costumes, but they were also successful behind the scenes.

Some of their most popular works include Diana Ross' "Chain Reaction," Tina Turner's "I Will Be There," and Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" and "Woman in Love."

Justin Timberlake is one of the world's highest earning artists alive and has secured four number one hits in the UK. He has also written for successful artists like Rihanna and Beyonce.

Timberlake was one of the writers behind "Partition," featured on Beyoncé's self-titled album.

Lady Gaga may have missed out on a place in Forbes' highest-earning celebrities list for 2016, but she's still one of the world's wealthiest musicians with an estimated net worth of almost £225 million. She rocketed to fame after the release of her debut album "The Fame" in 2008 but Gaga also had a hand in writing for more established pop acts.

In 2008, she initially wrote her single "Telephone" for Britney Spears' album "Circus," but it didn't make the cut, so she recorded it with Beyoncé instead.

However, another song by Gaga — "Quicksand" — did make it onto Spears' album.