Michael Jackson's song “Thriller,” even a quarter-century after its release, remains one of the best-selling tracks on one of the best-selling albums of all time. The introductory bars of the song are almost universally recognized, and playing the track at a club will unquestionably result in a mass migration to the dance floor. But few people know the face and the name behind the song itself. Rod Temperton, already a top-of-the-charts artist in his own right, penned “Thriller” in a hotel room in 1982.

His career, however, began long before the song was even thought up. Tempterton remembers listening to Radio Luxemburg on a transistor radio as a child. By the time he attended school in Lincolnshire, England, he had already begun playing the drums. He soon added the keyboard to his repertoire, playing in various bands around Europe. In 1974, he joined the funk/disco band Heatwave. Although the group usually played covers, Temperton introduced the band to several of his original songs. One of these was “Boogie Nights,” the group's first major hit. They quickly followed up with “Always and Forever,” a ballad that also reached the top of the charts. Quincy Jones developed an interest in Temperton's work, and hired him to write for Michael Jackson's first solo album, Off the Wall. Included in his work was the song “Rock With You,” which became the second #1 US single on the album. Tempterton quickly followed his success with his biggest hit, “Thriller.”

However, his songwriting career has not stopped there. Temperton's writing credits read like a who's-who of the biggest R&B acts from the 70's, 80's, and 90's, including Karen Carpenter, Mya, and C + C Music Factory. He was also nominated for an Oscar for the song “Miss Celie's Blues” on the soundtrack for the film The Color Purple. And, with producer credits under his belt and plenty of songs ripe for sampling, Temperton's musical influence is not going away any time soon.