[] Bonnie Hayes is back. After a decade as chair of the songwriting department at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, the tunesmith, who struck songwriting gold with the hits “Have a Heart” and “Love Letter” for Bonnie Raitt, has returned to Marin with the satisfaction of knowing that she helped nurture some of the best of the next generation of pop music songwriters. Over an iced latte in the patio of a coffee shop in Novato on a sweltering afternoon last week, the 69-year-old songwriter, educator and performer beams when she’s asked if she’s had any former students who’ve gone on to successful careers.
“Are you kidding?” she says. “Let’s talk.” She starts with Charlie Puth, 32, who co-wrote Wiz Khalifa’s smash single “See You Again,” which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best original song and three nominations at the 58th annual Grammy Awards, including song of the year.
The tune, which he also co-produced and performs on, reigned for 12 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and was featured on the “Furious 7” soundtrack. “He’s a huge artist,” she says. “Say his name to anyone under 30 and they know who he is.
” She doesn’t shy away from bringing up Ingrid Andress, also 32, a Grammy-nominated songwriter whose debut studio album, “Lady Like,” was one of Billboard’s top 10 best country albums in 2020 and the highest streaming country female debut album of all time. Andress got some unwanted notoriety when sh.