‘The music industry is like the most toxic boyfriend ever… so if you’re in it for money or for fame, go to a different career’ – singer-songwriter RuthAnne Cunningham

RuthAnne Cunningham was 17 years old when she co-wrote the song Too Little Too Late for US popstar JoJo, which in 2006 broke various Billboard chart records, won gold and platinum records in six countries and made it to No 2 in the Irish charts. The following year, the song won an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers award for Cunningham and her co-songwriters Billy Steinberg (Madonna’s Like a Virgin, The Bangles’ Eternal Flame, Cyndi Lauper’s True Colours) and Josh Alexander (Demi Lovato’s Give Your Heart a Break). “That song was so huge. It was on the radio all the time. Everyone knew it. Everywhere I went, it was being played. It was just insane,” Cunningham recalls with a huge smile.