Narada Michael Walden

Narada Michael Walden is one of those names you might not instantly recognize, but once you trace his fingerprints across music history, you realize he's been shaping the sound of pop and R&B for decades. Before he became the hit-making producer behind Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," he was out there drumming with John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra and jamming alongside Jeff Beck and Weather Report — serious jazz fusion credentials that most pop producers could never dream of. That combination of technical chops and melodic instinct is exactly what made his productions feel alive rather than just slick. Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan and spiritually named by guru Sri Chinmoy, there's a whole philosophical depth to this guy that gets completely overshadowed by his commercial success, and honestly I find that fascinating.

Name (English)

Narada Michael Walden

Name (Japanese)

ナラダ・マイケル・ウォルデン

Reading

ならだ・まいける・うぉるでん

Born

April 23, 1952 (age 74)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Taurus / Dragon

Origin

Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States

Occupation

singer / poet / songwriter / singer-songwriter / DJ producer

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://naradamichaelwalden.com/
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8A%E3%83%A9%E3%83%80%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%82%B1%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A9%E3%83%AB%E3%83%87%E3%83%B3

Tags

• Michigan
• singer
• poet
• songwriter

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.