Julia Michaels Is the Songwriter Behind Your Favorite Pop Tunes—and Now She's Ready to Take the Spotlight

The mastermind of Bieber's "Sorry" and Selena's "Good for You" is starting to make her own waves.

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Lip, Hairstyle, Style, Monochrome, Eyelash, Monochrome photography, Fashion, Beauty, Long hair, Fashion model,
(Image credit: Lindsey Byrnes)

Lip, Hairstyle, Style, Monochrome, Eyelash, Monochrome photography, Fashion, Beauty, Long hair, Fashion model,

(Image credit: Lindsey Byrnes)

Fact: Julia Michaels wrote whatever track you're currently obsessing over. (She's written tons of hits, like Selena Gomez's "Good for You" and Justin Bieber's "Sorry.") Now the songwriter is stepping into the spotlight with her debut EP this spring. Here's how she chills outside the studio.

Age: 23.

Lives In: Los Angeles.

You Know Her From: The over 50 tracks she's written for pop megastars, like Britney Spears' "Slumber Party" and Hailee Steinfeld's "Love Myself."

What Do You Do in Your Free Time? Hula-hooping. It makes me feel free. My stepsister introduced me to it. I used to have panic attacks all the time, and she hula-hooped to cope with her own anxiety. She lives in Iowa—I'm originally from Davenport, Iowa— and gave me a hoop to take home to California with me. I was like, I'm not going to use this shit! Two weeks later, I was doing it every day. Now I can do real fancy tricks.

Clean Slate: If I get writer's block—this is going to sound funny—I take a shower. Something about the water feels like I'm cleaning my brain as well as my body.

"If I get writer's block—this is going to sound funny—I take a shower."

Guiltiest Pleasure: Online shopping. I actually was going through my closet recently, just to see what I had, and it's kind of sad how much I have that I haven't even worn yet. I was like, OK, I have an addiction.

In the Kitchen: I could make apple pie every single day. You need to be super precise in order for it to be perfect. I'm such a perfectionist that baking is calming for me. I've never burnt anything, thank God.

That Girl Is On Fire: My favorite food is hot Cheetos. I could eat those every day.

Follow Her: @imjmichaels.

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This article appears in the April issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands now.

Jen Ortiz
Jen Ortiz

As deputy editor, Jen oversees Cosmopolitan's daily digital editorial operations, editing and writing features, essays, news, and other content, in addition to editing the magazine's cover stories, astrology pages, and more. Previously, Jen was a senior editor at Marie Claire. Before that, she worked at GQ.