When one hears the name Tyra Banks, the thoughts of a world-renowned supermodel and business woman instantly come to mind. As an American model, television personality, talk show host, producer, author, actress, singer and business mogul, Bank’s brand seems to continually grow at a rapid pace. She began her career as a model at the age of 15 and soon rose to fame, becoming the first African American woman on the covers of GQ and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue— on which she appeared twice. As one of the original Victoria’s Secret Angels, by the early 2000s, Banks was one of the top-earning models in the world, procuring herself a spot on our Celebrity 100 Models & Personalities list in 2007 and our “Models Turned Moguls” list in 2008. In 2003, Banks created and became the host of the long-running reality TV show, America’s Next Top Model, which gave way to many of today’s well known models, such as CariDee English, Eva Marcille, Don Benjamin, Toccara Jones and Adrianne Curry. In addition to hosting ANTM, Banks also was the host of her own talk show, the Emmy-winning “The Tyra Banks Show.” Most recently, she made headlines as she listed her Beverly Hills Mansion for $7.75 million.
The Tyra Banks brand has made significant strides in a number of entertainment fields and her latest venture is the theme-song business. After teaming up with CCO, President and Co-founder of Jingle Punks, Jared Gutstadt, Banks spoke to us about how she has been integrating her love of music into her brand by creating original theme songs for her cosmetic line, Tyra Beauty, and most recently, for her new daytime talk show, The FABLife.
Tyra’s latest daytime talk show— a lifestyle-centric roundtable featuring discussion on a range of how-to topics with food writer Chrissy Teigen, fashionista Joe Zee, interior designer Lauren Makk and do-it-yourself YouTube star Leah Ashley, debuted as the No. 1 new syndicated talk show in households (0.8 rating), with a total viewership of 984,000 women between the ages of 25 and 54.
“I’ve always loved music, however, in the performance side of that. So when it came time to think about retiring from modeling, I said I wanted to be a singer. I went to the studio with some of the greatest producers in the world, like Pharell and Wyclef, and had those opportunities because of my supermodel status. It wasn’t like I had the talent. So one day I woke up thinking my dream of being a singer should stay just that, a dream. My mom even told me I didn’t have a singing voice, but I did have a talking voice that the masses recognized,” She told Forbes how she overcame the realization that she was talented lyrically, if not vocally.
“That’s when I decided to create and host The Tyra Show, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t venture into music at all. That realization made me say I may not have a singing voice, but I have a talent and way with words, producing and writing lyrics, which is how Jared and my relationship began.”
As the award-winning co-founder and lead creative force at full-service music marketing agency, Jingle Punks, Jared is considered the celebrity music expert, most recently collaborating with famed artist and music producer Timbaland on a brand new version of Scott Van Pelt’s
“I’ve always loved music, but I had to fail at being a musician to get where I am today. There was no money in touring anymore, and I wasn’t getting the record deals I wanted. But then I realized as scripted and reality TV was exploding there was going to be a huge need for corresponding music and a lot of companies weren’t really positioned to handle a high volume of that music and have quick reactive ideas,”Jared said.
“ As big as our company has grown, we’ve never forgotten what it’s like to sit in the edit stage and make musically motivated choices. I’m having more fun now than I’ve ever had playing on stage. Being able to collaborate with people like Tyra is probably the most exciting part of my job.”
Banks and Gutstadt’s first collaboration back in 2014 was deemed a success, as Bank’s beauty line, Tyra Beauty, took the industry by storm. Their newest partnership gave way to The FABlife’s introduction theme song, “FABLife Grill.”
“Tyra in this instance has literally walked the walk and not just talked the talk. We’ve had times where many people who are well known artists … and their input was minimal, which left me in a position to make creative decisions for everyone."
In regards to how hands on Banks has been in the creative process and further more all over execution, Jared raved about how deeply Banks has interjected herself from the start.
“In this case, it truly was lead by Tyra’s creative vision, which allowed me to bypass all the logistics, especially with the network. She helped us gain a clear vision of her brand and what she wants- I’d love to collaborate with her way more on the future. The goal for us is to have bigger and bigger platforms to tell our musical story.”
As one of the most recognized supermodels in the world, it’s not surprising that Tyra Banks has such success in front of and behind the camera. However, she holds this particular venture close to her heartraving about the energy that working with Jared gave to her, and how she applies it to her everyday endeavors.
“I just have a passion for not only modeling, but writing lyrics. I feel like I have a pulse on what my audience wants and I’m always connected to that; it’s very important to me, and I enjoy it. My mentor, branding guru, Martin Lindstrom, told me that music and sound cohesive with your brand is crucial. You have to touch people’s ears and not just their eyes, which is why I came to Jared and said, ‘let’s do this’.”
