HOLLEY: All the teams were in different rooms at Conway Studios at the same time. Imagine this hub of artists all working toward this beautiful project. It was so cool going into another room and hearing the Scott Storch songs, and then Linda Perry was in the next room making ‘Beautiful.’ They don’t make albums like that anymore.
FAIR: There may have been a misunderstanding between us at times, with me being an older man trying to do a creative project with a younger woman who was finding her own voice. I think me being so engaged in the recording process could have been misunderstood for control but my only motivation was always to keep it all elevated.
PERRY: I had to put some rules down with her. I had a start time of 10 AM and sometimes she wouldn’t even show up till 10pm. One day, she did that to me, I picked up my stuff and started walking out. Her manager was like, ‘Where are you going?’ I’m like, ‘I’m out. I got a life. I’m not gonna sit here at the studio waiting for an artist to show up, it’s their career.’ Christina got all upset, and I said, ‘and I’m taking ‘Beautiful’ with me!’ They looked at me like, ‘No!’ Then Christina came out, she was crying and apologizing. I’m like, ‘Okay, let’s not do that again’. And she never did.
MORALES: I remember there was a big kerfuffle with her and Linda Perry because Linda didn’t want all the riffs in ‘Beautiful.’ I got to see them argue. It was amazing. I saw bottles flying!
