SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga University can claim that its students and staff knew an award-nominated music producer before he was famous.
Stevie Cheung, known as producer Tele, was nominated for Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 2020 Grammy Awards for his work on Lizzo’s hit song and album “Truth Hurts.” Though he didn’t win, it’s certainly a big step in his music career.
“Truth Hurts” was released in 2017 but went viral when the song was featured in the Netflix film “Someone Great.”
Lizzo won three Grammys on Sunday, including best pop solo performance for the song Cheung produced.
Gonzaga Director of Choirs Tim Westerhaus confirmed to KREM’s Taylor Viydo that Cheung, who is now 28 years old, sang in Gonzaga’s Concert Choir in 2010. He performed in a Seattle tour, Fall Family Weekend program and the Candlelight Christmas Concert.
The Seattle Times reports that Cheung pursued music and philosophy degrees at Gonzaga before heading to California. He grew up in Maple Leaf, Washington, and graduated from Seattle Prep in 2009.
Cheung escorted his parents Beth and Richard Cheung down the red carpet and into the Staples Center on Sunday.
“Oh, man, they’re so proud,” Cheung told The Seattle Times. “My parents, they’ve really been super supportive of my musical career my whole life.”
