John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer.

His hits as a songwriter include Kiss' "I Was Made for Lovin' You"; Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Hate Myself for Loving You"; Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer",[1] "Bad Medicine", and "Born to Be My Baby"; Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", "What It Takes" and "Crazy"; Cher's "We All Sleep Alone" and "Just Like Jesse James"; Brit Smith's "Karma's a Bitch", recently redone by Jojo Siwa; Alice Cooper's "Poison"; Michael Bolton's "How Can We Be Lovers?

[6] Artists Child has worked with include Kiss, Cher, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Bonnie Tyler, Dream Theater, Roxette, Ricky Martin, Selena Gomez, and Kelly Clarkson.

Child scored a Billboard Top 40 hit in 1991 as a solo artist with "Love on a Rooftop", a song he had co-written with Diane Warren, originally recorded by Ronnie Spector, and later by Cher.

[7] He produced Meat Loaf's album Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, and co-wrote six of its songs.

Child was to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest again as a songwriter in 2022, co-writing and producing the Finnish entry, Jezebel, performed by the Rasmus.

[10] In 2013, he co-founded the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame along with fellow Cuban-American composer Rudy Pérez.