Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Now here is something that put a smile on my face this week. 10-time GRAMMY, Oscar®-winning, and multi-platinum selling singer/songwriter/ musician John Legend and GRAMMY nominated and multi-platinum selling artist Ariana Grande are set to remake the classic Oscar and GRAMMY-winning duet “Beauty and the Beast” as the title track for Disney’s upcoming soundtrack to the live-action film adaptation “Beauty and the Beast.” The song will also be featured in the film and on the original motion picture soundtrack which will be released on Walt Disney Records on March 10, 2017.
The enchanting ballad, originally performed by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson featuring eight-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken‘s beautiful melody and two-time Oscar-winner Howard Ashman‘s unforgettable lyrics, received an Academy Award®, Golden Globe® and GRAMMY Award, among other accolades, upon its release in 1991.
The new rendition of the classic song is produced by GRAMMY-winning veteran Ron Fair, whose music career spans 37 years as a major-label record company leader and accomplished producer, arranger, recording engineer and musical director. Fair was brought in to produce by Disney’s President of Music & Soundtracks, Mitchell Leib, who also brought Grande and Legend to the project. The history of collaboration between Leib and Fair in film music goes back to the highly-successful “Pretty Woman” soundtrack. “Ron was the first and only choice to make this particular record,” says Leib. “No one is a better vocal producer and he also has a great understanding of the filmmaking dynamic.”
The music video for “Beauty and the Beast” will be directed by Dave Meyers, the innovative visionary whose long-time collaborations with major artists like P!nk, Janet Jackson, Ice Cube and Britney Spears have resulted in dozens of award nominations and many wins, including a GRAMMY in 2005 for Best Music Video and 11 MTV Video Music Awards, including one for Katy Perry‘s smash hit “Firework.” He recently directed the music video for P!nk’s hit single “Just Like Fire” from the Walt Disney Records soundtrack for “Alice Through The Looking Glass.”
Click here to place your order for the “Beauty and the Beast” Soundtrack and check out the original song and video below performed by Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson:
Photo Credit: EOnline.com
