Skip to main content
GRAMMYs Breaking News
Breaking News
  • MusiCares Launches Help for the Holidays Campaign Apply HERE
  • Recording Academy
  • GRAMMYs
  • Membership
  • Advocacy
  • MusiCares
  • GRAMMY Museum
  • Latin GRAMMYs
GRAMMYs
  • Advocacy
  • Membership
  • GRAMMYs
  • Governance
  • Jobs
  • Press Room
  • Events
  • Login
  • MusiCares
  • GRAMMY Museum
  • Latin GRAMMYs
  • More
    • MusiCares
    • GRAMMY Museum
    • Latin GRAMMYs

The GRAMMYs

  • Awards
  • News
  • Videos
  • Music Genres
  • Recording Academy
  • More
    • Awards
    • News
    • Videos
    • Music Genres
    • Recording Academy

Latin GRAMMYs

MusiCares

  • About
  • Get Help
  • Give
  • News
  • Videos
  • Events
  • Person of the Year
  • More
    • About
    • Get Help
    • Give
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
    • Person of the Year

Advocacy

  • About
  • News
  • Issues & Policy
  • Act
  • Recording Academy
  • More
    • About
    • News
    • Issues & Policy
    • Act
    • Recording Academy

Membership

  • Join
  • Events
  • PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS WING
  • GRAMMY U
  • GOVERNANCE
  • More
    • Join
    • Events
    • PRODUCERS & ENGINEERS WING
    • GRAMMY U
    • GOVERNANCE
Log In Join
  • SUBSCRIBE

  • Search
See All Results
Modal Open
Subscribe Now

Subscribe to Newsletters

Be the first to find out about GRAMMY nominees, winners, important news, and events. Privacy Policy
GRAMMY Museum
Membership

Join us on Social

  • Recording Academy
    • The Recording Academy: Facebook
    • The Recording Academy: Twitter
    • The Recording Academy: Instagram
    • The Recording Academy: YouTube
  • GRAMMYs
    • GRAMMYs: Facebook
    • GRAMMYs: Twitter
    • GRAMMYs: Instagram
    • GRAMMYs: YouTube
  • Latin GRAMMYs
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Facebook
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Twitter
    • Latin GRAMMYs: Instagram
    • Latin GRAMMYs: YouTube
  • GRAMMY Museum
    • GRAMMY Museum: Facebook
    • GRAMMY Museum: Twitter
    • GRAMMY Museum: Instagram
    • GRAMMY Museum: YouTube
  • MusiCares
    • MusiCares: Facebook
    • MusiCares: Twitter
    • MusiCares: Instagram
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy: Facebook
    • Advocacy: Twitter
  • Membership
    • Membership: Facebook
    • Membership: Twitter
    • Membership: Instagram
    • Membership: Youtube
GRAMMYs

Cyndi Lauper

Photo: Mike Coppola/WireImage.com

News
cyndi-lauper-john-mellencamp-duncan-sheik-find-musical-outlet

Cyndi Lauper, John Mellencamp, Duncan Sheik Find A Musical Outlet

Facebook Twitter Email
GRAMMY winners are successfully crossing over from the concert stage to the Broadway stage
Nick Krewen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

When the musical "Kinky Boots" captured six Tony Awards in June, including wins for Best Musical and Best Original Score Written For The Theatre, its composer was a familiar name to pop music fans: Cyndi Lauper.

It was the GRAMMY winner's first foray into this new discipline, but she's not the only one to take the Broadway leap. In what seems to be a coincidental trend, 2013 promises to yield a bumper crop of musicals tendered from pop and rock superstars, kick-started by the release of an album and tour based on the John Mellencamp-Stephen King-T Bone Burnett "supernatural" musical "Ghost Brothers Of Darkland County" in June and October, respectively, and extended at least through next autumn by Sting's "The Last Ship" (scheduled for a fall 2014 launch). Planned shows also include Tori Amos' "The Light Princess" (Oct. 9); and Duncan Sheik's fifth and sixth musicals, "American Psycho" (Dec. 3) and "Because Of Winn Dixie" (Dec. 4). Also in the works are "Harmony," the first stage musical by Barry Manilow, premiering in Atlanta in September, and "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," a production based on King's life and music arriving for Broadway previews Nov. 21.

These artists are joining a growing lineup of contemporary luminaries, including U2's Bono and The Edge, Elton John and Green Day, who have successfully stepped outside their regular album-tour cycle comfort zones to mount Broadway spectacles, or at the very least, projects appealing to theater-loving crowds.

Often taking lengthy amounts of time to complete — Mellencamp and best-selling author King took 13 years to finish "Ghost Brothers Of Darkland County" — and involving multiple workshops, musicals often force composers to challenge themselves and think outside the box.

"I had to learn how to write for other voices besides my own," says Lauper, addressing the task of writing for characters previously established by the 2005 British film Kinky Boots. "[I] never had to do that before.

"When I perform, a lot of the time I pretend I'm someone else when I'm singing. When I sing 'At Last' I'm a certain gal; when I sing 'Girls [Just Wanna Have Fun]' I'm another and when I sing 'True Colors' I go to another side of myself. So as a performer I've become other people.

"I just had to learn to do that as a songwriter."

Lauper, who co-wrote her pop smashes "Time After Time," "She Bop" and "Change Of Heart," said that she took inspiration for the songs for "Kinky Boots" character Charlie from her son Declyn, Lauren from cast actress Annaleigh Ashford and Lola from herself, "because I am a drag queen in some ways."

"I did really try to work hard and give every cast member a real voice to tell their story … from the leads to the chorus," she says.

Duncan Sheik knows the drill. His musical "Spring Awakening," co-written by Steven Sater, captured eight Tony Awards in 2007, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Orchestrations. The musical also took home a GRAMMY for Best Musical Show Album at the 50th GRAMMY Awards. Despite the success, Sheik admits that when he first began he "thought musicals were the worst genre in the universe."

Sheik, who scored a Top 20 hit with 1996's "Barely Breathing" and has released seven studio albums (an eighth is due late 2013/early 2014), changed his mind when he read Frank Wedekind's play.

"I thought maybe we could do something if the music was stylistically different than what you normally hear in the theater," he says.

"The brilliant thing about writing music for a narrative that has a really long arc is that you're not chained to the idea of, 'I need to write a three-minute pop song that's going to express a succinct idea about something that's happened in my life.' You write songs and you write music from a perspective of a very different persona from your own.

"So all of a sudden the sonic and emotional palettes become much more broad, much more fun and much more interesting. That's really cool because that allows you to open yourself up and do things that you might not normally do. There are songs I've written for 'Spring Awakening' and other musicals that I would have never written as Duncan Sheik songs."

The collaborative process for a musical is also different, as numerous creative and financial interests contribute their portion of what amounts to a big jigsaw puzzle.

"There are way more people, and that can be really tough," admits Sheik, whose "Spring Awakening" is due to be filmed for the silver screen later this year.

"Usually you have a writing partner you work with who is writing the book and possibly the lyrics; you have a director who is calling all the shots; then you have producers who are putting the money into this and making it happen, so they have their say as well.

"You have a whole creative team — costume designers and lighting designers, and they end up affecting the music in certain ways too, because people need to be able to wear certain kinds of clothes and do certain kinds of movements. All these people have a huge effect on what the ultimate piece of music can be."

Based on a concept by Mellencamp, "Ghost Brothers Of Darkland County" tells the tale of two brothers who get into a fight over a woman at a cabin haunted by ghosts, with one of the brothers winding up dead. The surviving brother and woman speed away in a car, but ultimately crash into a lake and drown.

"It was Steve's job to tell the story," Mellencamp told Rolling Stone about King's role. "It was my job to develop the characters through songs. That's different than most musicals."

As the musical was nearing completion, Mellencamp and King called upon Burnett to help fine-tune the music.

"The idea was for me to come in and create the vibe," Burnett told Rolling Stone . "We took the songs and cast them with different singers and musicians, and began creating what I hoped would be a foggy, ghost sound."

Lauper, who was personally requested to provide the score for "Kinky Boots" by the musical's book writer, Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein, said her four-year endeavor was an incredible journey.

"Working with this amazing creative team [and] seeing the show come to life from each stage — from script to workshop to getting the cast to the next round of workshops, to rehearsals to out of town run to opening in Chicago, to opening night on Broadway — it was an amazing process to be part of and I still get tears in my eyes when I see the show even now," says Lauper.

Sheik agrees that all the blood, sweat and tears injected into creating a musical seem to evaporate once the production is staged.

"The reward is being in the audience where the whole thing coalesces in front of you: the narrative and the song and the staging and all the design aspects of the piece kind of come together, and it's this magical thing that music does that no other medium [does]," he explains. "It's completely transporting and it really feels like the audience is having an experience as well. It has a different depth to it, and when you get it right, there's nothing better."

And now that she's got one musical under her belt, would Lauper contemplate another?

"Without a doubt," she says.

(Nick Krewen is a Toronto-based journalist and co-author of Music From Far And Wide: Celebrating 40 Years Of The Juno Awards, as well as a contributor to The Routledge Film Music Sourcebook. He has written for The Toronto Star, TV Guide, Billboard, Country Music and was a consultant for the National Film Board's music industry documentary Dream Machine.)

Rihanna, 55th GRAMMYs performer

Rihanna

Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

News
2013 GRAMMYs: Who's performing? 2013-grammys-view-full-performer-list

2013 GRAMMYs: View a full performer list

Facebook Twitter Email
From Fun. and Justin Timberlake to Rihanna and Taylor Swift, view our handy performer rundown for the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

With Music's Biggest Night quickly approaching, it's time to think about finalizing your to-do list for your official GRAMMY Sunday party. Snacks? Check. Favorite beverage? Check. Dessert? Check. Internet bill paid so you can stream GRAMMY Live? Check.

What's in store for GRAMMY Sunday, you ask? Plenty.

The star-studded performance lineup for the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards has a bit of everything — the music comeback of a six-time GRAMMY winner, first-time artist collaborations, a tribute to an American legend, GRAMMY debuts, and generous sides of country, rock, pop, and hip-hop. Plus, the GRAMMYs are guaranteed to be cool with two-time GRAMMY-winning artist/actor LL Cool J serving as host.

It's a lot to keep track of, so we've compiled a handy alphabetical guide to artists who will be taking the GRAMMY stage. Of course, be sure to stay logged on to GRAMMY.com and follow our liveblog to complement your GRAMMY experience and join the conversation.

And the performers for the 55th GRAMMY Awards are: 

  • Travis Barker, Chuck D, LL Cool J, Tom Morello, and DJ Z-Trip

  • Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert

  • The Black Keys

  • Zac Brown, T Bone Burnett (as musical director), Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, Elton John, Mumford & Sons, and Mavis Staples, who will pay tribute to the late Levon Helm of the Band

  • Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Kenny Garrett in tribute to Dave Brubeck

  • Kelly Clarkson

  • Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with the Black Keys

  • Fun.

  • Elton John with Ed Sheeran, performing together live for the first time

  • Juanes

  • Alicia Keys and Maroon 5

  • The Lumineers

  • Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and Sting

  • Miguel and Wiz Khalifa

  • Mumford & Sons

  • Frank Ocean

  • Rihanna

  • Taylor Swift

  • Justin Timberlake

  • Carrie Underwood

  • Jack White

The 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards will take place live on Sunday, Feb. 10 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on the CBS Television Network from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio worldwide via Dial Global, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube.

For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

GRAMMYs

Madonna

Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

News
grammy-insider-madonna-paul-mccartney-metallica-taylor-swift-justin-timberlake

GRAMMY Insider: Madonna, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake

Facebook Twitter Email
All the GRAMMY winners news, including the nominees for the Songwriters Hall of Fame class of 2014
Crystal Larsen
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(The GRAMMY Insider keeps you up to date about news on your favorite GRAMMY winners, including information about new album releases, tour updates, notable media appearances, interviews, and more.)

Awards
The nominees for the Songwriters Hall of Fame class of 2014 include GRAMMY winners Harry Wayne Casey, Luigi Creatore and Hugo Peretti, Vince Gill, Mark James, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, John Mellencamp, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), and Sade, among others. Inductees will be honored at an awards gala on June 12, 2014, in New York. … Nominations for the 2013 American Music Awards were announced with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis leading with six nominations, followed by Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake with five each. The awards will air live from Los Angeles on Nov. 24.

Records
In more Taylor Swift news, the 23-year-old songstress will be honored as the Nashville Songwriters Association International's Songwriter/Artist of the Year for a record sixth time, surpassing previous records held by five-time winners Vince Gill and Alan Jackson. Swift, who remains the youngest artist to receive the award, will showcase her six trophies at the Taylor Swift Education Center, set to open Oct. 12 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn.

Charts
Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience, 2 Of 2, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 350,000 copies sold, marking Timberlake's second No. 1 album of the year following The 20/20 Experience, which was released in March and earned the largest sales week of the year with 968,000 units sold. … Kanye West's "Gone" peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week after the song, from his 2005 GRAMMY-winning album Late Registration, appeared in the viral YouTube video of 25-year-old Marina Shifrin announcing her job resignation.  

New Music
TLC unveiled their first new song in 10 years, "Meant To Be," which was written by GRAMMY winner Ne-Yo, among others. The track will appear on their forthcoming greatest hits compilation album 20, due Oct. 15. … Eminem released the video for "Survival," the second single from his forthcoming new album The Marshall Mathers LP 2, due Nov. 5. The video, which also appears in the trailer for the "Call Of Duty: Ghosts" video game, features the rapper performing in a gloomy warehouse while clips of the video game flash in the background. … In a recent interview with The Oakland Press, Metallica frontman James Hetfield revealed the band will begin work on their next studio album in early 2014. "Hopefully it happens soon. I'm itchin'," said Hetfield. "We have tons of material to sift through. … I know we only need a few songs, but there's 800 riffs we're going through. It's kind of insane."

#theysaidit
The next time you start posing for your "Sunday selfie," think of Paul McCartney. In a recent interview on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," the former Beatle said, "Most people don't actually know that I invented the selfie," referring to a black-and-white solo shot of himself. When presented with a photo in which he's spontaneously posed in the background of an image of John Lennon, McCartney said, "That's actually me inventing the photobomb."

GRAMMYs

Neil Young, 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year

Photo: Reuters/Rick Wilking

News
stars-honor-neil-young

Stars To Honor Neil Young

Facebook Twitter Email
MusiCares salutes rock legend
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

(For a complete list of 52nd GRAMMY Award winners, please click here.)

An impressive all-star cast will honor 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year honoree Neil Young on Jan. 29 in Los Angeles, two days before the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards.

Artists on board to fete the legendary rocker are Jack Black, Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnett, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sheryl Crow, Everest, Patty Griffin, Josh Groban, Ben Harper, Emmylou Harris, Elton John, Norah Jones, Lady Antebellum, k.d. lang, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Ozomatli, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Leon Russell, James Taylor, Wilco, and Lucinda Williams.

This year’s event marks the 20th anniversary of the MusiCares Person of the Year event, which honors a musician for his or her musical and humanitarian accomplishments.

The event, a private charity fundraiser, is attended by industry VIPs and others who help support the work of the Recording Academy-affiliated MusiCares Foundation, which offers programs and services to members of the music community including emergency financial assistance. The MusiCares MAP Fund allows access to addiction recovery treatment and sober living resources for members of the music community regardless of their financial circumstances, and MusiCares Safe Harbor Rooms, at event such as the GRAMMY Awards, offer a support network to those in recovery while they are participating in the production of televised music shows and other major music events.

Portions of the Person of the Year event this year will be streamed live for the first time ever at GRAMMY.com.

Past MusiCares Person of the Year honorees include Tony Bennett, Bono, Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, David Crosby, Neil Diamond, Gloria Estefan, Aretha Franklin, Don Henley, Billy Joel, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, Sting, James Taylor, Brian Wilson, and Stevie Wonder.
 

Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz in 'Clueless' (1995)

Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz in 'Clueless' (1995)

Courtesy Photo: CBS via Getty Images

News
How 1995 Became A Blockbuster Year For Soundtracks 1995-soundtracks-film-batman-forever-clueless-waiting-exhale-whitney-houston

How 1995 Became A Blockbuster Year For Movie Soundtracks

Facebook Twitter Email
From 'Clueless' to 'Dangerous Minds,' soundtracks were big business in 1995, but the year's hits offered no clear formula for success
Jack Tregoning
GRAMMYs
Aug 9, 2020 - 4:00 am

Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, 2Pac and The Smashing Pumpkins all had No. 1 albums in 1995. Despite such hallowed competition, four movie soundtracks also topped the Billboard 200 chart that year. Two were family-friendly Disney behemoths: Pocahontas and The Lion King, the latter still powering from the previous year. The other chart-topping soundtracks, for the Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle Dangerous Minds and the stoner comedy Friday, were no one's idea of kids' entertainment. 

Beyond those No. 1 spots, 1995 marked a fascinating midpoint in a soundtrack-heavy decade. According to a New York Times report, a new release CD that year typically cost anywhere between $13-$19. At that price, a soundtrack needed major star power or an undeniable concept. 

For movie studios and musicians alike, the format was rich with opportunity. However, there was no certain formula for success. Some soundtracks were guided by a single producer, while others drew on a grab bag of then-current songs. Several featured one clear hit that eclipsed the soundtrack, or occasionally the movie itself. For all their differing approaches, the soundtracks of 1995 epitomized the energy and audacity of the decade, while also establishing tropes for the next 25 years. 

The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (1992) set the bar high for the decade. With a 20-week reign at No. 1, it remains the biggest-selling soundtrack of all time. Whitney Houston performed six songs on the album, including the titanic power ballad, "I Will Always Love You." (At the 1994 GRAMMYs, the track won the GRAMMY for Record Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, while the soundtrack itself earned the Album Of The Year award.)

While The Bodyguard magnified their commercial potential, movie soundtracks like Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994) framed the medium as an artistic showpiece. Throughout the '90s, Tarantino and fellow indie auteurs Paul Thomas Anderson, Richard Linklater and Spike Lee made music a key character in their films. (The latter continues the trend on his latest movie, Da 5 Bloods, alongside six-time GRAMMY-winning composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard.) Both instincts, for commercial returns and artistic validation, were well-represented in 1995. 

Read: 'The Bodyguard' Soundtrack: 25 Years After Whitney Houston's Masterpiece

Batman Forever (1995) epitomized the big-budget, mass-appeal mid-'90s soundtrack. Spanning PJ Harvey to Method Man, the 14-track set employed some tried-and-true tactics. First, only five songs on the track list appear in the movie itself, ushering in a rash of "Music From And Inspired By" soundtracks. Second, its featured artists largely contributed songs you couldn't find on other albums: According to Entertainment Weekly in 1995, U2 landed a reported $500,000 advance for "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," an offcut from the band's Zooropa album sessions. 

Most significantly, Batman Forever backed a surprise smash in Seal's "Kiss From A Rose." Originally released as a single in 1994, the ballad blew up as the movie's "love theme." In its music video, Seal croons in the light of the Bat-Signal, intercut with not-very-romantic scenes from the film. Outshining U2, "Kiss From A Rose" reached No. 1 in 1995; one year later, the song won for Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 38th GRAMMY Awards.

Both Bad Boys and Dangerous Minds had their "Kiss From A Rose" equivalent in 1995. Diana King's reggae-fusion jam "Shy Guy" proved the breakout star of Bad Boys, transcending an R&B- and hip-hop-heavy soundtrack. Meanwhile, Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," featuring singer L.V., the key track on Dangerous Minds, became the top-selling single of 1995; it won the rapper his first, and only, GRAMMY for Best Rap Solo Performance the next year. 

Other soundtracks from 1995 endure as perfect documents of their time and place. Clueless compiled a cast from '90s rock radio to accompany the adventures of Alicia Silverstone's Cher Horowitz and her high school clique: Counting Crows, Smoking Popes, Cracker and The Muffs. Coolio, the everywhere man of 1995, contributed "Rollin' With My Homies." 

From the same city, but a world outside Cher's Beverly Hills bubble, came the Ice Cube- and Chris Tucker-starring Friday. Its soundtrack took a whistle-stop tour of West Coast hip-hop and G-funk via Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Tha Alkaholiks and Mack 10. True to the era, the music video for Dr. Dre's "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" is half stoner comedy, half cheesy action movie. 

Waiting To Exhale, the 1995 drama directed by Forest Whitaker, boasted a soundtrack with a clear author. Babyface, the R&B superproducer with 11 GRAMMY wins for his work with the likes of Boyz II Men and Toni Braxton, produced the set in full. Following Babyface's co-producer role on The Bodyguard soundtrack three years prior, Waiting To Exhale featured two new songs from the movie's star, Whitney Houston. 

Read: 'Score': Soundtracks take us on an emotional ride

Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" led a track list that also featured Aretha Franklin, TLC, Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige and then-newcomer Brandy. A powerful showcase of Black women across generations, the soundtrack has prevailed as a standalone work, going on to receive multiple nominations, including Album Of The Year, at the 1997 GRAMMYs. In a crowded year for soundtracks, which also included Dinosaur Jr. founder Lou Barlow's work on Larry Clark's contentious Kids, Waiting To Exhale demonstrated the power of a singular vision. 

For the most part, the soundtracks of 1995 tried a bit of everything. The previous year, The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack went all-in on covers, including Nine Inch Nails overhauling Joy Division's "Dead Souls." That trend continued into 1995, from Tori Amos covering R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" for Higher Learning to Evan Dando's update of Big Star's "The Ballad Of El Goodo" in Empire Records to Tom Jones gamely taking on Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way"' for The Jerky Boys movie. (Is there a more '90s sentence than that?) 

Elsewhere, the Mortal Kombat soundtrack blended metal and industrial rock (Fear Factory, Gravity) with dance music (Utah Saints, Orbital). For every Dead Presidents, which zeroed in on '70s funk and soul, there was a Tank Girl, which threw together Bush, Björk, Veruca Salt and Ice-T to match the movie's manic tone. 

Continuing from their '90s winning streak, grown-up soundtracks have proven surprisingly resilient. In an echo of Babyface's role on Waiting To Exhale, Kendrick Lamar oversaw production on 2018's chart-topping, multi-GRAMMY-nominated Black Panther: The Album, uniting an A-list cast under his creative direction. On the same front, Beyonce executive-produced and curated The Lion King: The Gift, the soundtrack album for the 2019 remake of the Disney classic, which spotlighted African and Afrobeats artists. In 2016, Taylor Swift and One Direction's Zayn recorded "I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)," pitching for the movie tie-in bump enjoyed in 1995 by Seal and Coolio. (The millennial stars stopped short of including scenes from the movie in their music video.) 

Like Batman Forever back in the day, the DC Universe continues to put stock in soundtracks. Both Suicide Squad (2016) and its follow-up, Birds Of Prey (2020), are packed tight with to-the-minute pop, R&B and hip-hop. Each soundtrack reads like a who's who of the musical zeitgeist. In 1995, Mazzy Star, Brandy and U2 grouped up behind Batman. In 2016, Twenty One Pilots, Skrillex and Rick Ross powered the Suicide Squad. In 2020, everyone from Doja Cat to Halsey to YouTube star Maisie Peters form Team Harley Quinn. 

As 1995 taught us time and time again, nothing traps a year in amber quite like a movie soundtrack. 

How 1995 Became The Year Dance Music Albums Came Of Age

Grammys Newsletter

Subscribe Now

GRAMMYs Newsletter

Be the first to find out about winners, nominees, and more from Music's Biggest Night.
Top
Logo
  • Recording Academy
    • About
    • Governance
    • Press Room
    • Jobs
    • Events
  • GRAMMYs
    • Awards
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
    • Store
    • FAQ
  • Latin GRAMMYs
    • Awards
    • News
    • Photos
    • Videos
    • Cultural Foundation
    • Members
    • Press
  • GRAMMY Museum
    • COLLECTION:live
    • Explore
    • Exhibits
    • Education
    • Support
    • Programs
    • Donate
  • MusiCares
    • About
    • Get Help
    • Give
    • News
    • Videos
    • Events
  • Advocacy
    • About
    • News
    • Learn
    • Act
  • Membership
    • Chapters
    • Producers & Engineers Wing
    • GRAMMY U
    • Join
Logo

© 2021 - Recording Academy. All rights reserved.

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Copyright Notice
  • Contact Us

Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.