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Kane Brown and Blake Shelton turned in an intense duet, complete with fire and pyrotechnics, when they performed the live debut of their collaboration “Different Man” on the season finale of NBC’s The Voice on Tuesday evening (Dec. 13).
“Different Man,” which serves as the title track to Brown’s 2022 album, features lyrics all too relatable for anyone pursuing a career in music: “What if I was made for the stage/ What if I was made for the lights/ What if I was chosen to write the stories, wasn’t built to work the line.”
“I was driving to the gym — that’s where I really have time to think and listen,” Brown previously told Billboard of bringing Shelton in on the track. “I wanted one more feature on the album, and Blake was the first person I thought of. The song just reminded me of the ‘God’s Country’ kind of Blake Shelton, so I felt like it made sense.”
Shelton has served as a coach on The Voice since its launch in 2011, and previously brought in Brown as an advisor for Team Blake in 2020. Brown has frequently included a cover of Shelton’s “Ol’ Red” in his concerts. Brown previously said that serving as an advisor on Team Blake was a full-circle moment for him.
“I always wanted to go on The Voice and try out for Blake,” Brown previously told Parade. “I think I said that on the show. I always wanted to go and sing ‘Ol’ Red’ in front of Blake and see if I could get him to turn around. And then, it was just a full circle moment getting to come and be his advisor.”
The season 22 finale of The Voice also featured performances from OneRepublic, Breland, Maluma and Adam Lambert. Meanwhile, Team Blake earned a ninth victory with this season’s win, as country singer and Team Blake member Bryce Leatherwood emerged as the competition’s victor.
Shelton recently announced he will step away from The Voice after next season.
Watch Shelton and Brown’s performance above.
Following R. Kelly‘s paramount conviction in federal court after decades as a sexual abuser and trafficker, the third installment in Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly documentary series will arrive on Jan. 2-3, as part of a two-night event.
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Titled Surviving R. Kelly: The Final Chapter, the docuseries will feature bombshell revelations from Kelly’s 2021 trial, where he faced charges including racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, kidnapping, forced labor and Mann Act Coercion and Enticement. The series will detail the disgraced R&B star’s crimes, which led to his conviction on nine counts and a sentence of 30 years in prison. Interviewees shed light on key moments including Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage’s infamous interviews with Gayle King, as told by Clary’s father, and firsthand accounts of the intimidation tactics used by Kelly and his team surrounding victim testimonies, including setting fire to a Jane Doe’s car with intent to intimidate.
The documentary will also shed light on Kelly’s lesser known victims, including a John Doe, and his relationship with late R&B singer Aaliyah, 12 years his junior. Surviving R. Kelly: The Final Chapter is executive produced by Joel Karsberg, Tamra Simmons, Jesse Daniels, Maria Pepin and Brie Miranda Bryant, and contains over 60 voices and testimonials, including victims, their families, Kelly’s supporters, reporters who attended the trial, among others.
The docuseries trailer shows the chaos that erupted for five weeks outside of the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse, including supporters with microphones yelling “Justice for R. Kelly” day after day, a supporter with Kelly’s name tattooed on her chest, and the influx of press swarming the premises.
During the trial, Kelly’s defense team argued for the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer to receive the minimum sentence of 10 years or less, citing in court documents a “traumatic childhood involving severe, prolonged childhood sexual abuse, poverty, and violence.”
Prosecutors, however, sought a minimum 25-year term. In the end, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years, unintentionally symbolic of the 30 years of abuse he inflicted on countless victims, known and unknown.
Watch the trailer for Surviving R. Kelly: The Final Chapter below.
Aloha! Kelly Clarkson got into the holiday spirit on the Wednesday (Dec. 14) of her Kelly Clarkson Show by giving everyone in the studio audience an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii.
With some help from Grumpy Elf, the talk-show host has been running viewers through her Holiday Gift Guide all week long, and the episode’s presents were all themed around the outdoors — from portable gas grills, cozy loungewear and backyard fire pits — all of which she also gifted the audience.
Then Clarkson finally introduced the Hawaiian vacation package courtesy of Outrigger Resorts and Hotels, though she couldn’t help toying with the audience in the process. She warned, “Now slow your roll, everybody, ’cause this ain’t Oprah’s Favorite Things, OK?
“So, everybody, you got excited about the last ones,” she continued, “but, umm … this is The Kelly Clarkson Show gift guide, so you’re all getting a Hawaiian vacation!”
As the ecstatic audience broke out into shrieks and cheers, Grumpy Elf revealed a giant card confirming they’d get three nights and four days for two at any of Outrigger’s many Hawaiian getaways. “I feel like this is what Oprah felt like — I like this feeling!” Clarkson quipped before shouting, “Mele Kalikimaka!”
During the episode, the three-time Grammy winner also performed her 2021 holiday track “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You)” for the day’s Kellyoke number, and interviewed both Brendan Fraser and Sadie Sink.
Earlier this week, the eight-time coach on The Voice stopped by the NBC singing competition’s season 22 finale to sing a solo rendition of her Ariana Grande duet “Santa Can’t You Hear Me.”
Watch Clarkson give away vacations to Hawaii above, and perform her Kellyoke below.
No, you’re not “Imagine“-ing things — Ariana Grande is returning to one of her favorite “Positions” as a guest judge on a popular reality TV show.
On Wednesday (Dec. 14), MTV announced that Grande would return to the main stage of RuPaul’s Drag Race to serve as the inaugural guest judge for season 15. In a short clip posted across the Drag Race social media accounts, Grande struts down the runway sporting a pearl-covered cone bra and a long pencil skirt. Blowing a kiss to the camera, she says in a voiceover, “Season 15 is here, and so am I.”
This won’t be Grande’s first time judging on Drag Race. Back in season seven of the show, the pop superstar appeared as a guest judge for the now-infamous “Death Becomes Her” runway, where she watched queens Jaidynn Dior Fierce and Kandy Ho lip sync to her iconic Zedd collaboration “Break Free.”
The news of Grande’s upcoming appearance on the show comes just one day after the show’s 15th season was officially announced, alongside a cast of 16 queens competing for the coveted title of America’s Next Drag Superstar, as well as a doubled cash prize of $200,000. Along with bringing in more queens in one season than ever before, season 15 will also mark RuPaul’s Drag Race‘s first season on MTV, after the show spent its last six seasons on VH1.
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 premieres on MTV Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. ET. Check out the official teaser for Ariana Grande’s guest judge appearance above.
That’s a wrap! Season 22 of The Voice concluded on Tuesday night (Dec. 13) and saw contestant Bryce Leatherwood Tuesday night’s (Dec. 13) finale marked Stefani’s last appearance on the show. and add yet another victory notch to Blake Shelton‘s belt. But when the cameras stopped rolling, fellow coach Gwen Stefani — who is married to the country star — was inconsolable, and not because she lost.
“I walked over to Gwen’s chair after the cameras went off and she’s over there literally sobbing,” the country singer told Entertainment Tonight of the No Doubt singer, who has coached on and off since season seven. “She was like, ‘This is our last time that we’re going to do this together.’”
Shelton added, “It will be the last time she and I do this together, and it is crazy to think of how the show changed my life.” The couple met on the show in 2014 during season seven. “I was so wrapped up in this that I didn’t even think about that.”
Earlier in the month, the “Hollaback Girl” singer spoke with ET about how bittersweet it has been working with Shelton on season 22 of The Voice has been, as the upcoming season 23 will be the country star’s last as a coach. “It’s just been a really amazing season, too short,” the 53-year-old said on Dec. 6 just before the show’s semifinals, getting teary-eyed. “It’s mine and Blake’s last season … I can’t even get the words out of my mouth ’cause it sucks.”
Following the show wrapping on Tuesday night, Stefani took to Twitter to celebrate the end of season 22. “Aaand that’s a wrap!!! forever thankful to @NBCTheVoice, this show has changed my life in more ways than i can count. szn 22 forever !!!! ❤️ gx #TheVoice,” she wrote, later adding “tonight is so bittersweet” in a massage to a fan.
See Stefani’s tweets below.
aaand that’s a wrap!!! forever thankful to @NBCTheVoice, this show has changed my life in more ways than i can count. szn 22 forever !!!! ❤️ gx #TheVoice— Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) December 14, 2022
Former Ellen DeGeneres Show DJ Stephen “tWitch” Boss has died at 40. The news of the death of the positivity spreading turntablist who first rose to fame on MTV’s The Wade Robson Project in 2003 before earning the runner-up spot on So You Think You Can Dance in 2008 and joining DeGeneres’ daytime show as guest DJ in 2014 was shared by his wife, Allison Holker Boss.
In an exclusive statement sent to People, Boss said, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us. Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
No cause of death had been announced.
“To say he left a legacy would be an understatement, and his positive impact will continue to be felt,” continued Boss, 34. “I am certain there won’t be a day that goes by that we won’t honor his memory. We ask for privacy during this difficult time for myself and especially for our three children. Stephen, we love you, we miss you, and I will always save the last dance for you.”
Over the weekend, the couple posted an Instagram video in which they joyfully danced in unison to Alicia Keys’ “December Back 2 June,” just a day after Boss posted a sweet ninth anniversary message to his wife featuring pictures from their nuptials.
After joining DeGeneres’ show as the house DJ, he became a permanent part of the crew and was promoted to co-executive producer in 2020.
In a banner year for Netflix series reviving decades-old tracks into chart hits, Lady Gaga is finishing out the year with a bump for a 2011 deep cut. Born This Way’s “Bloody Mary” leaps into the top 40 of the Dec. 17-dated Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart on the heels of a swirl of TikTok activity surrounding the popularity for the Addams Family spin-off series Wednesday. All of that despite not even being featured in the series.
A dance sequence from the record-breaking show caught the eye of social media users. In the show, the titular character dances to The Cramps’ 1964 single “Goo Goo Muck.” Then, fans took the clip and replaced “Goo Goo” with “Bloody Mary” and the revamped dance sequence took off. On the latest global charts, the Gaga track jumps from No. 168 to No. 35 in its second week on Global Excl. U.S., while it debuts at No. 54 on the Billboard Global 200.
All episodes of Wednesday premiered on Nov. 23, and its spin-off effect on “Mary” was almost immediate. In the week of Nov. 25-Dec. 1, the gothic pop track rocketed by 509% in official on-demand global streams and 1,133% in sales, according to Luminate. The following frame, the tracking week ending Dec. 8, which informs the current charts, it shot up another 144% and 201%, respectively.
The week before its stratospheric leap, “Mary” drew 1.8 million global streams, less than one-fifteenth of its latest update. But even before Wednesday, Gaga’s song was inching up week by week, consistently building from its 561,000 streams the week ending Aug. 18. The track’s budding popularity made it a prime target, ready to explode with one well-synchronized dance routine.
Not only has “Mary” risen in total streams in the last two weeks, its international profile has widened. The song’s international streaming count has risen by 537% and 144% in the last two weeks, compared to its still-more-than-robust 412% and 140% bumps in the U.S. Of its global total, the domestic share quickly cut from 22% to 18%, while its international share spiked from 78% to 82%.
The song’s slightly-sharper rise outside the U.S. is perhaps due the broadly global popularity of Wednesday, No. 1 on Netflix in 89 countries. Despite not even appearing in the show, the series’ omnipresence on social media around the world has blown out Gaga’s success beyond her home base.
“Muck,” the track actually used for Wednesday’s dance performance, sees similar, if not more dramatic, gains. Its stream count doubled in the latest tracking period, after shooting by 3,786% last week. Over just three weeks, the once-obscure cult-classic has grown from 44,000 weekly global streams to 5.4 million.
“Mary” is just the fourth Lady Gaga title to hit both global charts. And while the rankings didn’t launch until September 2020 – a decade-plus removed from her pop-chart breakthrough – the song’s rarified space within her catalog is still significant since it was never even released as a single, sitting idly while six other tracks from Born This Way impacted the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100 in 2011.
Not only is it just her fourth entry, its No. 35 placement on Global Excl. U.S. immediately gives it a higher peak than “Shallow,” with Bradley Cooper, which topped out at No. 52, and this year’s “Hold My Hand,” which reached No. 43 in June. Only 2020’s “Rain on Me,” with Ariana Grande, has gone higher, spending the charts’ first three weeks in the top 30, then only a few months removed from its release.
Even more, “Mary” is surging in a competitive season. As they did in 2020 and ’21, holiday songs are beginning to clog the global charts. At No. 35, Gaga sits behind 11 of them on Global Excl. U.S., translating to a would-be rank of No. 24 in any other month. Further, 19 holiday titles block “Mary” on the Global 200, not to mention nine debuts from Metro Boomin.
Chart action for “Mary” spreads to Billboard’s Hits of the World charts, ranking in the top 20 on Poland Songs (No. 13), Slovakia Songs (No. 14), and Hungary Songs (No. 18) and hitting the top 10 (at No. 10) on Czech Republic Songs. And at No. 4 on the Hot 100’s Bubbling Under chart, it inches toward becoming Born This Way’s seventh Hot 100 hit, 11 years after its sixth.
With a record nine wins on the board, The Voice coach Blake Shelton is feeling pretty confident about making it an even 10. In fact, in a new promo video for the show’s upcoming season 23 shared by EW just hours before Shelton’s season 22 charge country singer Bryce Leatherwood took home the title on Tuesday night (Dec. 13), Shelton pretended that he didn’t even know who one of his new co-workers was.
“Do you think I’ve got a chance of beating you in your final season,” asks Niall Horan in the video teasing the season slated to kick off in March 2023. “No,” says Shelton confidently to a gobsmacked Horan. “Strong words from a big man,” says the former One Direction star while brushing some stage make-up onto Shelton’s cheeks in what seems like a new guy hazing ritual.
Next up is fellow newbie Chance the Rapper, who asks returning coach Kelly Clarkson to asses his odds on the singing competition. “Do you think I have a chance of beating you?” he asks the singer and daytime talk show host. “A chance?” Clarkson says with a stage laugh as she and the MC joyfully dance it out together.
“I think my biggest competition is probably Kelly,” Chance adds. “But I’mma still win, though.”
The 30-second sneak peek ends with Kelly asking Blake to share his thoughts about the new kids on the block, which Shelton answers with his typical tall guy confidence. “Who are they again?” he quips as Chance and Niall point to themselves in another frame. “Blake is now my dad… no offense to my dad,” Horan says while hugging his new TV pops. Clarkson posits the upcoming season as “the vets versus the newbies,” as Horan promises that no matter what they’re going to have a lot of fun next year.
The sole remaining original coach, Shelton announced in Oct. that the upcoming season will be his final spin in the show’s signature red captain chair. He’ll be flanked by Clarkson, who appeared on seasons 14-21, with her sibling trio, Girl Named Tom, taking home the trophy during season 21. And while Horan will be making his Voice debut, he, of course, began his career as a contestant on the UK’s The X Factor, where he was teamed up with the rest of the One Direction gang.
The upcoming season of The Voice will premiere on March 6 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
Click here to watch the promo.
This year brought an endless supply of memorable music in TV and film — both through original creations and already-existent works. Disney’s Encanto led the Billboard 200 for nine nonconsecutive weeks, fueled by its Billboard Hot 100-topping hit, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” while films including Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis also spawned top 10-charting hits. Synch placements yielded similar massive and pop culture-defining moments — with the two most notable coming from the same show. The fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things, broken up into two volumes, first led to the revitalization of both Kate Bush’s 1985 classic “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” and then Metallica’s 1986 single “Master of Puppets.” Following their appearances in the show, the former reached a No. 3 peak on the Hot 100 — a career-best for Bush — and the latter led to the group’s first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart in its illustrious history.
Behind the placements is music supervisor Nora Felder, who in addition to her work on Stranger Things has previously worked on series including FX’s What We Do in the Shadows and Showtime’s Ray Donovan, and will contribute to the second season of Yellowjackets (also on Showtime). And though she tells Billboard “it’s literally impossible to keep up with the surge of music that comes in on a daily basis,” she’s found a knack for picking the perfect musical accompaniments to a show’s most pivotal moments, time and again.
Below, Felder reflects on why she thinks the synchs in season four struck such a resonant chord with viewers, what goes into landing a successful placement and more.
Nora Felder, winner of the Outstanding Music Supervision award for “Stranger Things,” attends the 2022 Creative Arts Emmys at Microsoft Theater on September 04, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Amy Sussman/GI
The reaction to Stranger Things‘ season four soundtrack — specifically “Running Up That Hill” and “Master of Puppets” — was massive. Looking back, how did that feel for you?
I’m not sure I have fully processed it yet. When I run into friends or associates that I don’t see on a regular basis, it seems everyone is still blown away by it because, inevitably, it’s one of the first things they want to talk about.
In the first season of Stranger Things, we had used The Clash’s song, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” across several episodes. Similar to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” the multiple uses of both songs became, in part, a bridge for forging bonds between our key characters, while also helping save [them] from malevolent forces in precarious life-threatening moments. After season one aired, The Clash’s song experienced a bit of a resurgence, so we definitely anticipated and hoped for a similar reaction to Kate Bush’s song. However, after “Running Up That Hill” aired and the reaction to it unfolded in real time, we were staggered and humbled by this beyond-next-level response. To think that a song which was released 36 years ago could outrun some of the top artists of today really felt like a true lightning-in-a-bottle moment that was a privilege to be a part of.
With the subsequent airing of “Master of Puppets,” we were a little more prepared and anticipated that the needle would move in a big way. Metallica’s song was hugely connected to our beloved new character, Eddie. In my mind, to love Eddie was to love “Master of Puppets” as its lyrics really spoke to the core of Eddie’s being. But to now see that the metal community has a budding new audience makes me personally very happy. Metal music has been misunderstood as “angry music” for decades. I’m thrilled that people are really listening now and frankly getting into it on a deeper level.
Do you have a favorite memory from working on this season?
Off the cuff, three moments stand out in my mind. First, watching Rob Simonsen conduct The London City Orchestra in real time — adding an overlay to the original recording of “Running Up That Hill,” which fans got to hear in completion during the monumental Max moment in episode four — was simply breathtaking.
Second, sitting in a small Netflix theater stage with my Stranger Things team working on a weekend, and watching Eddie’s monumental scene with “Master of Puppets” for the first time. The few of us who were in the intimate setting of that room felt as if we each were at the greatest rock concert in the world — and had front row seats.
Third, I’ve had many people reaching out through my socials or website sending videos of festivals and concerts around the world with young and old [people] dancing and singing, or performing “Running Up That Hill” and “Master of Puppets.” One that particularly touched me was from a teacher of a 6th grade class in Florida. She sent a video of her students swaying together and singing “Running Up That Hill” and congratulating me on my Emmy win. That profoundly touched my heart. The power of a great song is endless and can be ageless.
Why did the synch placements in this season of Stranger Things resonate so strongly?
I suspect that Stranger Things‘ loyal fan base of all ages just might feel that a piece of themselves is represented in these characters, as well as the story that unfolded this season. In recent years, I believe that for many there had been an overall sense of uncertainty and fear — as if there have been invisible dangers and monsters, if you will — looming over us. With that in mind, it makes sense that the Stranger Things songs — which evocatively amplify the plights and unique internal landscapes and circumstances of our characters — would resonate around the world just as strongly as the characters and stories themselves.
Why was 2022 such a big year for music in TV and film to make an impact on the charts and in pop culture?
I have been inclined to think that following the impact of the worldwide pandemic, many people have become more accustomed to staying home more often than not. Getting lost in and binging on visual media, and listening to music has been at its heights. It could then make sense that through one’s favorite and relatable shows or movies (particularly those that are music driven), audiences would come to rely on such outlets as a source for the discovery of music.
What determines if a song will land a memorable synch placement?
When I’m reviewing songs against picture, my selections for my filmmakers emerge solely from my feeling, intuition and understanding. I know no other way to explain it. I usually test drive quite a few options, and I select the ones that my gut tells me could bring one closer to the character and to the emotions that I think my filmmakers are trying to get across in a scene or a character’s performance. A song must enhance a scene or its character, not the other way around. The more memorable a cinematic moment is, the more likely it is that a song that was used to enhance that moment will become iconically memorable as well.
What can synch placements in TV and film can add to a character’s arc or a scene that dialogue — or visual media — may not be able to otherwise?
Adding a music element behind a character or story can help elevate a message in a way that words can’t. Adding a musicality and lyrics to tip an emotion sparks one’s senses in a very unique way. That’s the power of music. That’s not to say that music, whether it be score or a needle drop, is needed for every scene or story. Some scenes are impactful on their own and adding a musical element would be distracting.
What kind of lasting impact will the success of synch placements in season four be?
We generally strive to look at where we came from in order to form a better understanding of where we are going. Through the power of the Stranger Things story, fans latched on to “Running Up That Hill” [and] “Master of Puppets” and others and allowed these songs — decades after their release — to become a source of validation and strength today. I hope the lasting impact of this historical moment in music will be that people will remain open to all genres of music, no matter if the a song came out last week or centuries ago.
A version of this story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
In January, the success story of Encanto and its hit single “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” kicked off a banner year for music from movies: Five songs written for films reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022 — the most since 2018, when four original songs from movies reached the upper echelon.
Encanto was a true phenomenon, becoming the first soundtrack with a corresponding song (“Bruno”) to simultaneously top the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 for at least four weeks in 29 years since The Bodyguard and Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You.” “Bruno” spent five weeks at No. 1, the most for any song from a Disney movie in the chart’s history. The animated film’s “Surface Pressure,” sung by Jessica Darrow, reached No. 8.
“Part of the reason you’re seeing music in film generally do better is because it’s used in a more integral way to the story,” says Disney Music Group president Ken Bunt. “If the song is used in a more meaningful way, it tends to do better. And I think that’s something that got lost for a while.”
Other 2022 feats include Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which debuted at No. 2 on the Hot 100, giving the superstar her first top 10 since 2017; OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” from Top Gun: Maverick, which hit No. 6, the band’s first top 10 since 2014; and Doja Cat’s “Vegas” from Elvis, which reached No. 10.
“When you can put a great song in a movie and then have radio make it a hit song, it not only makes the movie more popular, it elevates the artist singing the song,” says Jim Ryan, vp of programming for the Audacy radio chain.
In the case of “Bruno,” Ryan is first to admit he was skeptical. “I said, ‘This can’t be a radio song,’ ” he recalls. “But we had really good success with it. I think that came from young parents that are certainly in the demographic that we try to reach with our radio stations. Parents watch movies with their kids. I thought it was going to be a spike song for a couple of weeks, but we got a lot of mileage out of it.”
Not only did “Bruno” take off without a star name attached as the performer, it also persisted following a delayed start. After the song debuted on the Hot 100 at No. 50, Bunt credits the film hitting Disney+ last December, a month after its theatrical release, for the music’s sudden and sustained climb. “That’s when things really started to explode,” he says. “More people had access to it because not everybody was comfortable going into a theater.”
By the time Top Gun: Maverick opened in May, theaters were more crowded as COVID-19 numbers declined. And the soundtrack, released by Interscope, had the added benefit of star power. Lady Gaga co-wrote and performed the end-title power ballad “Hold My Hand,” and OneRepublic’s whistle-hook pop track “I Ain’t Worried” (which interpolates “Young Folks” by Peter, Bjorn and John) got a pivotal placement during a beach touch-football scene.
“Hold My Hand” reached No. 9 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary Songs chart. As for OneRepublic, Interscope was already promoting the band’s “West Coast” to radio when — given Top Gun: Maverick’s box-office success — it yanked that song for “I Ain’t Worried” to capitalize on the momentum.
And according to Interscope vice chairman Steve Berman, the film also had the benefit of building on the 1986 original blockbuster, whose “Take My Breath Away” by Berlin took home the Oscar for best original song. It’s why, he says, the label’s initial conversations with Paramount’s president of motion picture music Randy Spendlove centered on, “How do you be respectful to the importance of a film like Top Gun and how do you carry it forward? Because music was so instrumental in the original film.” (It’s also why, he says, Lady Gaga worked so closely with star Tom Cruise, composer Hans Zimmer and director Joseph Kosinski.)
“Theaters were clawing back, and Top Gun was this explosion that happened of people seeing a film together. That film was such a global force,” Berman continues. “When you combine that with social media platforms, the power of the culture of the film and the scene in which [“I Ain’t Worried”] was played, it felt like it was unstoppable.”
Placement in a pivotal scene and use of a familiar hook similarly helped propel Doja Cat’s “Vegas,” which includes a sample of rock classic “Hound Dog” sung by the song’s original performer, Big Mama Thornton. Helmed by Doja Cat’s longtime producer, Yeti Beats, “Vegas” was “an opportunity to hear Doja rap again, which she hadn’t done as much of the last couple of tracks,” says Karen Lamberton, executive vp of soundtracks and film/TV licensing for RCA, which released the soundtrack. “Fans were hungry for that.”
In addition to “Vegas” hitting the top 10 on six Billboard charts, six other songs from the movie appeared on various charts, including “The King and I” by Eminem featuring Cee Lo Green, which reached No. 12 on R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales.
Integral to the songs’ success was director Baz Luhrmann’s involvement in “absolutely every note of every track,” Lamberton says, which leads to an emotional connection that the listeners can sense. “There’s a joy and appreciation for bringing all kinds of art together in one place,” she continues. “When artists are inspired by other artists, you end up with great results.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Dec. 10, 2022 issue of Billboard.
