THE LEGENDARY STEVIE WONDER DELIVERS “FAITH”, FEATURING ARIANA GRANDE
For immediate release:
THE LEGENDARY STEVIE WONDER DELIVERS “FAITH”, FEATURING ARIANA GRANDE
SING OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK OUT DECEMBER 9 AND AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOVEMBER 18, FILM IN THEATRES DECEMBER 21
04 NOVEMBER 2016 (Toronto, ON) – Stevie Wonder unveils the much-anticipated duet “Faith” [feat. Ariana Grande] at all digital retailers today via Republic Records / Universal Music Canada, the country’s leading music company. Get the new song from Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ event film SING here. Also announced today, the official motion picture soundtrack for SING will be available for pre-order November 18 to arrive at all digital and physical retailers on December 9. SING arrives in theatres everywhere December 21. “Faith” unites Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning Stevie Wonder and multi-platinum Grammy Award nominee Ariana Grande. Produced by powerhouses and multi-Grammy Award-winning songwriter/producers Ryan Tedder [Adele, Beyoncé, U2] and Benny Blanco [Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry], “Faith” marks the first song that Stevie Wonder has contributed to a film in more than 25 years. Stevie Wonder remains one of the most legendary and influential artists in history. In addition to selling more than 100 million albums worldwide, he has garnered a total of 25 Grammy Awards – the most-ever awarded to a male solo artist in history. Among countless accolades, he is an Academy Award winner and landed at No. 6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 All-Time Artists. A paragon of goodwill, charity and activism, he was even named a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations. ABOUT SING Illumination has captivated audiences all over the world with the beloved hits Despicable Me, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, Despicable Me 2 and Minions, now the second-highest-grossing animated movie in history. Following the release of this summer’s comedy blockbuster The Secret Life of Pets, Illumination presents SING this holiday season. With its highly-relatable characters, heart and humour, the first collaboration between writer/director Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri marks the sixth fully-animated feature from the studio. The event film stars Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, alongside Seth MacFarlane, Scarlett Johansson, John C. Reilly, Taron Egerton and Grammy Award-nominated Tori Kelly. Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, SING stars Buster Moon (McConaughey), a dapper koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal—some might even say delusional—optimist who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now faced with the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. Five lead contestants emerge: Mike (MacFarlane), a mouse who croons as smoothly as he cons; Meena (Kelly), a timid teenage elephant with an enormous case of stage fright; Rosita (Witherspoon), an overtaxed mother run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets; Johnny (Egerton), a young gangster gorilla looking to break free of his family’s felonies; and Ash (Johansson), a punk-rock porcupine struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life. And as Buster coaches each of his contestants closer and closer to the grand finale, he starts to learn that maybe the theater isn’t the only thing that is in need of saving. Featuring more than 65 hit songs, SING is produced by Meledandri and his longtime collaborator Janet Healy. Together, they have produced all of Illumination’s films since the studio’s inception.Released by Universal Pictures, SING arrives in theaters on December 21, 2016. For more information, visit: singmovie.com. ABOUT ARIANA GRANDE Within less than a year, Ariana Grande captured #1 on the Billboard 200 twice – first with her debut Yours Truly and also with its 2014 follow-up My Everything. Yours Truly yielded the game-changing pop smash "The Way" featuring Mac Miller, which landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and seized #1 on the iTunes Overall Top Songs chart in the U.S. Meanwhile, the platinum-selling My Everything garnered a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Pop Vocal Album” and spawned the six times-platinum hit "Problem." Upon the single's release, Ariana became "the youngest woman to debut with over 400K sold first-week" in the U.S. while the song ranked as the 4th “highest digital song debut for a female artist” and 8th highest ever. Moreover, it debuted at #1 in 85 countries, topping the iTunes Overall Top Songs and Pop Songs charts for four weeks. During release week, My Everything was #1 on Spotify as Ariana personally rose to #1 on Billboard's Artist 100 chart. She also became the first woman in history and the first artist since Michael Jackson to simultaneously have three songs – "Problem," "Break Free" featuring Zedd, and "Bang Bang" with Nicki Minaj and Jessie J – in the Top 6 of the Digital Songs Chart. “Bang Bang” went platinum and was Grammy-nominated for “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.” By the end of the year, she landed four songs in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the most of any artist in 2014. Ariana has enjoyed a total of eight Hot 100 Top 10 smashes. 2016 sees Ariana release her platinum-selling third full length album, Dangerous Woman, driven by the title track which captured #1 on both iTunes Overall Top Songs Chart and Top Pop Songs Chart minutes after release. “Dangerous Woman” also debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 earning her the distinction of becoming the first artist to debut on the chart with the lead single from her first three albums. Her current single, “Side to Side”, featuring Nicki Minaj, recently became Grande’s eighth top 10 hit on the Hot 100.-30-