Ariana Grande, Fall Out Boy Go Disney: Inside 2015’s Most Fun Tribute LP
When France debuted a Disney compilation in 2013, filled with some of the country’s biggest singers reimagining a rich history of family-friendly songs, it became an immediate international success that charted across Europe. A year later, Australia followed suit, helping turn We Love Disney into a franchise, with artists like Kimbra and Dannii Minogue breathing fresh life into everyone’s childhood favorites.
After the French version went multi-platinum, Universal Records enlisted famed producer David Foster (Celine Dion, Whitney Houston) to organize a U.S. compilation. “It was one of those kind of things where you go, ‘Shit, I don’t know if I can actually ever pull that off [and] get all the great, hot, young artists,” he says. Soon, however, he saw that artists’ relationships with Disney from childhood — even carrying over into parenthood in some cases — pushed them toward an enthusiastic “yes.”
“I was having lunch with Gwen Stefani, and I just popped out [asking], ‘What’s your favorite Disney song?’ and she said, ‘That’s a strange question,'” Foster recalls. “But then she thought about it, and she gave me one. I realized that everybody — young, old, hip, not hip, whoever — they all have some attachment to Disney, and it’s always positive. In Gwen’s case, she said, ‘We used to sneak into [Disneyland] and watch bands. Then it was really cool to play there one day.’ It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was, in the end.”
The final product, to be released via Verve Music Group on October 30th, is a diverse collection culling contributions from both new and established artists across genres. From Jessie J belting out The Little Mermaid‘s “Part of Your World” to Fall Out Boy turning The Jungle Book‘s “I Wan’na Be Like You” into pop-punk gold, the collection showcases the timelessness of the Disney institution.
“I think there is a fearlessness to Disney in moving forward but maintaining the heart of what has made them great,” Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz tells Rolling Stone. His band’s Jungle Book track is available today following previews of tracks by Ne-Yo and Charles Perry. Beyond The Jungle Book‘s main character, Mowgli, providing baby-name inspiration for Wentz’s first child, the choice to record “I Wan’na Be Like You” came about organically. “I think we wanted to come up with a song that not only we all loved but would translate and make sense as a Fall Out Boy song,” Wentz offers. “I think we interpreted it more as a rock song, which was more of a challenge than expected, but I think how it turned out is pretty interesting.”
David Foster offered his input for many of the covers, often choosing the song he felt fit the artist’s style and vocal abilities, though he was trumped a few times by a singer’s own childhood connection to a different track. “With Ariana Grande, I had picked another song for her, and she wasn’t feeling it,” he recalls. “So then she came up with the Hercules song [“Zero to Hero”]. She knew it top to bottom. Without the lyrics, she could sing every single word. The decision was made on the spot. I wouldn’t want to fight that, go against the grain of her knowing the song so well and loving it so much.”