Two more big names have signed on to do some work for Beauty and the Beast. In this case, it’s John Legend and Ariana Grande who will sing the title song.
Beauty and the Beast may be the most anticipated Disney live-action remake so far, and it seems like Disney knows this. First, they cast Emma Watson — Hermione Granger and real-life book nerd — in the role of Belle. Then, they added in fresh songs from Alan Menken. Now, according to Entertainment Weekly, they’ve called upon some very big names in modern pop to sing the duet version of “Beauty and the Beast”: John Legend and Ariana Grande.
John Legend is basically a legend, since it’s right there in his name, and we fully expect that he’ll hold up his half of the song. Ariana Grande, meanwhile, strikes us as an interesting choice. There are, after all, rather a lot of words in this song, and we’ve noticed she doesn’t always enunciate in her own tracks. (That might not matter much, though. Beauty and the Beast fans probably know every single word or may just be humming it right now.)
EW reports that the duet will appear in the film itself. Presumably that just means putting it over the credits at some point after one of the new tracks called “Our Song Lives On”, since it would be very strange for Watson to suddenly start singing in Ariana Grande’s voice and Dan Stevens to sing like John Legend. Besides, the duet of choice in Beauty and the Beast is “Something There”, and not even the new songs sound like they’ll take the place of that piece.
EW also adds that the film’s soundtrack will go on sale Mar. 10, which means there will be time to listen and decided how the new versions hold up.
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Beauty and the Beast will dance into theaters on Mar. 17.