john

Ariana Grande, John Legend to perform title track for 'Beauty and the Beast'

By Sarah Walker

January 13, 2017

There's even more reason to be excited about the upcoming revival of Beauty and the Beast. It looks like Ariana Grande and John Legend will perform a duet of the film's title track.

Back in 1991, it was Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson who had the honour of performing the piece. Angela Lansbury also sang a version for the movie itself.

The song is one of the more iconic ones to be featured in an animated film. It went on to win the 1992 Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Original Song and won several Grammys. It even made it into the Billboard Top 10 (in Canada, it topped the Adult Contemporary charts).

 Ariana will perform the song made famous by Celine Dion

The updated version is set to be produced by Ron Fair who spoke openly about the pressure he feels about making the 2017 song as impressive as the early '90s version.

“Stepping into the shoes of an Oscar- and Grammy Award-winning classic is not small potatoes. But with today’s two greatest singers – John Legend and Ariana Grande – we are bringing the song back with a new school/old school fresh treatment that shows the soulfulness and power of what a great melody and lyric can inspire,” he told Deadline.

According to the publication, Ariana and John will also take part in a music video for the song. The new adaptation of the hit Disney film stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. The duo are joined by the likes of Kevin Kline, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and Ian McKellen. Several clips from the film and soundtrack have given excited fans a sneak peek at what they can expect when it hits theatres this spring.

According to Emma, the new film is true to the original classic save for one minor change: Belle is an inventor. "In the animated movie, it’s her father who is the inventor, and we actually co-opted that for Belle," the star told Entertainment Weekly. "I was like, ‘Well, there was never very much information or detail at the beginning of the story as to why Belle didn’t fit in, other than she liked books. Also what is she doing with her time?’ So, we created a backstory for her, which was that she had invented a kind of washing machine, so that, instead of doing laundry, she could sit and use that time to read instead. So, yeah, we made Belle an inventor."

Emma will play Belle is the upcoming live-action film

The live-action Beauty and the Beast will hit theatres on March 17, 2017. The soundtrack will be released on March 10.

Sign up to Off Camera for all the gossip and goings-on from the wonderful world of TV and film

Email Address

By entering your details, you are agreeing to HELLO! Magazine User Data Protection Policy. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please click here.

More TV and Film

See more