Rumor Mill

GRANDE, LEGEND JOIN FORCES FOR "BEAUTY" OF A DUET

January 12, 2017

Ariana Grande and John Legend will provide a duet for Disney's forthcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast, singing the Ron Fair-produced title song (it will of course also grace the soundtrack).

Ariana Grande and John Legend will provide a duet for Disney's forthcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast, singing the Ron Fair-produced title song (it will of course also grace the soundtrack, due 3/10).

The ballad, written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, collected a Grammy, an Oscar, a Golden Globe and, for all we know, a knighthood from the Queen when it came out in 1991. Fair (who's worked on projects that have spawned multiple Grammy wins and nods) acknowledges that remaking the epochal song was "not small potatoes," but trusts in the power of its two stars and "a new school-old school fresh treatment that shows the soulfulness and power of what a great melody and lyric can inspire."

This Beauty is of course a live-action re-imagining of the animated smash; expect a Dave Meyers-directed music vid for the song. The ST album will feature Menken's score music and three new songs by Menken and Tim Rice. Rumors that Ken Bunt portrays the singing candelabra could not be confirmed at presstime.