"Stand by Me" is a song originally performed in 1961 by American singer-songwriter Ben E. King and written by him, along with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who together used the pseudonym Elmo Glick. According to King, the title is derived from, and was inspired by, a spiritual written by Sam Cooke and J. W. Alexander called "Stand by Me Father," recorded by the Soul Stirrers with Johnnie Taylor singing lead.
John Roger Stephens, known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, record producer, and actor. He began his musical career working behind the scenes for other artists, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything," and performing as an uncredited backing vocalist on Jay-Z's "Encore" and Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name". He was the first artist to sign with Kanye West's GOOD Music, through which he released his debut studio album, Get Lifted (2004). The album reached the top ten of the Billboard 200, received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and spawned his first hit song, "Ordinary People."
"Flashdance... What a Feeling" is a song from the 1983 film Flashdance with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Keith Forsey and the song's performer, Irene Cara. Moroder had been asked to score the film, and Cara and Forsey wrote most of the lyrics after they were shown the last scene from it in which the main character dances at an audition for a group of judges. They felt that the dancer's ambition to succeed could act as a metaphor for achieving any dream a person has and wrote lyrics that described what it feels like when music inspires someone to dance. The song wound up being used for the scene they watched as well as during the opening credits as the main character is shown working as a welder.
"Glory of Love" is a 1986 song performed by Peter Cetera, which he wrote and composed with his then-wife Diane Nini and David Foster. The song was recorded by Cetera shortly after he left the band Chicago to pursue a solo career. Featured in the film The Karate Kid Part II (1986), it was Cetera's first hit single after he left the band, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and it was included on his album Solitude/Solitaire (1986), which Michael Omartian produced.
John Gregory Bettis is an American lyricist, best known for his long-term songwriting partnership with Richard Carpenter of The Carpenters. He wrote the lyrics for "Top of the World", a hit for both Lynn Anderson and The Carpenters. He wrote several more hits for The Carpenters, including "Only Yesterday", "Goodbye to Love" and "Yesterday Once More". He later wrote hits for other artists including Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Pointer Sisters, Conway Twitty, Diana Ross, Jennifer Warnes, Peabo Bryson, George Strait ("Heartland"), Juice Newton, Ronnie Milsap, Barbara Mandrell, 38 Special, New Kids on the Block, Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston
Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 1983 film Flashdance, which tells the story of Alex Owens, a welder and exotic dancer who dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. The nightclub performances by Alex and her co-workers and other set pieces involving training and auditioning provided opportunities to present the songs that would make up the soundtrack album. The film's music supervisor, Phil Ramone, made selections that he felt were the best fit for their respective scenes, and composer Giorgio Moroder contributed additional tracks in the process of scoring the film. One of his contributions, "Flashdance...What a Feeling" by Irene Cara, was released as a single in March 1983, weeks before the film's April 15 release, and eventually spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The soundtrack was released on April 11, 1983 by Casablanca Records.
Ledisi Anibade Young, better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.
"Niggas in Paris" is a song by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West from their collaborative album Watch the Throne (2011). The song is built around a synth bell loop from the Dirty South Bangaz music library, and contains vocal samples from "Baptizing Scene" by Reverend W.A. Donaldson, an interpolation of "Victory" by Puff Daddy featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes, and dialogue excerpts from the 2007 film Blades of Glory. On the week of the album's release, "Niggas in Paris" debuted at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually peaking at number five. Outside of the United States, "Niggas in Paris" peaked within the top ten of the charts in the United Kingdom. As of 2018, it has sold 6.7 million archetype digital units in the United States. The song won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
"Love Me like You Do" is a song recorded by English singer Ellie Goulding for the soundtrack to the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). The song was written by Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Tove Lo, Max Martin and Ali Payami; the latter two also produced it. Goulding was selected to provide vocals to the track. It was released on 7 January 2015 as the second single from the soundtrack. The song was also included on Goulding's third studio album, Delirium (2015).
"All of Me" is a song by American singer John Legend from his fourth studio album Love in the Future (2013). It is dedicated to Legend's wife Chrissy Teigen. "All of Me" first aired on American mainstream urban radio as the album's third single on August 12, 2013.
"Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film Frozen, whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song was performed in its original show-tune version in the film by American actress and singer Idina Menzel in her vocal role as Queen Elsa. It was later released as a single, being promoted to adult contemporary radio by Walt Disney Records in January 2014. Anderson-Lopez and Lopez also composed a simplified pop version which was performed by actress and singer Demi Lovato over the start of the film's closing credits. Disney's music division planned to release Lovato's version of the song before Menzel's, as they did not consider Menzel's version a traditional pop song. A music video was released separately for Lovato's version.
"Lay Me Down" is a song by English singer Sam Smith, released on 15 February 2013 as the lead single from their debut studio album In the Lonely Hour (2014). It originally peaked at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart and at number 25 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart in 2014. The song was written by Smith, Jimmy Napes and Elviin and produced by Napes and Steve Fitzmaurice.
"Everything Is Awesome" is a song by Canadian indie pop duo Tegan and Sara featuring American comedy trio the Lonely Island. The theme song to the 2014 Warner Bros. Pictures film The Lego Movie, it was written by Shawn Patterson, Joshua Bartholomew, Lisa Harriton, and the Lonely Island. The single and pop version featured in the end credits of the movie were produced by Mark Mothersbaugh.
Selma is a 2014 American historical drama film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Paul Webb. It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches which were initiated and directed by James Bevel and led by Martin Luther King Jr., Hosea Williams, and John Lewis. The film stars actors David Oyelowo as King, Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Tim Roth as George Wallace, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, and Common as Bevel.
"Lost Stars" is an original song performed by Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine for the romantic comedy-drama film Begin Again. It was released on June 23, 2014, through ALXNDR, 222 Records, Polydor, and Interscope in the United States.
Paul Goodwin Garnes is an American film and television producer. He is best known for his work on the 2014 film Selma, which was nominated for the 2015 Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Original Song and won a 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
"City of Stars" is a song performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in the film La La Land (2016). The music of the song was composed by Justin Hurwitz while the lyrics were provided by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. The song won numerous awards, including the award for Best Original Song at both the 74th Golden Globe Awards and 89th Academy Awards.
"This Is Me" is a song performed by Keala Settle for the film The Greatest Showman. It was released on October 26, 2017, by Atlantic Records as a promotional single from The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and the official lead single on December 8, 2017. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song at the 75th Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 90th Academy Awards. It was later nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.
Selma: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album accompanying the 2014 historical drama film of the same name directed by Ava DuVernay. The film is scored by jazz pianist Jason Moran, in his feature film scoring debut. Moran had agreed to be a part of the project, as jazz and activism being integral to each other, which brought the origins of black music in America. He composed an orchestral music which had a subtle and minimalistic approach throughout the film, except for few sequences, which needed a grandeur music.
