john legend played beast on beauty and the beast.
john legend played beast on beauty and the beast.
who plays beast on beauty and the beast?
john legend
the songwriters determined that the moment beast releases belle and fears that he might have lost her was the only suitable moment in which the character could sing in the film. menken also agreed that the moment beast realizes belle is no longer his prisoner would be a "more satisfying moment" for a musical number. originally entitled "for evermore", "evermore" was written by composer menken and lyricist rice. the last of the three original songs written for the remake, "evermore" was completed considerably late into production after the filmmakers finally agreed that the beast should perform his own. written in spring 2015 in london, england, menken quickly composed its melody before rice contributed lyrics revolving around the beast releasing belle. actor dan stevens, who portrays the beast and performs "evermore", had little singing experience prior to being cast in the film. before "evermore" was written, condon informed stevens that he would be singing a new song in his role as beast. having not sung professionally since childhood, stevens was required to retrain his singing voice, the process of which he found challenging. to prepare for the recording, stevens received extensive vocal coaching from vocal coach ann-marie speed in addition to working closely with menken. stevens first recorded a "guide track" for "evermore" before he and menken revisited the track to modify specific lines and notes. to make the actor sound more "beast-like", sound engineers digitally modified stevens' voice, which menken produced himself. auto-tune was used to make stevens' voice sound lower and heavier. menken continued making minor changes to the song well into production. on recording a new song, stevens said, "the pressure's sort of off — but it's also on — because it doesn't have to sound like it did before, but it should sound good enough to sit alongside the music that's already pretty great." stevens agreed that the song is "a big, romantic, soaring number" about the beast lamenting "i've fallen in love with her, and now she's buggered off, woe is me", while "if i can't love her" is "how am i going to fall in love with her?" replacing "if i can't love her" with "evermore" helped make the songwriters eligible for an academy award nomination for best original song.
evermore (beauty and the beast song)
"beauty and the beast: original motion picture soundtrack" continues to be best remembered for spawning the dion-bryson single, which established itself as an instant classic. the success of song is believed to have established dion as a bankable recording artist. before agreeing to record "beauty and the beast", dion had been fired from recording the theme song of "an american tail: fievel goes west" in favor of the more well-known linda ronstadt. although both singles were released around the same time, the success of dion's song ultimately eclipsed ronstadt's "dreams to dream". biography.com referred to "beauty and the beast" as dion's "real breakthrough into pop music stardom". according to lifetime, the song "cemented her international success," while "people" wrote that the release of "beauty and the beast" is when the singer truly went "global". in the wake of "beauty and the beast"'s success, young fans who had not yet learned dion's name would simply refer to her as "beauty and the beast". the commercial success of "beauty and the beast" ultimately earned dion a $10 million recording contract with sony music international; the song was then included on dion's successful self-titled studio album, serving as the record's "cornerstone". american musician prince was so moved by dion's performance on "beauty and the beast" after hearing it on the radio that he personally wrote a song for her to include on the album. according to filmtracks.com, "beauty and the beast" offered "a glimpse at a forthcoming mega-movie song presence for celine dion". evidently, the singer has since recorded the theme songs of several blockbuster films, including "when i fall in love" from "sleepless in seattle" (1993), "because you loved me" from "up close & personal" (1996) and finally her signature song "my heart will go on" from "titanic" (1997). "beauty and the beast" has since appeared on several of dion's greatest hits albums, while the singer has returned to disney as a special guest to host various segments for certain "beauty and the beast" re-releases.
beauty and the beast (disney song)