howard ashman wrote music for beauty and the beast.
howard ashman wrote music for beauty and the beast.
who wrote music for beauty and the beast?
howard ashman
"beauty and the beast" was written by lyricist howard ashman and composer alan menken in 1990. intending for the song to be "the height of simplicity", the songwriters drew much of its influence from broadway music. due to ashman's failing health, some of "beauty and the beast"'s pre-production was relocated to a hotel in fishkill, new york near ashman's residence to accommodate the ailing lyricist. out of all the songs he has written for "beauty and the beast", menken devoted the most time to the title song. the track was first recorded by british-american actress angela lansbury, who voices the character mrs. potts, an enchanted teapot. the songwriters first introduced "beauty and the beast" to lansbury as a demo recording, which was accompanied by a note asking her if she might possibly be interested in singing it. although a seasoned film and stage performer who had previously done her own singing for disney in the musical film "bedknobs and broomsticks" (1971), lansbury, who was more accustomed to performing uptempo songs, was hesitant to record the ballad because of its unfamiliar rock style. although she liked the song, lansbury also worried that her aging singing voice was no longer strong enough to record "beauty and the beast", and was especially concerned about having to sustain its longer notes. lansbury suggested that the songwriters ask someone else to sing "beauty and the beast", but they insisted that she simply "sing the song the way [she] envisioned it".
beauty and the beast (disney 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)