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Alicia Keys Re-Recorded A Hit For Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte Soundtrack
Other instrumental covers take on Beyoncé, SZA, & Whitney Houston songs.
In the series’ signature style, classical meets contemporary in the Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story soundtrack. Throughout the Netflix prequel, which centers on the titular ruler’s early rise to prominence, viewers are treated to six instrumental covers of modern pop songs from Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, SZA, and Whitney Houston. In fact, Keys even re-recorded 2003’s “If I Ain’t Got You” with a 70-piece orchestra comprised solely of women of color (aka Queen Charlotte’s Global Orchestra) for the show.
The 15-time Grammy winner explained to Rolling Stone UK that she’d gotten the idea after speaking to India Amarteifio, who plays young Charlotte, about filming the King’s ball scene. After doing 30 takes with a traditional classic song being played, “the director announced he wanted to change it up with a modern song and he played “If I Ain’t Got You,” Keys shared. “India said that the song touched her in such a deep way as it reflected what was happening in the story. It meant that the director just ended up using that take, even though they did 30 others, and I think that was the beginning of the seed that got planted.”
Having never performed the song with an orchestra before, she also wanted it to be “really meaningful and purposeful” in giving women a “platform, mentorship, and a seat at the table.” Putting together the orchestra of women of color to play their instruments was a “beautiful extension of that and an opportunity to really just uplift all the incredible musicians,” Keys added.
Keys continued, “I really wanted to bring a beautiful diversity to the perspective of this idea of royalty, which is already happening naturally in the show. But it’s really intentionally introducing a new idea of how we express ourselves and how we are part of those eras as well.”
In tandem with the Shonda Rhimes-produced show’s May 4 premiere date, Sony Music Entertainment also dropped not one, but two soundtrack albums of music from Queen Charlotte. Along with an album of score music by composer Kris Bowers, a second Covers from the Netflix Series version includes Keys’ reimagining of “I Ain’t Got You,” along with three Beyoncé tracks and one each from SZA and Whitney Houston. Bowers’ first original song for the Bridgerton universe that he wrote with Tayla Parx appears on the 8-track album, which also credits Brian Chan, Caleb Chan, Vitamin String Quartet, and Audiostation.
The Bridgerton covers tracklist is as follows:
- “A Feeling I’ve Never Been” by Kris Bowers
- “Halo” (Beyoncé cover)
- “If I Ain’t Got You” (Alicia Keys Cover)
- “Deja Vu” (Beyoncé Cover)
- “Run the World” (Beyoncé Cover)
- “Nobody Gets Me” (SZA Cover)
- “I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston Cover)”
- “If I Ain’t Got You” (Orchestral Version) by Alicia Keys featuring Queen Charlotte’s Global Orchestra
Both albums are now available to stream or purchase, and a vinyl version of the soundtrack is slated to be released later this year.
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