2024 soundtrack album by Wicked cast, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande
This article is about the soundtrack to the 2024 film. For the Broadway cast recording, see Wicked (musical album). For the score album of the 2024 film, see Wicked (score).
The soundtrack album comprises 11 songs from the film,with all songs from the first act of the original stage musical being included.[2][3]Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande,who play Elphaba and Glinda,respectively,each appear on seven songs.[4] The majority of the vocals were recorded live on set,rather than in a recording studio.[5]
It was produced by Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz,Greg Wells,and Stephen Oremus,and was mixed by Wells.[6][7] All songs were orchestrated by Jeff Atmajian.[8] Mike Knobloch,President of Music and Publishing at NBCUniversal,stated that Schwartz,Wells,Oremus,and the production team wanted the album to be "a standalone and complete aural experience" from the film itself.[9] He further stated:
The original cast recording is iconic, so priority number one was to not mess it up. It has also been a great opportunity to make a soundtrack for a beloved musical that will only be the second Wicked album in two decades. But while our primary mission was to make the film, we didn't want the soundtrack to simply be a 'copied and pasted' byproduct."[9]
Production
Work on the soundtrack began early in the film's pre-production process, as the musical numbers would largely drive production. The process began by developing the songs' instrumental tracks and recording demos in phases.[9] The film employed a large orchestra, in contrast to the smaller pit orchestras used in Broadway productions. Schwartz stated, "There's this huge, magical world that Jon Chu has created and the music needed to have the size to occupy that world. . . .Songs needed to be adjusted based on the action we're seeing on the screen. In some cases, things were expanded."[10]
Cast vocals were recorded throughout filming, which required the work of sound engineer Simon Hayes, who worked as a live sound mixer. Each actor was equipped with three microphones: one boom mic and two lavalier microphones. They were also fitted with in-ear monitors that would play the finished studio backing tracks or a live keyboard.[5][11] When certain filming restrictions did not allow the actors to sing the entire piece live, their live performances were intercut with their pre-recorded studio vocals. Schwartz stated, "The way their voices sounded in the recording studio needed to match how they sounded when they were on a soundstage, and that was tricky. We had a strong technical team and we were very aware going in that we were going to mix and match."[10]
Studio versions of the vocals were recorded as a back-up before they were recorded live. The soundtrack album uses the same vocals that are in the film, with some small exceptions, such as an Aaron Copland-esque part Schwartz wrote for "Defying Gravity" that is only on the album and not the film.[12] Some of the differences are due to the fact that Schwartz felt he had more artistic license with the soundtrack album.[12] In addition, the creative team decided against including pop covers of the songs, as was done with musical films like Frozen (Demi Lovato's "Let It Go") and The Greatest Showman (Kesha's "This Is Me"); Wells was also a producer on the soundtrack album for the latter.[12]
"Popular" was the first musical number shot for the film.[13] Schwartz, Wells, and Oremus proposed modifying its rhythm from the stage musical version and "hip-hop[ping] it up a little bit", but Grande insisted that the song stay true to the original.[14][15] Wells had previously produced "Popular Song" (2012) by Grande and Mika, which samples "Popular", and felt it could work as a proof of concept for a more hip hop version.[12] The song features an extended ending with additional key changes.[16][17]
In the song "One Short Day", Schwartz wrote a new section "to show more of the propaganda that the Wizard was disseminating and really understand better this magic book — the Grimmerie".[18] The new section was performed by Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who originated the roles of Elphaba and Glinda on Broadway, respectively.[19][20]
The "Defying Gravity" sequence was filmed about a year into production, having been delayed by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.[21] Erivo stated that she wanted the character's voice to grow throughout the song.[22] When recording rehearsal tracks of the song, Erivo first sang the ending battle cry "by the book" before Schwartz encouraged her to try different variations.[23] She stated, "I was always looking forward to that moment, just because everything builds to there. Your body and your brain and your mind – and your heart, really – are waiting to be able to release that one final note, because it's the ultimate moment where [Elphaba] can become herself."[24]
"Ozdust Duet", a new orchestral track, is included as a bonus track on digital versions of the album.[25][26] It combines elements from "Dancing Through Life" and "For Good", the latter of which is expected to be included in the second film.[27]
Release
The soundtrack album was released on November 22, 2024.[28][29] In addition to digital download and streaming, it was also released on CD, LP, and picture disc.[30][31] Exclusive variants of the CD and LP were released at Target and Barnes & Noble.[32][33] Upon its release, soundtrack album listening parties were held at music stores throughout the United States from November 22 to 24, 2024.[34]
Two weeks after the album's release, a version of the soundtrack was released that features radio edits of "Popular" and "Defying Gravity" as additional tracks.[1] A sing-along edition of the album was released on December 20, 2024.[35] It features the original album's 11 tracks without lead vocals, but keeps the ensemble's vocals and some of the dialogue parts intact.[36]
Singles
On November 21, 2024, Hits Daily Double reported that "Popular" and "Defying Gravity" were expected to be released as singles.[37] "Popular" made its radio debut in the United States on November 22, 2024, the same date as the film and soundtrack's release, as the album's mainstream radio single.[38][39] "Defying Gravity", the second single, was released to US contemporary hit radio stations on December 3.[40] In Italy, the two songs were released as radio singles "Popular" on December 13.[41] Both singles have become radio hits in the U.S., charting on the Adult Pop Airplay and Pop Airplay radio charts.[1]
Commercial performance
Wicked: The Soundtrack became the most-streamed musical soundtrack on Amazon Music within the first 24 hours of its release.[42] Within the first three days of its release, "Defying Gravity" had been streamed on Spotify 4.9 million times; "Popular" followed suit with 4.6 million streams.[43]
In the U.S., the album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with 139,000 album-equivalent units, and topped the Top Album Sales chart with 85,000 sales. It marks the highest debut for a soundtrack of a musical stage-to-film adaptation.[44][45] In addition, the album topped the Top Soundtracks and Vinyl Albums charts.[44] In the same week, seven of its songs charted on the Billboard Hot 100: "Defying Gravity" at number 44, "Popular" at number 53, "What Is This Feeling?" at number 68, "No One Mourns the Wicked" at number 86, "Dancing Through Life" at number 90, "The Wizard and I" at number 93, and "I'm Not That Girl" at number 94.[46] The album has spent its first six weeks in the top ten of the Billboard 200, earned a total of 506,000 album-equivalent units.[1]
On the British charts, the album debuted at number 1 on the compilations chart, album downloads chart, and soundtrack albums chart.[47] It was biggest debut week for a musical soundtrack in the 2020s, and earned the largest weekly vinyl sales for a musical soundtrack in the 21st century.[48] On the British singles chart, "Defying Gravity" debuted at number 7, "Popular" debuted at number 13, and "What Is This Feeling?" debuted at number 17.[47]
On the Australian charts, the soundtrack debuted at number 3 on the albums chart, while "Defying Gravity" debuted at number 42 on the singles chart.[49]
The soundtrack received praise from critics, with Variety's Chris Willman writing that "the album puts a further exclamation point on Schwartz's rare brilliance as both melodist and lyricist, a la [Stephen] Sondheim".[51] In addition to commending the vocal performances of Erivo and Grande, Billboard's Stephen Daw praised the updated "poppy" orchestration and vocals provided by Jonathan Bailey in "Dancing Through Life", noting that it is a particular improvement from its original Broadway cast recording counterpart.[26] The album was included in Billboard Philippines's list of the 50 best albums and EPs of 2024.[52]
Commentary by Schwartz is included as an additional track on the Apple Music edition of the album.[2]
Truncated versions of "Popular" and "Defying Gravity" that omit dialogue and serve as their radio edits, appear as additional tracks on certain digital editions of the album.[55][56]
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