Tony and Grammy Award-Winner Billy Porter releases his new studio album, "Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers" via Bee & El /Sony Masterworks Broadway today - available on all digital platforms and streaming via digital subscription services. The new album features fan favorites "Edelweiss", "Carefully Taught", "My Funny Valentine" and "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning". Get "Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers" HERE, and listen to two tunes from the album below!
Already landing on the charts, the album is ranked #2 on the iTunes R&B chart and is ranked #40 overall. The album, which features new, soulful takes on classic Richard Rodgers songs, includes solos and duets from the following artists (in addition to Porter himself): Tony and Grammy Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tony Award-winner Patina Miller (Pippin), Grammy Award winners Pentatonix and India.Arie, Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along), Joshua Henry (Violet), and Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), alongside YouTube sensation and Kinky Boots star Todrick Hall and multiple Grammy Award nominees Deborah Cox and Ledisi.
In celebration of the release of the album, Porter is participating in an AOL Build series conversation with Laura Heywood where he will discuss the origins of the album, his inspiration in its creation, and what he is most excited about as it hits the stands. The AOL Build conversation will be available to the public by live streaming from the BUILD series app or online at www.aol.com/build beginning at 5pm ET.
On Monday, April 17th, Porter will host a special appearance at Barnes and Noble on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (150 E. 86th Street). He will do a special performance of a selection of songs from the album including the duet "Carefully Taught" ft. India.Arie, who will also be in attendance. Following the performance, there will be a CD signing.
"I like to think of this as the Richard Rodgers version of the Hamilton Mixtapes," Porter said. "These are classic songs that everybody knows and loves, and I'm so excited for people to hear them in a brand new way."
Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers marks Porter's fourth studio album, and his first as producer and content curator, with collaborators James Sampliner and Michael "Lofey" Sandlofer.
The complete track listing for Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers is as follows:
1. Oh, What a Beautiful Morning (Pentatonix & Billy Porter)
2. My Romance (Leslie Odom Jr.)
3. If I Loved You (Renée Elise Goldsberry & Christopher Jackson)
4. With a Song in My Heart (Brandon Victor Dixon & Joshua Henry)
5. I Have Dreamed (Patina Miller)
6. My Funny Valentine (Cynthia Erivo)
7. I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair (Todrick Hall & Billy Porter)
8. This Nearly was Mine (Deborah Cox)
9. Bewitched (Ledisi featuring Zaire Park)
10. Carefully Taught (India.Arie & Billy Porter)
11. Lady is a Tramp (Billy Porter featuring Zaire Park)
Billy Porter is a Tony and Grammy Award-winning singer, composer, actor, playwright and director from Pittsburgh, PA. As a recording artist, Porter's solo albums include his first CD, Untitled, on A&M records, At the Corner of Broadway + Soul - LIVE on Sh-K-Boom Records, and Billy's Back on Broadway, on Concord Records. He originated the role of 'Lola' in the Broadway hit Kinky Boots, which won him 2013 Tony, Grammy, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards. Other theatre: Shuffle Along, Miss Saigon, Five Guys..., Grease, Smokey Joe's..., Dreamgirls, Angels in America, The Merchant of Venice, Radiant Baby, Birdie Blue, Songs for a New World, Ghetto Superstar (one-man show), Topdog/Underdog, King Lear. His play, While I Yet Live, premiered in 2015 at Primary Stages. As a director, his credits include Topdog/Underdog and The Colored Museum (both for Huntington Theatre Company); Film/TV: "Law & Order: SVU," "So You Think You Can Dance" (as a guest judge), "The Broken Hearts Club," "Shake Rattle & Roll," "The Big C," The Humbling, starring Al Pacino, Baz Luhrmann's The Get Down. Porter's concerts credits include opening act for Rosie O'Donnell and Aretha Franklin, Carnegie Hall, John McDaniel and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, as well as The Buffalo Philharmonic, Peter Nero and The Philly Pops, soloist for President Bill Clinton and various benefits throughout the United States.
Sony Music Masterworks comprises the imprints Sony Classical, Masterworks, OKeh, Portrait, Flying Buddha and Masterworks Broadway. Our artists range from icons to newly developing talents in classical, crossover and adult music, plus new and legendary jazz artists, as well as a vast catalog of musical theatre recordings including classic Broadway shows and original cast albums of today's Broadway hits, most recently Kinky Boots, Once, If/Then and An American In Paris.
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