Billy Porter has released a soul-stirring cover of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth," as performed by Buffalo Springfield, continuing the legacy of using his art as a means to raise consciousness.
Porter performed the song on GOOD MORNING AMERICA this morning, watch his performance below!
Of his rendition of the ubiquitous classic, Porter said: "I decided to record 'For What It's Worth' because I wanted to have my art and my music matter, make a difference. I come from the generation where the music reflected what was going on in the world. I wanted to have a hand in bringing that back and speaking truth directly to power."
The song comes with Porter's continual messaging about the importance of registering now and voting in November,
"Our voices and our votes matter now more than ever," said Porter. "I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, I just want you to vote. I, personally, will be casting my vote for Joe Biden."
Register to Vote! https://www.vote.org/register-to-vote/
For the song's video, Porter turned to emerging artist Kameron Neal to create a compelling and important piece of visual art.
"This lyric video is EVERYTHING!," said Porter. "Kameron Neal did an amazing job of capturing the right tone with the right imagery, usage of color, the interesting typography, and the reference to the classic Selma to Montgomery March photo. When I saw the final version, I cried."
"When I heard Billy's urgent take on the classic, I knew I wanted to drop him into a kinetic quilt of found images, his body revolving like the earth as he takes in what's happening around him-a jittery, tactile, stop motion collage reimagining the iconic VOTE photo from the Selma March," said Neal. I'm still completely floored by that image. It still holds so much weight. What are the images we, today, can collectively rally behind?"
Porter is an Emmy®, Tony® and Grammy® Award-winning actor, singer, director, composer and playwright with groundbreaking performances as Pray Tell in Pose on FX, for which he recently received and Emmy Award, as well as Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations, as well as Lola in Kinky Boots on Broadway for which he won a Tony Award for Lead Actor in a Musical. Porter has also recorded several albums and acted in many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including Miss Saigon, Grease, Angels in America, and The Merchant of Venice. Additional television and film credits include "American Horror Story: Apocalypse," "The Get Down," "The Humbling" and "The Broken Hearts Club," among others. Porter can be seen in the highly anticipated "Cinderella" re-make next year.
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