Aloe Blacc Signs New Partnership with BMG, Releases New Song “I Do”

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Aloe Blaccis saying “I Do”to BMG…

The 41-year-old Panamanian American has signed a new global recordings partnership with BMG.

Blacc, whose distinctive vocals can be heard on the late Avicii‘s soaring hit “Wake Me Up,” paired the announcement with the release of a Valentine’s Daysingle, “I Do.”

Inspired by his decade-long marriage to Australian recording artist Maya Jupiter, “I Do” is the first single from Blacc’s upcoming fourth album, to be released later this year via BMG.

“Aloe is an exceptional artist and creative, who’s got the talent to carry people away with his voice and diverse musical style,” said Dominique Casimir, EVP Continental Europe Repertoire and Marketing, BMG. “We are immensely proud to release his new album and are honored that he has placed his trust in BMG.”

The power ballad “I Do” sees the singer open up for the first time musically about his private life. “I wanted to create a song for Maya that was personal and universal,” Aloe said. “Luck brought us together, despite living halfway across the world with a vast ocean between us. ‘I Do’ is the perfect representation of the profound love we share.”

To mark their anniversary, Blacc surprised his wife with a renewal of their vows ceremony, which will be seen in behind-the-scenes cuts for his music video.

Blacc released his debut solo album Shine Through in 2006 and follow-up Good Things in 2010. Boosted by the global chart success of breakthrough hit “I Need a Dollar” – the theme song to HBO‘s How To Make It In America – Good Thingsreached gold sales status in several global markets. His third album, Lift Your Spirit, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200albums chart, earning a Grammy Award nomination for best R&B album.

Aside from his solo projects, Blacc is widely known for his collaborations with the late Avicii (born Tim Bergling), co-writing and performing vocals on 2013’s “Wake Me Up” and on 2019’s “SOS,” the first single following Bergling’s passing.

Blacc to Perform During Game 7 of the NBA Finals

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a star-spangled Sunday for Aloe Blacc…

The 37-year-old Panamanian American singer-songwriter will provide the night’s entertainment with a special rendition of the National Anthem before tonight’s winner-takes-all game between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

In addition to performing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the Grammy-nominee will also

offer the crowd at Oakland’s Oracle Arena a special halftime performance.

Blacc helmed the vocals for Avicii‘s 2013 hit “Wake Me Up” and unleashed his third album Lift Your Spirit in 2013.

Don’t miss Blacc and Game 7 tonight when the game airs live tonight at 8:00 pm ET on ABC.

Corea Among the Top Latino 2015 Grammy Award Nominees

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

There’s no denying Chick Corea is a Grammy darling…

The 73-year-old part-Spanish jazz and fusion musician picked up two nods for the 2015 Grammy Awards, upping his total career nominations to a whopping 63.

Corea, a 20-time winner, is nominated in the Improvised Jazz Solo category for “Fingerprints.” He’s also up for Jazz Instrumental Album for the Chick Corea Trio  critically acclaimed Trilogy.

But Corea isn’t the only double-nominee this year…

David Arthur Garcia will actually compete against himself at next year’s Grammy Awards.

The award-winning Latino songwriter-producer, who won his first Grammy this year as a songwriter for co-writing Mandisa’s massive hit “Overcomer,” has picked up two nominations in the Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song category.

Garcia has earned recognition for co-penning Francesca Battistelli’s “Write Your Story” and Mercy Me’s “Shake.”

Roman Pichon Herrera has picked up two nominations in the same category as well.

The Latino music video producer is nominated in the Music Video category for co-producing Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” and Woodkid’s “The Golden Age” featuring Max Richter.

Meanwhile, Kirstie Maldonado has earned the first Grammy nomination of her career.

The half-Mexican American/part-Spanish artist and her fellow Pentatonix group mates – winners of NBC’s The Sing-Off in 2011 – earned the nod in the Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
category for their acclaimed  ”Daft Punk” medley. Among their competition, Pentatonix will face off against Cuban composer and jazz pianist Alfredo Rodríguez’s “Guantanamera.”

But Maldonado isn’t the only first-time nominee…

Aloe Blacc has picked up the very first Grammy nod of his career in the R&B Album category. The

The 35-year-old Panamanian American singer-songwriter earned the nomination for his impressive album Lift Your Spirit.

Other notable Latino musicians/entertainers earning 2015 Grammy nominations include Christina Aguilera, Ruben Blades, Juanes , Marco Antonio Solís, Jorge Drexler , Ana Tijoux , Pepe Aguilar , Vicente Fernández , Ixya Herrera  , Carlos Vives, Sérgio Mendes  and Louis C.K. 

The Grammys are awarded by the Recording Academy, which is made up of 22,000 members of the music industry including musicians, producers, engineers, record company and radio industry personnel and others.

The awards are determined by the academy’s voting membership of about 13,000.

Winners will be announced on February 8 at the 2015 Grammy Awards ceremony to be held at the Staples Center and broadcast live on CBS.

Here’s a complete look at the categories with Latino nominees:

Pop Duo/Group Performance
“Fancy,” Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
“A Sky Full Of Stars,” Coldplay
“Say Something,” A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera
“Bang Bang,” Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
“Dark Horse,” Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J

R&B Album
“Islander,” Bernhoft
“Lift Your Spirit,” Aloe Blacc
“Love, Marriage & Divorce,” Toni Braxton & Babyface
“Black Radio 2,” Robert Glasper Experiment
“Give The People What They Want,” Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

Improvised Jazz Solo
“The Eye Of The Hurricane,” Kenny Barron
“Fingerprints,” Chick Corea 
“You & The Night & The Music,” Fred Hersch
“Recorda Me,” Joe Lovano
“Sleeping Giant,” Brad Mehldau

Jazz Instrumental Album
“Landmarks,” Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band
“Trilogy,” Chick Corea Trio
“Floating,” Fred Hersch Trio
“Enjoy The View,” Bobby Hutcherson, David Sanborn, Joey DeFrancesco Featuring Billy Hart
“All Rise: A Joyful Elegy For Fats Waller,” Jason Moran

Latin Jazz Album
“The Latin Side Of Joe Henderson,” Conrad Herwig Featuring Joe Lovano
“The Pedrito Martinez Group,” The Pedrito Martinez Group
“The Offense Of The Drum,” Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
“Second Half,” Emilio Solla Y La Inestable De Brooklyn
“New Throned King,” Yosvany Terry

Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song

“Write Your Story,” Francesca Battistelli; Francesca Battistelli, David Arthur Garcia & Ben Glover
“Come As You Are,” Crowder
“Messengers,” Lecrae Featuring For King & Country; Torrance Esmond, Ran Jackson, Ricky Jackson, Kenneth Chris Mackey, Lecrae Moore, Joseph Prielozny, Joel Smallbone & Luke Smallbone
“Shake,” MercyMe; Nathan Cochran, David Arthur Garcia, Ben Glover, Barry Graul, Bart Millard, Soli Olds, Mike Scheuchzer & Robby Shaffer
“Multiplied,” Needtobreathe; Bear Rinehart & Bo Rinehart

Latin Pop Album
“Tangos,” Rubén Blades
“Elypse,” Camila 
“Raíz,” Lila Downs, Niña Pastori And Soledad
“Loco De Amor,” Juanes 
“Gracias Por Estar Aquí,” Marco Antonio Solís

Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
“Multiviral,” Calle 13 
“Behind The Machine (Detrás De La Máquina),” Chocquibtown
“Bailar En La Cueva,” Jorge Drexler
“Agua Maldita,” Molotov 
“Vengo,” Ana Tijoux

Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
“Lastima Que Sean Ajenas,” Pepe Aguilar
“Mano A Mano – Tangos A La Manera De Vicente Fernández,” Vicente Fernández
“Voz Y Guitarra,” Ixya Herrera
“15 Aniversario,” Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea
“Alegría Del Mariachi,” Mariachi Los Arrieros Del Valle

Tropical Latin Album
“50 Aniversario,” El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico
“First Class To Havana,” Aymee Nuviola
“Live,” Palo! 
“El Asunto,” Totó La Momposina 
“Más + Corazón Profundo,” Carlos Vives

World Music Album
“Toumani & Sidiki,” Toumani Diabaté & Sidiki Diabaté
“Eve,” Angelique Kidjo
“Our World In Song,” Wu Man, Luis Conte & Daniel Ho
“Magic,” Sérgio Mendes 
“Traces Of You,” Anoushka Shankar

Comedy Album
“Mandatory Fun,” “Weird Al” Yankovic
“Obsessed,” Jim Gaffigan
“Oh My God,” Louis C.K. 
“Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time,” Patton Oswalt
“We Are Miracles,” Sarah Silverman

Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
“Beautiful Dreamer,” Pete McGuinness (The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra)
“Daft Punk,” Ben Bram, Mitch Grassi, Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Kirstie Maldonado & Kevin Olusola (Pentatonix)
“Get Smart,” Gordon Goodwin (Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band)
“Guantanamera,” Alfredo Rodríguez (Alfredo Rodríguez)
“Moon River,” Chris Walden (Amy Dickson)

Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
“All My Tomorrows,” Jeremy Fox (Jeremy Fox Featuring Kate McGarry)
“Goodnight America,” Vince Mendoza (Mary Chapin Carpenter)
“New York Tendaberry,” Billy Childs (Billy Childs Featuring Renée Fleming & Yo-Yo Ma)
“Party Rockers,” Gordon Goodwin (Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band)
“What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?” Pete McGuinness (The Pete McGuinness Jazz Orchestra)

Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
“All Of Me (Tiesto’s Birthday Treatment Remix),” Tijs Michiel Verwest (John Legend)
“Falling Out (Ming Remix),” MING (Crossfingers Featuring Danny Losito)
“Pompeii (Audien Remix),” Audien (Bastille)
“The Rising (Eddie Amador Remix),” Eddie Amador (Five Knives)
“Smile (Kaskade Edit),” Ryan Raddon (Galantis)
“Waves (Robin Schulz Remix),” Robin Schulz (Mr. Probz)

Music Video
“We Exist,” Arcade Fire; David Wilson, video director; Jason Baum, video producer
“Turn Down For What,” DJ Snake & Lil Jon; Daniels, video directors; Judy Craig, Candice Ouaknine, Jonathan Wang & Bryan Younce, video producers
“Chandelier,” Sia; Daniel Askill & Sia, video directors; Jennifer Heath, video producer
“Happy,” Pharrell Williams; We Are From LA, video director; Kathleen Heffernan, Roman Pichon Herrera, Jett Steiger & Cedric Troadec, video producers
“The Golden Age,” Woodkid Featuring Max Richter; Chis Clayton & Yoann Lemoine, video directors; Roman Pichon Herrera, Christine Miller, Susan Porche & Annabel Rosier, video producers

Music Film
“Beyoncé & Jay Z: On The Run Tour,” Beyoncé & Jay Z; Jonas Åkerlund, video director; Svana Gisla, video producer
“Ghost Stories,” Coldplay; Paul Dugdale, video director; Jim Parsons, video producer
“20 Feet From Stardom,” Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer & Judith Hill; Morgan Neville, video director; Gil Friesen & Caitrin Rogers, video producers [Tata Vega]
“Metallica Through The Never,” Metallica (Robert Trujillo); Nimród Antal, video director; Adam Ellison & Charlotte Huggins, video producers
“The Truth About Love Tour: Live From Melbourne,” Pink; Larn Poland, video director; Roger Davies, video producer

Blacc to Perform at This Year’s MLB Home Run Derby

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Aloe Blacc has scored a game-winning gig…

The 35-year-old Panamanian-American singer, who recently announced plans to release an enhanced version of his latest album Lift Your Spirit, will perform during baseball’s big weekend.

Blacc will take the stage during Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby on July 14. The event will air on ESPN.

No word yet on what song or songs Blacc will perform during the festivities.

Meanwhile, Tony-winning performerIdina Menzel will sing the national anthem at the MLB All-Star Game on July 15 in Minneapolis. She’ll also perform during the pre-game ceremony, including a cover of Bob Dylan‘s “Forever Young.”

The game at Target Field will air on Fox, where country singer Joe Nichols will sing “God Bless America.”

MLB All-Star week will also include a Saturday concert by Grammy-winning rockers Imagine Dragons at the TCF Bank Stadium. A day later, Panic! At the Disco will perform at the All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game at Target Field.

Blacc to Release Repackaged and Enhanced Edition of “Lift Your Spirit”

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It appears Aloe Blacc is ready to lift your spirits even further…

The 35-year-old Panamanian-American singer, riding high this year on the success of his third album Lift Your Spirit and the singles “The Man” and “Wake Me Up,” tells Billboard that he and his record label, Interscope, “are going to repackage the album” this summer for a uniform collection comprised of all the songs he released globally during the campaign.

“I recorded about 40 songs, and you can only release 10 or 12 of them at a time,” Blacc explains. “The European version of the album had a different set of songs than the (American) version, a couple of songs that were different, so we’re going to get them all together and release all of the songs from across the world so that everybody gets every song and no territory is complaining about not having any particular song.”

Blacc adds that, “It was never my intention to release so many songs. I wanted to just have 10, but we had way more material than we expected that we considered worthy. But I think that’s OK. I think it’s OK to give people more than they expected.”

Blacc hopes to have the set ready “by the end of the summer or, probably, the beginning of the fall.”

Meanwhile, he says he’d like to release a follow-up to Lift Your Spirit “hopefully early next year” but acknowledges “maybe that’s too soon. It depends on what the label says. I’m definitely ready to release more music, because I’ve just got so much stuff recorded and so many other songs that I’m eager to record.”

Blacc has had no trouble staying busy outside of the study, with heavy touring — including dates opening for Bruno Mars — and a spot as a guest coach on Adam Levine‘s team during the latest season of The Voice.

He’s also featured on the track “The World is Ours” from the One Love, One Rhythm FIFA World Cup album, and he’s getting ready for his film debut in Get On Up, the James Brown biopic in which he plays Famous Flames guitarist Nafloyd Scott.

“That was a different challenge, it really was,” Blacc says. “Acting is something that requires a lot of patience, a lot of skill, a lot of internal reflection. It’s a whole new muscle I’m going to continue to develop, either writing screenplays and my own scripts or finding the best roles out there to challenge this new skill.” A dearth of information about his character, meanwhile, actually proved to be a blessing for Blacc.

“I had to learn it all,” he explains. “there isn’t much information about that time in (Brown’s) career available, no photos I could find of Nafloyd Scott on Wikipedia or anything. He wasn’t really part of the meteoric rise of James Brown — he quit the band because of personality conflicts, before it really took off. So it was all about having to learn from the script and some of the archival footage that was available. But it did make it a little bit easier to create my own character, which was nice for the first time doing this.”

Blacc Lends His Voice to Coca-Cola’s World Cup Anthem “The World is Ours”

Posted on April 16, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

The world is Aloe Blacc’s… At least when it comes to the upcoming 2014 World Cup.

The 35-year-old Panamanian American singer-songwriter is adding a little soul to a new version of Coca-Cola’s World Cup anthem, a mash-up between the Coke campaign theme “The World is Ours” featuring David Correy and an original song by Blacc.

Following his second appearance at Coachella this Friday (April 18), Blacc will join Correy in a performance of the song at L.A. Live on Saturday when the FIFA World Cup trophy tour makes its final stop in Los Angeles.

“A World Cup song in any capacity is a fantastic opportunity to share music with the entire world,” Blacc tells Billboard. “It’s a blessing for me, especially because it’s the kind of music I want to make, uplifting and inspirational. It just fit right, it made sense to get involved.”

Blacc, who appears on Avicii‘s “Wake Me Up” and has earned a current Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 single “The Man,” brings his vocal muscle, melody and some new lyrics to Coke’s Brazilian-rooted, club-friendly soccer song.

More than twenty versions of the anthem have already been recorded by Correy, Brazilian percussionists Monoblanco and a team of international artists.

“The World is Ours by David Correy X Aloe Blacc,” available on Spotify and iTunes as a single, will be included on the official World Cup album, On Rhythm, One Love, due out May 12.

“The way I wanted to do it was to write my own song,” Blacc says of his contribution to the Coke anthem. “Something that felt a little bit more like me, that wasn’t too much of a dance song.”

Blacc’s album Lift Your Spirit, debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and rose to No. 1 on the R&B Albums chart. One track on Blacc’s album was produced by Rock Mafia, who produced “The World is Ours,” and provided Coke’s connection to Blacc.

“It was great to do a mash up between my song [“Hello World“] and David Correy’s song,” Blacc adds. “The message that I wanted to convey was oneness. I’ve been lucky enough to have my music accepted in countries all over the world. And everywhere I go I recognize music, sports entertainment being something that brings us all together. Football, soccer is something that makes us all one; its like a religion in a lot of places.”

Growing up in Orange County, where he was raised by his Panamanian parents, Blacc played soccer, in addition to learning the trumpet, and later, getting involved with hip hop.

“Almost all of the guys I went to school with played soccer in some form or fashion so it doesn’t escape anybody,” he says, adding that in his case, playing the sport was inevitable. “My Dad was the coach, I had to.”

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