Alongside actors and directors who in recent weeks have been promoting their films at various events ahead of the upcoming awards season, this time a singer also stands out, hoping to join the race, literally. The British creator performer has launched a series of media interviews in the past month to promote the chances of his theme song from the blockbuster Formula 1, starring a well known Hollywood actor. At the same time, he is also promoting his new musical special, which premiered this week on a streaming platform.
Formula 1 was released in theaters last summer, grossed 631 million dollars worldwide, and is now expected to gain attention in the technical categories during the awards season. The lead actor chose to take a step back and is not aiming for an acting nomination, but the director, the veteran producer, and members of the technical crew are working intensively to appeal to guild voters, and at the final stretch the singer joined along with the songwriter and producer of the song Drive, who is responsible for hits by several major pop artists.
He is considered one of the most influential artists of the 21st century. His albums have sold a combined 200 million copies worldwide. His two most recent tours rank fourth and fifth on the list of the highest grossing tours of all time, with combined earnings of over 1.6 billion dollars. He has won four Grammy Awards, five Brit Awards, and an Emmy for a song he wrote for a television series. In addition, he received a royal honor. He is now marking the Academy Awards as his next goal, another step toward achieving the coveted EGOT status.
They screened several scenes for me, about 40 minutes of the film, and explained what kind of musical style they were looking for in each scene, and I simply loved the idea that my song would summarize everything and appear at the end. I wrote and produced a song that was outside my comfort zone and I wanted it to excite me. I love films and love working as part of a film, and I did not want this to be something I would normally create. I wanted it to feel different. I connected with people I do not usually work with. This style is ultimately the genre I listened to when I was younger. If I had been more accepted in high school, I would have formed a band that played this style. Instead, I played acoustic guitar. Now playing electric guitar with riffs I learned from a young age is fun. The film fits this style. It is a song you want to play at full volume while driving, and I am happy to give people that feeling.
When it comes to Formula 1, you watch the races and it takes over your entire day. You really get drawn into it. It is a massive machine that everyone connects to. I was not fully aware of the scale until I participated in these events, met the people who build the cars, and discovered how fascinating this world is. The song Drive is part of a soundtrack that also includes new songs performed by various international artists, and the film score itself was composed by one of the giants of the field.
I met him when I worked on a song for a fantasy film about 13 years ago, and since then we have had a very good connection. But we did not integrate parts of the film score into the song. In my mind, I wanted the section after the chorus to feel like an engine starting. The music is different from the songs, but they complement each other, as the songs appear throughout the film.
So how does one of the most successful artists in the world write a song. It changes. I go to the recording studio four days a week, from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, and I write every day. My mantra is daring to fail. Sometimes what I write is good, sometimes it is bad, sometimes it is something I keep. If I go four times a week, one song comes out each month, and that fills an album within a year. I keep writing all the time.
Many people approach me to write songs for films. I am known for ballads, romantic, acoustic music. These are usually the kinds of films that want me to write love songs. That is what I already do in life, so I look for a challenge as a musician. Something different, something that makes people raise an eyebrow. This time, as a fan of motorsport, I was drawn to it both as a fan and as someone wanting to do something I had not done before. The film itself is also something new. I watched many racing films and felt physically overwhelmed by how intense it was. Being involved musically added to the excitement.
The process itself is different. When I write a song for a film, I do not think about my own emotions. I think about what the character is experiencing and write from that perspective. When I worked on the earlier fantasy film, it was my first time creating music specifically for a feature film. It was very liberating to write according to a script and translate it into music, to serve the film rather than focus on my own personal experience.
He recently released his eighth album and is about to begin a world tour starting in Europe, followed by stops in North America, Australia, and South America. Based on his previous stadium tour, which included 188 shows, this may only be the beginning. What has changed is that he is now a father of two young children. Alongside his career and family life, he has also appeared in small guest roles in film and television, mostly playing himself.
It may sound strange, but I have reached a point where performing in a stadium feels normal. For years I performed in stadiums several times a week and I miss it. Once you reach that level, you can allow yourself to do different kinds of shows. I also did a smaller, more intimate theater tour. I miss performing in front of 30 people without even using a microphone. At one stop during promotion, we stopped at a small restaurant known for live music decades ago, and I simply decided to sing there. It felt exactly like I was seventeen again. I still love performing in front of tens of thousands of people. Life is about trying new things.
I used to tour 300 days a year, but now I have children in kindergarten and everything is less intense. We schedule dates around their school holidays, sometimes planning years ahead. Performing and writing songs does not feel like work. It is what I love most. It is a hobby that supports other parts of life.
As for more acting roles, I am sure it will happen again. As a teenager I tried acting and participated in a talent show. When I did not get accepted, I decided to focus only on music. Now opportunities come occasionally. I am always interested, but if I truly start acting, I would need to put music aside for a while, and I am not ready for that.
What excites me the most is meeting children who started playing music because of my songs. Seeing inspiration pass from one person to another is the greatest compliment.
He also started playing music as a child and says he was bad at it, but his parents encouraged him. If they had been completely honest, it would have crushed my confidence. Music was the one thing I was good at, and I improved because I loved it. I believe you learn how to fail in order to learn how to succeed. With my own children, I expose them to music and sing with them. I believe children should learn to sing before the age of eight. My daughter has a guitar, but it is slow going. Her fingers are still very small.