The Music of ‘Elvis’: A Complete Guide to Who Sings What on Soundtrack, From Jack White to Jazmine Sullivan to Stevie Nicks

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticWhen Leslie Fram, formerly a top programmer and morning cohost in radio’s alternative format, made the jump from FM to television by coming aboard the CMT network as the VP in charge of music in 2011, she liked almost everything she had to learn as a quick study in country music. That ranged from the greater collegiality of country’s artist community to how much earlier the music showcases started in Nashville than they had in New York.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe story of women in country music is being written anew every day, but it needs its actual scriveners, too, to keep a record of what progress is or isn’t being made in a genre that sometimes has wavered between nourishing and ignoring its queens. That role has been well-filled in recent years by music journalist Marissa R.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticIf there were an award to bestow for the most accomplished living American pop songwriter who never doubled as a recording artist, the frontrunner would almost definitely be Mike Stoller, 89, half of one of the most famous writing duos of all time, Leiber & Stoller. Even if the memory of Elvis Presley were completely wiped away, like the Beatles’ in that “Yesterday” movie, this pairing would still be in the history books and collective consciousness for “Stand by Me,” “On Broadway,” “There Goes My Baby,” “Young Blood,” “Kansas City,” “Love Potion #9,” “Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown,” “I’m a Woman,” “Ruby Baby,” “Is That All There Is?” and other numbers deeply embedded in pop culture from the mid-‘50s forward.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticRenowned music producer Dave Cobb was working on a film job where he recreated the music of one singing icon — Tammy Faye Bakker — when he got the assignment to do the same for an even more significant vocalist, high a bar as that may have been: Elvis Presley. Truly, both figured into his youth, growing up as a Pentecostal kid in the Southeast.

Selome Hailu This year’s BET Awards experienced a boost from last year’s numbers, drawing in 3.2 million viewers across a simulcast of 10 Paramount Global networks on Sunday.This marks a 34% jump in viewership from 2021, when BET’s in-person ceremony brought in only 2.4 million viewers across multiple outlets. In comparison, the 2020 BET Awards (which were held virtually) averaged 3.7 million people, in large part due to simulcasting with CBS. (CBS didn’t return as a partner in 2021 or 2022.)BET averaged 2.1 million viewers out of this year’s total 3.2 million.

The BET Awards on Sunday night (June 26) were a celebration of the invaluable work of Black artists everywhere, celebrating the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Latto, and Kendrick Lamar. They also became a platform for those creatives to make their voices heard, as many attendees used the stage to criticize the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe BET Awards are officially a celebration of “Black excellence,” and Sunday night’s show featured blockbuster performances from Lizzo, Mariah Carey, Latto, Jack Harlow (who was joined by Brandy and Lil Wayne) and an elaborate tribute to Lifetime Achievement honoree Sean “Diddy” Combs that included an unannounced in-person speech from Kanye West.But for the second time in three years, the show coincided with galvanizing events in the United States: In 2020, it was George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police and the ensuing the Black Lives Matter protests, and this year it was the Supreme Court’s polarizing overturn of Roe v. Wade and the impending loss of a woman’s right to choose in many states in the country.

The2022 BET Awards are here to honor Black excellence across music, television, film and sports! Some of the biggest celebs turned out for the big occasion.

The 22nd annual aired Sunday night, with Taraji P. Henson returning as host for “culture’s biggest night.” Presented live from the Microsoft Theater, the star-studded event featured a roster of fresh and familiar talent, including electric performances by Lizzo, Jack Harlow, Lil Wayne, Roddy Ricch and Chance the Rapper.

2022 BET Awards are here to honor Black excellence across music, television, film and sports! Some of the biggest celebs turned out for the big occasion.This year's awards show was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles and hosted by Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress Taraji P. Henson for the second year in a row. Last year, Henson used her hosting position to honor some iconic Black women who have had an impact on pop culture with a memorable opening monologue and various ensembles that honored and celebrated the styles and looks of some groundbreaking artists.

Ellise Shafer The BET Awards are back for their 2022 edition, with Taraji P. Henson hosting Culture’s Biggest Night for the second year in a row. The show airs live on BET Sunday night at 8 p.m.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticDoes the phrase “that’s all right” apply to the new “Elvis” movie… as in, “that’s all correct”? No one is probably expecting that — any practiced watcher of biopics knows virtually any example of the form will take deep liberties with the facts for dramatic purposes. And maybe it’s a given that a director who puts hip-hop and hard rock on the soundtracks for period films, as Baz Luhrmann does, might favor effect over absolute verisimilitude.Still, “Elvis” is right on enough counts — literally or spiritually — that it’s worth trying to separate fact from fiction in the movie’s narrative of Elvis Presley (played by Austin Butler) and his nearly career-long manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe Black Music Action Coalition has issued a report on representation for Blacks and other people of color in mainstream country music, and, probably unsurprisingly to anyone who has followed the genre and some of its attendant racial controversies, the picture painted isn’t a pretty one.The BMAC issued the damning report Thursday in advance of hosting a panel discussion Saturday at Soho House Nashville, at which point the organization will detail some of the specific changes it is asking for in the industry.“For over 100 years, this country and industry have excluded and marginalized Black people’s contributions to this genre,” said Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-founder/co-chair of BMAC, in a statement. “It is our intention with this report to create a truth and reconciliation opportunity for our industry.

Måneskin have shared their cover of ‘If I Can Dream from the soundtrack of the Baz Luhrmann-directed new movie Elvis.The band previously teased the track, which you can listen to below, during their performance at the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin last month.Elvis, which is released on June 24, comes with a soundtrack of covers along with “original songs and recordings” by Presley himself and the film’s star, Austin Butler. Artists to have contributed also include Eminem, Tame Impala, Stevie Nicks, Jack White, Swae Lee, Diplo, Chris Isaak, Denzel Curry, Jazmine Sullivan, Pnau and more.Speaking to NME for their recent Big Read cover story, Måneskin frontman Damiano David said of their cover: “We were talking about it with Baz Luhrmann, who had this really cool, super-smart idea, because it would have been so easy to give us an up-tempo song and go super rock-ish.

Eminem and CeeLo Green have teamed up on ‘The King And I’ for the Elvis film soundtrack.Released today, the track is co-produced by Dr. Dre and sees Eminem compare himself to Elvis Presley over the course of the ‘Jailhouse Rock’-sampling track, rapping: “I’m about to explain to you all the parallels between Elvis and me”.“It seems obvious: one, he’s pale as me/ Second, we both been hailed as kings/ He used to rock the Jailhouse, and I used to rock The Shelter,” he raps, before adding “I stole black music, yeah, true, perhaps used it / As a tool to combat school kids / Kids came back on some bathroom shit / Now I call a hater a bidet / ’Cause they mad that they can’t do shit”.Listen to ‘The King And I’ below.The Elvis soundtrack is set to feature “original songs and recordings” by Presley along with the film’s star, Austin Butler.

2022 BET Awards! On Thursday, the network dropped the first round of performers taking the stage on Sunday, June 26 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. The annual awards show will be hosted by Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress Taraji P. Henson for the second year in a row, and features an impressive lineup of musicians putting on their best moves for their fans.The star-studded list includes Babyface, Chance The Rapper, Chlöe, Doechii, Ella Mai, Fireboy DML, GIVĒON, Jack Harlow, Joey Bada$$, Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin, Latto, Lizzo, Muni Long, Roddy Ricch and more to be announced.Additionally, up-and-coming artists GoGo Morrow and OGI will be gracing the BET Amplified Stage, getting BET Music's stamp of approval on the next big thing in music.This year's list of nominees is also filled with familiar famous faces.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticIn the unlikely rock-star mini-feuds department, Elvis Costello and Rod Stewart — who decades ago had discussions about making an album together — renewed what seems to be a frenemy-ship in recent days. They’ve tangled on social media in a humorously feisty way over what Costello considered to be a botched royal performance by Stewart, and what Stewart considers to be an unbecoming hairline on Costello’s part.According to the Daily Mirror (which Costello additionally took on… because hating the Daily Mirror is one thing almost all music stars can agree on), Costello took a few moments in a Glasgow show to get in a little dig at Stewart, who’s known as a major booster of Scottish soccer.