Listen To The Temptations’ Cover Of The Weeknd’s ‘Earned It’
The soul giants unveil their reading of the ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ hit ahead of their ‘All The Time’ album.
With the new album by the Temptations, All The Time, set for 4 May release by UMe, the soul figureheads have unveiled the cover of The Weeknd’s ‘Earned It’ that will feature on it.
The track is one of several interpretations of contemporary songs on the album, the group’s first in eight years. It stars their latter-day line-up of Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Larry Braggs, Willie Greene and surviving co-founder Otis Williams. The album, produced and arranged by Dave Darling, includes readings of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ and Bruno Mars’ ‘When I Was Your Man,’ among other covers, with three original songs.
The Weeknd’s original ‘Earned It’ was released in December 2014 from the soundtrack of the hit movie Fifty Shades Of Grey. It reached No. 3 in the US, becoming the Canadian artist’s first top five pop hit, and was certified five-times platinum. The song also made No. 4 in the UK, also reaching the No. 2 spot in a number of European countries. It went on to win a Grammy for Best R&B Performance.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Williams expresses his admiration for the original recording. “”That’s one I love,” he says. “At first when I heard it on the radio, I was like, ‘Who the hell is that?’ We always want to do a song with the Temptations’ flair. We let the harmonies be really pronounced. People love great harmonies — when they’re performed right.”
In March, the Temptations’ timeless recording of the Smokey Robinson classic ‘My Girl,’ one of the brightest jewels in their Motown songbook, was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the 2018 additions to the National Recording Registry. 25 works are added to the Registry annually, selected for their “cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the American soundscape.”
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