On Friday, July 12, Simple Plan put their own punk/pop spin on “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” Elton John’s iconic 1994 hit from Disney’s The Lion King, to honor the movie’s 30th anniversary.
This reimagined track is the first single off the upcoming album A Whole New Sound, which features alternative, rock, and pop-punk bands reinterpreting Disney classics. The House of Mouse announced on Friday that the album will hit shelves later this year, although the exact release date is still under wraps.
“We wanted to pay homage to Sir Elton John’s original version while also adding our own style to it and making it sound fun and energetic. We’re really stoked by how it turned out and we hope everyone will enjoy it,” Simple Plan said in a press release about their electric guitar-driven take on the beloved ballad.
The original version, composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice, earned John a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1994 and won both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1995. Beyoncé and Donald Glover previously covered the song for the live-action version of The Lion King in 2019.
Simple Plan is set to perform “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” on August 9 at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in Anaheim, California. “We grew up watching Disney movies with our families and now we get to enjoy them with our own kids, so it’s pretty amazing to have been invited to be on this album,” the group said in a statement.
Disney elaborated on A Whole New Sound in a press release, stating, “As a cultural icon, music has never been just a phase for Mickey, as he is a huge music fan and has an extensive record collection, which gave him the idea for this new album made for fans of all generations.”
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