Rita Wilson soars to extraordinary new heights on her highly anticipated new album, Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets, out today listen HERE. A set of true modern standards, Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets sees Rita singing alongside giants including WILLIE NELSON, SMOKEY ROBINSON, JACKSON BROWNE, TIM MCGRAW, ELVIS COSTELLO, KEITH URBAN, LESLIE ODOM JR, JOSH GROBAN, VINCE GILL AND JIMMIE ALLEN, illustrating the high regard in which she is held by her peers.
Co-produced by Rita and GRAMMY Award-winning producer Matt Rollings, Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets sees Wilson return to exploring her gift as an interpretive singer, as she revisits the songs that made her fall in love with music. Rather than just record a conventional covers record, Wilson has created something far more impressive—a collection of timeless songs newly arranged as duets showcasing Rita’s crystalline vocals alongside some of the greatest male singers of our time.
Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets displays the narrative power and meticulous craft these compositions possess, capturing their timelessness while she and her partners also make them sound so fresh decades after they were written. It also further demonstrates Rita’s authentic and impassioned artistry, which she has fully immersed herself in since the release of her first of five studio albums in 2012.
Rita comments, “These songs feel like my Great American Songbook, because of the songwriting and the impact that they had on me through their stories, musically, and the artists that originally recorded them,” she says. “I was looking at these songs and how they could be conversations between two people. I liked that the lyrics could be coming from two points of view, even if they were mostly written for one person to sing—I liked exploring the possible conversation in each story.”
Highlights on the album are aplenty – Willie Nelson joins for a moving turn on Paul Simon’s “Slip Slidin’ Away,” Smokey Robinson gives an impassioned rendition of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s “Where is the Love,” Elvis Costello contributes a blistering vocal on Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” (popularized by the Pointer Sisters), Leslie Odom Jr delivers a majestic performance on the Bee Gees “Massachusetts,” Keith Urban does a stirring turn on Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love,” Tim McGraw produces chills on Bread’s “If”, Jimmie Allen takes a nostalgic turn on the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There,” Vince Gill is a knock out on Badfinger’s “Without You” (also covered by Harry Nilsson), and Jackson Browne knocks it out of the park on The Everly Brothers classic, “Let It Be Me” HERE.
To celebrate the release of Rita Wilson Now & Forever: Duets, Rita will make her triumphant return to New York City’s famed Café Carlyle this Fall for a special, two-week residency running October 25th through November 5th. Each week will feature a different show. For the first week Rita presents, “Rita Wilson Now and Forever: Duets with Fraser Walters,” where she’ll perform selections from the new album with award-winning and multi-platinum selling singer, songwriter, actor and producer Fraser Walters. For her second week at the Carlyle, a more intimate experience is in store with “Rita Wilson’s Liner Notes.” Rita will be joined by her friends and songwriters singing their songs and telling the stories behind their hits.
Watch The Album Trailer for Now & Forever: Duets HERE, and check out the video clips for “Let It Be Me” with Jackson Browne HERE, and “Songbird” with Josh Groban -captured live at New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall HERE.
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