Dolly Parton, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan, Belinda Carlisle and Debbie Harry have joined forces on a new single titled Gonna Be You. The track, to be released on 20 January, is by the celebrated songwriter Diane Warren.
Gonna Be You, which marks the first collaboration between the five pop legends, was recorded for the forthcoming film 80 for Brady. The comedy follows four women in their 80s – played by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field – who embark on a road trip to see the NFL player Tom Brady play his final Super Bowl.
Despite the premise of the film, the singers were not chosen for their ages. “Since 80 was in the title I got a crazy idea,” Warren said in a statement. “Why not get some of the most iconic singers from the 80s, who are still amazing and always will be, to sing it?”
“I wanted to write a song that celebrated these [characters’] deep friendship,” she said. “Everyone I approached said yes and was just as excited as me. I’m honoured to have Dolly Parton, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Harry on this song. Gonna Be You is that song you want to sing along to with all your good friends.”
Carlisle announced the news on Instagram with an emphatic “Yassssssssss!” “What an honour to sing with Dolly Parton, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan and Debbie Harry,” she wrote. “This secret has been hard to keep.”
All five singers have been active in recent years: Carlisle is set to tour the UK in February, while Harry’s band Blondie released an expansive box set, Against the Odds 1974-1982, last August. Lauper’s most recent album was 2016’s Detour; Estefan released a Christmas record, Estefan Family Christmas, last year. Parton released a greatest hits collection titled Diamonds & Rhinestones in November and her Christmas musical, Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, finishes its run at the Southbank Centre, London, on 8 January.
Warren has written numerous hits over a three-decade career, including DeBarge’s Rhythm of the Night, Cher’s If I Could Turn Back Time and Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
