In the series' signature style, the Queen Charlotte: Bridgerton Story soundtrack blends the classic and the contemporary. The Netflix prequel centers on the titular ruler's early rise, and throughout it, viewers can enjoy instrumental scores from six modern pop songs by Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, SZA and Whitney Houston cover. In fact, Keys even re-recorded 2003's "If I Ain't Got You" with a 70-piece orchestra comprised only of women of color (aka the Queen Charlotte Global Orchestra).
The 15-time Grammy winner explained to Rolling Stone UK that she came up with the idea after discussing filming the King's Ball scene with India Amarteifio, who plays young Charlotte. After 30 takes of a traditional classic song, "the director announced he wanted to change it up with a modern song and played 'If I Didn't Get You,'" Keys shared. India said the song touched her deeply because it reflected what happened in the story. This meant that the director ended up only using that one shot, even though they shot 30 other shots, and I think that's where the seeds started to be planted. "
Having never performed the song with an orchestra before, she also wanted the song to be "truly meaningful and purposeful" and give women "a platform, guidance and a seat at the table." Case added that having an orchestra with women of color playing their instruments is "a perfect extension of that and an opportunity to really elevate all of the incredible musicians out there."
Case continued: "I really wanted to bring a beautiful diversity of perspective to the concept of royalty, which already happens naturally in the show. But it was really intentional to bring in a sense of perspective about how we express ourselves and how we become A new idea for these times.”
In conjunction with the May 4 premiere of the Shonda Rhimes-produced show, Sony Music Entertainment has released two Queen Charlotte soundtrack albums. In addition to a soundtrack album by composer Kris Bowers, the second cover of the Netflix series version also includes Keys' rework of "I Ain't Got You," as well as three Beyoncé tracks and one each from SZA and Whitney Houston . Bowers' first original song written for the Bridgerton universe, co-written with Tayla Parx, appears on the eight-track album, which also features vocals from Brian Chan, Caleb Chan, Vitamin String Quartet and Audiostation.
The Bridgerton cover track list is as follows:
- "Like I've Never Felt" by Chris Powers
- "Halo" (Beyoncé cover)
- "If I Didn't Get You" (Alicia Keys cover)
- "Deja Vu" (Beyoncé cover)
- "Run the World" (Beyoncé cover)
- "Nobody Can Understand Me" (SZA cover)
- "I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston Cover)"
- "If I Ain't Got You" (orchestral version) by Alicia Keys with Queen Charlotte Global Orchestra
Both albums are available to stream or purchase now, with a vinyl version of the soundtrack expected to be released later this year.
