New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Multi-talented actor and GRAMMY nominated recording artist Alex Newell has shared a celebratory music video for his second new song of 2020, "Mama Told Me" - featuring touching tributes to motherhood, including photos from Adam Lambert, Laverne Cox (Orange Is The New Black),
Danielle Brooks (Orange Is The New Black), Shangela (RuPaul's Drag Race), MJ Rodriguez (Pose),
Amber Riley (Glee), Jenna Ushkowitz (Glee) and more.
An empowering ode to mother figures, PAPER Magazine declared "Newell's impressive vocal range is on full display" upon the track's release last month. "Mama Told Me" marks Newell's first co-writing credit alongside Janeva Burrill, produced by Niko The Kid (YoungBoy NBA) and Adam Novodor (ODESZA).
"My father died when I was six, so I was raised by my mom," explains Newell of the track's inspiration. "I paid homage to what she did for me and what motherhood is - instilling positivity into a child no matter what age, sharing wisdom, nurturing them, comforting them. I also wanted to write an anthem for the house moms we have in the LGBTQ community, adoptive moms, and anyone who is a maternal figure and nurturer."
"Mama Told Me" follows in the footsteps of "Boy, You Can Keep It," which marked the Massachusetts-native's first new original song after four years of soaring on the small screen and Broadway stage alike. "After conquering Broadway and television, Alex Newell is turning his attention back to the dance floor" declared The Huffington Post after the latter single's release, while Billboard echoed "Alex Newell is having a moment (...) the star is making his voice heard. "
2018 marked Newell's Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning revival of Once on This Island, starring as Asaka and bringing the house down nightly with the show-stopping musical number "Mama Will Provide." After a stellar run, during which he was deemed "ferocious" by The New York Times, Newell received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Musical Theater Album and performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the TODAY Show and the 2018 Tony Awards. He followed with his grand return to the small screen this year, starring as the musically adept Mo in NBC's new drama series Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. A fast fan-favorite, Newell was praised by Entertainment Weekly for his "entertaining energy" and regarded as "delightful" by E! News.
Millions fell in love with Newell's voice as he brought Wade "Unique" Adams to life on Glee over the course of four seasons, offering a groundbreaking and influential depiction of one of network television's very first transgender characters (Newell himself identifies as a gender non-conforming male). Generating over 200 million career streams thus far, he introduced a simmering and slick style on his debut POWER EP in 2016-which hit #4 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and yielded infectiously upbeat tracks including "This Ain't Over," "Basically Over You (B.O.Y.)" & "Nobody To Love." "('POWER') more than surpasses our lofty expectations" proclaimed SPIN of the release, while Essence simply stated that "Alex Newell is not playing games."
Between headlining and supporting
Adam Lambert on tour, Newell has ignited stages at Coachella, The Governor's Ball
Music Festival, and beyond. He has also accumulated a collection of incredible collaborations, including "
All Cried Out" with Blonde and "
Kill The Lights" with DJ Cassidy,
Jess Glynne & Nile Rodgers, the latter of which reached #1 on the Billboard Dance/Club chart. Simultaneously, he has used his platform to uplift LGBTQ youth through advocacy and aligning with The Trevor Project and GLAAD, among other organizations.
