New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Grammy Award-nominated singer and Season Two winner of "American Idol"
Ruben Studdard is teaming with D.C. songwriter and producer Alan Scott for the single "John Lewis Lives," a song dedicated to the late civil rights icon and United States Congressman. Listen to the track and watch the music video below. The single and video are out now in celebration of Lewis' birthday on February 21 and in remembrance of the anniversary of Bloody Sunday on March 7, the day he famously led the march across the
Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
"I was just 5 days old when John Lewis marched past our D.C. apartment," says Alan Scott. "My mom held me in her arms as she watched. All of my life John Lewis has fought for me and people like me. This is my way of saying his legacy and example lives on wherever people fight for justice." After raising money for the project via Kickstarter, where the goal was doubled by supporters, Scott approached Studdard through a mutual friend to record the track at a studio in Birmingham, Alabama.
Studdard, who has participated in several commemorations of Bloody Sunday and through them had the opportunity to meet John Lewis, says, "John Lewis meant a lot of different things to me, but the one thing that he meant to me the most was his courage in the face of imminent danger, his willingness to sacrifice for equality and for humanity. It fills me with pride to know that John Lewis fought for me and made sure that I was able to have all of the rights and privileges that I am so thankful to have right now. [He] changed this country by being steadfast and unmovable."
Recorded remotely in several different cities due to the pandemic, "John Lewis Lives" was produced by Mark Williams and Alan Scott and features
Ruben Studdard on lead vocals, Scott and Adara on backup vocals, drummer Brian Delaney, bassist Mike Echols and organist
Daniel Clarke along with Scott and Williams playing guitar. The song recently won the grand prize in the first annual Columbia Festival of the Arts "Songs of Strength" competition.
Ruben Studdard is a singer and actor raised in Birmingham,
Alabama who broke into the mainstream as the winner of the second season of "American Idol." His Platinum-selling debut album Soulful earned him two Top Ten hits and a Grammy nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2003. He shared his most recent album
Ruben Sings Luther in 2018.
Alan Scott is a Washington, D.C.-based singer and recording artist whose 2016 single "You Only See Me When I'm Gone" was a viral hit, written originally to address issues of race and police brutality following the death of Eric Garner. With influences ranging from
Stevie Wonder to Earth Wind & Fire, Scott's music focuses centrally on the power of love, celebration and compassion.
