04.01.2020

Will.i.am on His New Single Inspired by Global Resilience

Grammy Award-winning musician will.i.am collaborated with Bono, Jennifer Hudson, and Japanese rock star Yoshiki on a new single, “Sing for Life,” inspired by the resilience shown by the world’s citizens during this global pandemic. He speaks with Christiane about why he believes that that though we are in self-isolation, we are not alone.

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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: How did this come about? What made you all want to do this?

WILL.I.AM, MUSICIAN: Well, Marc Benioff from Salesforce has an amazing thread that I’m honored to be on that has an amazing list of people that are all on it. And Bono is on that thread. So, Bono is quarantined at his home in Ireland. And he and his son were playing the song. And they made a recording. And Bono shared it with us on our thread. And later that — later after that, he put it on his Instagram page. And I responded to Bono’s song with his son, and I answered some of the sentences that he sung, and then I shared it back on the thread. And so Marc Benioff pushed me to, like, finish it and complete it. I was like, you know what, let me call J-Hud and have J-Hud answer, and Yoshiki to answer with piano. And we all made it on our phones while we were isolated at home to inspire folks to stay creative, keep their spirits up, and reflect on how they want to enter the world once this is all done, because creativity and optimism is important right now.

About This Episode EXPAND

In an exclusive interview, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis tells Christiane Amanpour how his country is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. General Terrence O’Shaughnessy discusses the need for a better coordinated national response in the U.S. Sara Goldrick-Rab tells Hari Sreenivasan how the crisis is affecting low-income students. Plus, will.i.am discusses his new single “Sing for Life.”

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