THE LEGENDARY STEVIE WONDER DELIVERS "FAITH," FEATURING ARIANA GRANDE, FOR ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES' SING

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- STEVIE WONDER delivers the new collaboration entitled "Faith" [feat. ARIANA GRANDE] for Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures' SING, it was announced last night during Ariana Grande's interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  The song will be available soon via Republic Records, as well as on the upcoming release of the Sing Official Soundtrack Album.  Sing opens in theaters everywhere on December 21. 

"Faith" unites Academy Award^®- and GRAMMY Award-winning Stevie Wonder and multi-platinum GRAMMY Award nominee Ariana Grande.  Produced by powerhouses and multi-GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter/producers Ryan Tedder [Adele, Beyoncé, U2] and Benny Blanco [Rihanna, Ed Sheeran, Katy Perry], "Faith" marks the first song that Stevie Wonder has contributed to a film in more than 25 years.

Stevie Wonder remains one of the most legendary and influential artists in history.  In addition to selling more than 100 million albums worldwide, he has garnered a total of 25 GRAMMY Awards—the most-ever awarded to a male solo artist in history. Among countless accolades, he is an Academy Award^® winner and landed at No. 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Artists. A paragon of goodwill, charity and activism, he was even named a Messenger of Peace by the United Nations.

ABOUT SING            
Set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, Sing stars Buster Moon (Academy Award^® Matthew McConaughey), a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times.  Buster is an eternal optimist—okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel—who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it.  Now faced with the crumbling of his life's ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world's greatest singing competition, even if the prize money isn't exactly in the bank yet.

Five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Academy Award^® Reese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family's felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo.  Each animal arrives under Buster's marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life.  And as Buster coaches each of his contestants closer and closer to the grand finale, he starts to learn that maybe the theater isn't the only thing that is in need of saving.

Featuring more than 65 hit songs, Sing is written and directed by Garth Jennings (Son of Rambow, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) and produced by Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy.  Released by Universal Pictures, Sing arrives in theaters for the holiday season on December 21, 2016. 

ABOUT ARIANA GRANDE
Within less than a year, ARIANA GRANDE captured No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 twice—first with her Republic Records debut "Yours Truly" and also with its 2014 follow-up, "My Everything."

"Yours Truly" yielded the game-changing pop smash "The Way" featuring Mac Miller, which went triple-platinum, landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, and seized No. 1 on the iTunes Overall Top Songs chart. Meanwhile, the platinum-selling My Everything garnered a GRAMMY Award nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Album" and spawned the six times-platinum hit "Problem." Upon the single's release, Ariana became "the youngest woman to debut with over 400K sold first-week," while the song ranked as the 5th "highest digital song debut for a female artist" and 9th highest ever. Moreover, it debuted at No. 1 in 85 countries, topping the iTunes Overall Top Songs and Pop Songs charts for four weeks.

During release week, "My Everything" was No. 1 on Spotify as Ariana personally rose to No. 1 on Billboard's Artists 100 chart. She also became the first woman in history and the first artist since Michael Jackson to simultaneously have three songs—"Problem," "Break Free" featuring Zedd, and "Bang Bang" with Nicki Minaj and Jessie J—in the Top 6 of the Digital Songs Chart. "Bang Bang" went platinum and was GRAMMY-nominated for "Best Pop Duo/Group Performance." By the end of the year, she landed four songs in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100; the most of any artist in 2014. Ariana has enjoyed five Hot 100 Top 10 smashes.

In 2013, Ariana was named "Best New Artist" at the American Music Awards.  Other accolades followed, with Ariana winning "Favorite Breakout Artist" at the People's Choice Awards 2014, the "Young Influencer Award" at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, the "Radio Disney Chart Topper Award," "Choice Female Artist" and "Choice Single" "Problem" at the 2014 Teen Choice Awards, and more.  At the 2014 MTV VMAS, "Problem" was named "Best Pop Video" as well.  In November, Ariana took home the award for "Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock" at the 2015 American Music Awards.

2016 sees Ariana release her mega-anticipated third full-length album, "Dangerous Woman," driven by the title track, which captured No. 1 on both iTunes Overall Top Songs Chart and Top Pop Songs Chart minutes after release.  "Dangerous Woman" also debuted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, earning her the distinction of becoming the first artist to debut on the chart with the lead single from her first three albums.

ABOUT REPUBLIC RECORDS
A division of Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, Republic is home to an all-star roster of multi-platinum, award-winning legends and superstar artists such as Ariana Grande, Black Sabbath, Florence + the Machine, Godsmack, Gotye, James Blake, James Bay, John Mellencamp, Keith Richards, Nickelback, Of Monsters and Men, Seth MacFarlane, Zendaya, among many others. Founded by brothers and chief executives Monte and Avery Lipman, it is also comprised of innovative business ventures including American Recordings (The Avett Brothers), Brushfire (Jack Johnson), Cash Money (Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj), John Varvatos Records (Zac Brown Band), Lava Records (Jessie J, Lorde), Monkeywrench (Pearl Jam), Casablanca Records (Stromae, Tïesto), NBC's The Voice, XO (The Weeknd), School Boy Records (PSY, Sheppard), among others. In addition, Republic maintains a long-standing strategic alliance with country powerhouse Big Machine Label Group which is comprised of Big Machine Records (Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, The Band Perry, Florida Georgia Line, The Eli Young Band) and Dot Records (Maddie + Tae).

ABOUT ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT
Illumination Entertainment, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry's leading producers of event animated films.  Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the hugely successful Despicable Me franchise, which includes Minions—the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time—as well as Despicable Me 2, an Academy Award^® nominee for Best Animated Feature of 2013.  In all, Illumination's films, which also include 2016's record-breaking The Secret Life of Pets, 2011's Hop and 2012's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, have grossed nearly $4 billion in worldwide box-office revenues and feature some of the world's most renowned talent. 

Upcoming films include Despicable Me 3, starring Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig and Trey Parker, which is set for June 2017; The Secret Life of Pets 2, written by Brian Lynch and directed by Chris Renaud, which arrives in theaters in July 2018; and a newly imagined version of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role of The Grinch, which is set for release in November 2018.  In addition, "Despicable Me: Minion Rush" (more than 750 million downloads) has become one of the world's most popular apps, and Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem attracts huge crowds at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.

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SOURCE Universal Pictures