Photo: Victoria Collins
Music Icons, multiple Grammy Award-winners and multi-platinum selling artists Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. have released Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons, the legendary couple’s first album in three decades.
The celebrated album can be streamed and purchased.
Since it became available for purchase, Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons has hit the top spot on both the iTunes R&B pre-order and Barnes & Noble all bestselling music charts. The single from the album, “Ticket to Ride,” a tribute to Rosa Parks and husband Raymond Parks, is currently receiving wide success on Blues and Southern Soul radio nationwide, including attaining the #3 spot on the Soul of the Shoals radio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, considered the birthplace of Soul music.
The Blackbird R&B Remix by Mike City, as a single, has picked up radio play on a dozen new radio stations this week. Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons continues to garner glowing reviews from media and music fans alike.
Legendary critic Roger Friedman, says “Wait til you hear this whole album!” and “wonderful new album of Beatles songs.”
“Legendary pop and R&B singers Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. are breathing new life into an old Beatles classic,” says NY Daily News’ Karu Daniels. “…the album offers a lush, sweet pop/soul, sunshine vibe,” hails Soul&Jazz&Funk, with pop culture and music icons echoing the enthusiastic reception the album is receiving:
“Awesome. Relevant. Marilyn & Billy are incredible.” – Vanessa Williams
“Marilyn & Billy, I love your new blackbird album, it’s fantastic, and I will always love you.” – Dolly Parton
“Marilyn & Billy … you’ve taken your RT and turned it into activism. We can all be blackbirds and fly against injustice. This music is so good … it’s wonderful.” – Lynn Whitfield
“It’s great to see that Marilyn & Billy are covering the Beatles’ song, Blackbird. … Wow. To me, that always evoked what the Civil Rights Movement was all about, and the struggle for Black Americans. I think Marilyn & Billy will do a great job in conveying that.” – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“Before we say anything, we have to acknowledge Questlove and the impact his genius is having on our career and lives. For his movie, Summer of Soul (… Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which of course, took the two biggest prizes at Sundance, and now is coming out from Searchlight and Hulu. Everything Questlove is doing is incredible. Questlove unlocked the vaults of our history and let sunshine in on our music from the past, and us today. Questlove knew we were working on Blackbird: Lennon McCartney Icons, and that combination gave us a whole new Renaissance … even with kids who had heard our older songs, but didn’t know our names.
“Our Producer, Nic Mendoza, was with Questlove backstage at the Santa Barbara Bowl at a concert ten years ago, and the picture of them together is very cool … We thank Questlove, EE1, BMG and our Producer, Nic Mendoza, for giving us a platform at this age, to use our artistry as part of the activism we’ve always practiced,” say McCoo and Davis, who enjoy tremendous success through the years as recording artists, performers and authors, receiving 7 Grammy Awards, and earning 15 gold and 3 platinum records.
On returning to the recording studio after three decades, the couple says, “In 2021, mothers throughout our country live in the fear that our blackbirds may prematurely not be able to return to the nest of home, because of bigotry and violence… Blackbird, is dedicated to the life and humanity of every blackbird, whether living now or lost in battle.”
In their sixty-plus-year career of performing, Marilyn and Billy have broken countless racial and cultural barriers. Culturally known as The First Couple of Pop & Soul, Marilyn & Billy are credited in the media as “the originators of the blueprint followed by Jay Z and Beyoncé for a blend of talent, romance, marriage, and commerce.” Their variety television series on CBS was a first for a Black couple.
Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons marks the couple’s first album with Encore Endeavor 1 (EE1), a subsidiary of kathy ireland® Worldwide (kiWW®), which has a multi-recording agreement with music giant BMG. This project also marks kiWW’s second collaboration with BMG, with the first one making music history after Janet Jackson’s Unbreakable skyrocketed to Billboard’s top spot on the album chart.
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For justice and equality, join the movement at iamablackbird.com
