GRAMMY®, TONY®, and Emmy® Award-winning artist Ben Platt has announced today’s release of a remarkable new EP. MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES THE POLITICIAN is available today via Atlantic Records at all DSPs and streaming services HERE.
MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES THE POLITICIAN collects four extraordinary tracks featured in the acclaimed new series, The Politician. The EP includes new renditions of such classic songs as Joni Mitchell’s “River,” Billy Joel’s “Vienna,” and Stephen Sondheim’s “Unworthy of Your Love,” the latter performed as a duet by Platt and his The Politician co-star Zoey Deutch. In addition, MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES THE POLITICIAN showcases Platt’s own “Run Away,” originally found on his critically acclaimed Atlantic Records debut album, SING TO ME INSTEAD. Created and Executive Produced by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk & Ian Brennan (Glee) for Fox 21 Television Studios, executive produced by Platt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Alexis Martin Woodall, and co-starring Paltrow, Jessica Lange and Zoey Deutch, The Politician is streaming now exclusively on Netflix.
Platt has been heralding MUSIC FROM THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES THE POLITICIAN with a series of high-profile TV appearances, including CBS’s The Late Late Show with James Corden, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and TODAY, and the nationally syndicated Kelly Clarkson Show, the latter highlighted by a spectacular duet rendition of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” with Clarkson that Rolling Stone hailed as “an emotional performance, transforming the folk rock number into an epic Broadway ballad.”
Platt also recently marked a career milestone with a sold-out headline concert at New York City’s legendary Radio City Music Hall, which was also filmed for a Netflix concert special to air at a later date. The show followed Platt’s performance alongside such superstars as Queen + Adam Lambert, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, OneRepublic, H.E.R., and Carole King for the annual Global Citizen Festival 2019 in New York City’s Central Park, as well as a performance at the US Open Opening Night Ceremony.
Earlier this year, Platt released the remarkable standalone single “RAIN, produced by Alex Hope (Troye Sivan, Tove Lo, Jack Antonoff). The track was joined by a high-energy, technicolor video directed by James Larese – watch here.
Sing to Me Instead has proven a full-fledged sensation, amassing over 60 million global streams and earning acclaim from fans and critics alike since its release this March. Highlights include “Bad Habit,” “Ease My Mind,” “Grow As We Go,” and “Temporary Love,” all of which came accompanied by official music videos streaming HERE. A truly multi-faceted actor, singer, and all-around performer, the album saw Platt making a remarkable arrival as a solo recording artist and a songwriter, co-writing all of the album’s 12 songs.
Sing to Me Instead was greeted with a wave of acclaim, with Entertainment Weekly declaring it “a departure from Platt’s TONY®-award winning musical theatre stylings…(taking) the ‘narrative and emotionally-focused’ techniques of singer-songwriters like Carole King, James Taylor, and Joni Mitchell as inspiration alongside the soul and rhythms of artists like Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.” The songs of Sing to Me Instead “are diarylike remembrances of the three major relationships that have shaped him,” noted USA Today, “with earnest vocals and achingly specific lyrics that are reminiscent of Platt’s musical heroes Carole King and James Taylor.”
Platt celebrated his debut solo album with a sold-out headline tour that drew packed houses and ecstatic reviews across North America, with The Newark Star-Ledger heralding “Platt’s on his way to becoming a format-busting household name.”
Platt also commemorated the arrival of Sing to Me Instead with a wide range of high profile TV performances, including NBC’s TODAY, CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (streaming HERE) and The Late Late Show with James Corden, as well as the nationally syndicated Ellen DeGeneres Show (streaming HERE).
The winner of the 2017 Tony® Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance as Evan Hansen in the smash hit, Dear Evan Hansen, Platt also received a GRAMMY® Award for his role on the Dear Evan Hansen (Original Broadway Cast Recording) and a 2018 Daytime Emmy Award for his part in the cast’s powerful performance of “You Will Be Found” on NBC’s TODAY. His rapidly growing body of work also includes memorable roles in the TONY® Award-winning original Broadway production of The Book of Mormon and the blockbuster films, Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2, amongst many others. Recently, Platt starred in Run This Town, which premiered at SXSW Film Festival. He is currently filming “Merrily We Roll Along,” starring alongside Beanie Feldstein. Directed by Richard Linklater, the project will film a span of 18 years.
