A Whole New World

"A Whole New World"
Single by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle
from the album Aladdin: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
B-side	After The Kiss (instrumental)
Released	November 5, 1992
Format	CD, Audio cassette, 7"
Recorded	1992
Genre	Pop
Length	4:05
Label	Walt Disney
Writer(s)	Alan Menken (music) Tim Rice (lyrics)[1]

"A Whole New World" is the Oscar winning featured pop single from the soundtrack to the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.^[1] It was composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice.^[1] The song is a ballad between the primary characters Aladdin and Jasmine about the new world they are going to discover together. The original version was sung by Brad Kane and Lea Salonga during the film. They also performed the song in their characters at the 65th Academy Awards, where it won Best Song.^[1]

A single version of the song was previously released that year and was performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle.^[1] As the biggest pop hit for each artist, this version peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on March 6, 1993,^[2] replacing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", which had spent a then record fourteen weeks at the top of the chart. The track peaked at #9 in the UK Singles Chart in 1992.^[1]

Charts

Cover versions

• Girl group Eternal released the song as the B-side to their 1996 single, "Someday", recorded for the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• Hank Marvin did an instrumental version of the song in 1997 on his album Hank Plays the Music of Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber.
• LMNT covered the song for DisneyMania 2, released in 2004.
• Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey covered the song for DisneyMania 3 released in 2005, and on the two-disc Platinum Edition DVD for the Aladdin film.
• The song was covered in 2006 by British glamour model Katie Price (also known as Jordan) and her now ex-husband, Peter Andre. The track is included on their 2006 album of duets A Whole New World.
• J-pop artist Kumi Koda and Peabo Bryson included a cover for Koda's 2006 album Best: Second Session.
• K-Pop boy-band TVXQ recorded the song for their 2007 Japanese album, Five in the Black, as a special track.
• In 2007, Pixar employee Nick Pitera uploaded a video to YouTube where he performs both the male and female characters,^[4] earning 26 million views (as of December 12, 2011).
• Saxophonist Dave Koz covered the song on his album At The Movies. The song featured Donna Summer on vocals.^[5][6]
• On the 2009 album, Disney's Dream Pop: Tribute to Tokyo, J-pop artist Fukui Mai covers the song.
• Chord Overstreet and Demi Lovato also recorded a cover version.

Live cover performances

Some notable artists that have covered this song live include:

• Sweetbox, for WOW! DisneyMania in Japan.
• Luther Vandross and Vanessa L. Williams^{[citation needed]}
• Charice Pempengco and Super Junior member Kyuhyun^{[citation needed]}
• Peabo Bryson and Patti LaBelle performed the song along with all 77 contestants at the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant in Manila, Philippines^{[citation needed]}
• Bryson recorded a version of the song with Japanese pop artist Kumi Koda, which appeared as a bonus track on her album BEST ~second session~.
• David Phelps and Sandi Patty performed the song on "Mark Lowry On Broadway" in 2001.
• In the second season of American Idol in 2003, eventual winner Ruben Studdard sang the song on Movie Night. It was noted that season that "A Whole New World" was the most commonly used audition song, and a montage of "A Whole New World" auditions was aired to emphasize it.^{[citation needed]}
• In addition to recording a cover, Peter André and Katie Price performed the song live on Children in Need in 2005.^{[citation needed]}
• K-pop artist BoA and TVXQ member Xiah Junsu performed the song live at the AnyBand Concert in Korea on December 29, 2007.^{[citation needed]}
• Gabe Bondoc a Youtube singer covered the song alone and continuing to play while leaving the instrumental for the viewer to sing. The video has hit over 1 million views.
• Glee's actor Darren Criss performed the song with Lea Salonga, the singing voice of Princess Jasmine on Aladdin at Billboard/Hollywood Reporter TV & Film Music Conference to Alan Menken.^{[citation needed]}
• Girls' Generation member Tiffany and Kwill^{[citation needed]}
• The song is performed during the fountain show World of Color at Disney California Adventure park while LED lights affixed to Mickey's Fun Wheel twinkle in the backdrop, appearing as stars.^{[citation needed]}

International

Like most Disney's songs, "A Whole New World" was translated and adapted for non-English dubbed releases of the film.

See also

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1993 (U.S.)
• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1993 (U.S.)
• List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 1993 (U.S.)

References