NEW YORK (AP) — Alicia Keys, Dolly Parton and Neil Diamond — step apart. The subsequent musical icon to show their songs right into a stage musical will probably be James Taylor.
Taylor’s songs will gas “Fire & Rain,” a musical introduced Monday, in growth with a narrative by playwright and actor Tracy Letts and course by Tony Award winner David Cromer.
“Fire and Rain” is one among Taylor’s most iconic songs, launched in 1970 on his second album, “Sweet Baby James.” It reached No. 3 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart. Different hits embrace “You’ve Got a Friend” and “How Sweet It Is.”
No timeline was revealed on when “Fire & Rain” will probably be first staged.
Taylor has gained six Grammys and is a member of each the Rock & Roll Corridor of Fame and the Songwriters Halls of Fame. He’s the primary artist to have a Billboard High 10 album in every of the previous six a long time.
Letts gained a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for writing “August: Osage County” and his different performs embrace “Bug,” “Killer Joe,” “Superior Donuts” and “The Minutes.” Cromer has directed two of Letts’ works — “Bug” and “Man from Nebraska.”
Taylor joins a rising checklist of musical artists who’ve turned to the stage.
Parton is writing new songs to associate with a few of her previous hits and co-writing a stage story impressed by her life for a stage musical that she hopes to land on Broadway in 2026. Diamond, Keys, Michael Jackson, Carole King and Gloria and Emilio Estefan all bought biographical musicals on Broadway.
Taylor will be a part of such pop and rock luminaries as Elton John, Cyndi Lauper, The Go-Gos, Sting,Alanis Morissette, Dave Stewart, Edie Brickell, Trey Anastasio, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim and Bono and The Edge with Broadway scores.
