Patti LaBelle & Jill Scott to Record Single from The Color Purple

In an unusual move, Angel Records, a division of EMI Music, will release a single from the score of The Color Purple performed by two popular recording artists. Multiple Grammy Award winner Patti LaBelle and Jill Scott recently recorded the duet "What About Love?" for a single to be released in January.

The musical The Color Purple, which is currently in previews in preparation for a December 1 opening, features music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. In the show "What About Love?" is a duet between the characters of Celie LaChanze and Shug Elisabeth Withers-Mendes performed at the end of the first act.

While it happens occasionally in London with tuners that premiere there, it is almost unheard of for a popular recording artist to record a song from a Broadway musical still in its early stages. Sometimes, as in the case of Barbra Streisand's recording of "As if We Never Said Goodbye" from Sunset Boulevard, an artist will release a song from a musical before it begins Broadway performances. But even that is not common. Before rehearsals began, a production spokesperson for Brooklyn said Mary J. Blige was interested in recording one of that show's songs, however that recording never materialized. One example close to The Color Purple situation is Stevie Wonder's recording of Rent's signature number "Seasons of Love," but that was performed with the stage cast of Rent.

Color Purple cast members LaChanze and Withers-Mendes will perform the duet "What About Love?" on the show's original cast recording, which will also be released on Angel Records, coming out on January 24. On the cast recording the LaBelle-Scott version, produced by James Poyser, will be included as a bonus track. The entire original cast recording is being produced by Jay D. Saks.

"I'm extremely honored that the producers of The Color Purple [Oprah Winfrey, Scott Sanders, Roy Furman and Quincy Jones] have chosen EMI-Angel for the release of the original Broadway cast CD of the show," EMI Jazz and Classic CEO and President Bruce Lundvall said in a statement. "It's the best Broadway score I've heard in years and has songs that will reach a wider audience than just Broadway. That's why I've decided to record 'What About Love?' with Patti and Jill and release it as a single to radio."