Will.i.am Broadcasts New Song From Mars For "Universal Premiere," Puts Humanity In Interstellar Risk
posted in: Music News • Pop • Urban
Will.i.am is boldly going where no pop star has gone before. The frontman of The Black Eyed Peas has been building buzz for his solo debut, #willpower, but couldn’t limit himself to simple terrestrial methods of self-promotion. For the debut of his new track “Reach For The Stars,” will.i.am knew that he need to do something special. Something out of this world.
So he shot for the Moon and landed on Mars.
Will.i.am made history yesterday when he – with the help of NASA and American taxpayers – played “Reach For The Stars” for the entire universe to hear via the Curiosity rover currently galavanting across the martian countryside.
As NME notes, the song was only broadcast from Curiosity. As the rover doesn’t have any speakers or other means to generate sound, the track was not heard on the surface of Mars itself. Pity.
But in all seriousness, will.i.am kinda earned this one. The man is a big booster of science and education. He was also one of the lucky few celebrities, along with Wil Wheaton, Seth Green, and Morgan Freeman, who got to watch Curiosity’s landing live.
This isn’t the first time that NASA has beamed music out into the cosmos either; the space agency beamed The Beatles’ “Across The Universe” out in honor of the song’s 40th anniversary. So artists, take note. If you want your song to be played in space, just give it a title that references stars or galaxies or something. Apparently NASA goes gaga over that stuff.
Check out a behind the scenes look at how the broadcast of “Reach For The Stars” came together below. Buy the single on iTunes here, with proceeds going to fund inner city schools.
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