What song from an animated film was the first to top the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart?
Remember that scene from Aladdin, the 1992 American animated musical fantasy, where the titular character Aladdin sings A Whole New World to Princess Jasmine aboard a magical carpet? Well, this musical single from Walt Disney Studios film sung by American recording artists, Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle, went on to achieve iconic status. It reached number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States and stayed for a week, ending on March 6, 1993.
Oh, that must be a huge musical feat back then! But what is a musical single and what is the US Billboard Hot 100 chart? Okay, simply put, a musical single is a song that is released independently of an album. On the other hand, Billboard Hot 100 chart is a standard record chart for songs in the United States, published weekly by the Billboard magazine that releases the list of most liked songs each week. Now, let us take you through some amazing yet lesser-known facts about this song.
Disney's biggest musical hit from an animated movie
You'll probably hear it on every Disney playlist and in Disney theme parks throughout the world too! It had taken the place of American singer and actress Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You which had spent a record 14 weeks at the top of the charts at the time. What is the second all-time highest-charting song from a Disney movie on the Hot 100 Billboard Charts? We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Encanto, another animated movie from the Disney umbrella, released in 2021.
It grabbed many awards including the coveted Oscar
At the 65th Academy Awards held in 1993, the song won an Academy Award for the Best Original Song. Moreover, it was also awarded a Golden Globe for the Best Original Song at the 50th Golden Globe Awards held the same year. Well, the song’s award-winning spree did not end here. At the 36th Annual Grammy Awards, A Whole New World also won in the categories Song of the Year and Best Song (Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television), making it the first and only Disney song to win in the former category! Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle's rendition was also nominated for Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in the same year, winning the latter.
Covered by many
Since its release, several individuals have covered A Whole New World on different platforms. American boy band LMNT and American singers Jessica Simpson, and Nick Lachey covered the song in the album series DisneyMania 2 (2004) and DisneyMania 3 (2005). Nick Pitera, a Pixar employee, sang both male and female characters in the song and uploaded it on YouTube in 2007. He received a whopping 30 million views by 2013! A Japanese hip-hop/Electronic Dance Music group sang the song for Electronic Disney Music. An ukulele version of the song was recorded by Malaysian singer Yuna to promote Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Ko Olina. Lastly, it was also a part of a mashup as an introduction to ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’.