Beyoncé's New, Original 'Lion King' Song Is the Power Anthem of 2019

• Early this morning, the new original Beyoncé single "Spirit" from The Lion King soundtrack was released (opens in new tab).
• Surprising absolutely no one, the song is gooooorgeous and so powerful (and will hopefully nab her an Oscar).
• Later this month, Beyoncé and Meghan Markle may meet at the premiere in London (opens in new tab)—which would be yet another iconic moment.

So, we knew that Beyoncé was giving us a new song in connection with the new Lion King film. Finally, everyone's patience was rewarded: the single, "Spirit," was just released early this morning, making everyone in the Beyhive (and anyone who's a fan of The Lion King original music, so basically everyone on Earth) lose their collective minds. The new single is the perfect combination of nostalgia for the original film, a vehicle for Beyoncé's out-of-this-world vocals, and glorious, powerful lyrics. "Watch the light lift your heart up/Burn your flame through the night" had me in tears, people. I'm calling it now: This is the power anthem of 2019. I really needed this right now. 

According to director Jon Favreau, the fact that it sounds so perfect with the vibe of the movie is deliberate:

“We have all the original songs, but there’s a song that [Beyoncé] performed and wrote in the spirit of the production along with working with Lebo M., who’s part of it with Hans Zimmer...They were all collaborating with her and helping to bring this new piece of music into a film where there’s already a very established musical personality to the piece...So it was nice of them to have them working with her to allow the new song to feel organically a part of the new production."

And that's not all—apparently we're getting a whole album. According to The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab), "Disney on Tuesday announced on social media that the Lemonade performer would be producing and curating The Lion King: The Gift, a new album of songs featuring global recording artists and 'steeped in the sounds of Africa,' which is set to bow July 19."

Here's the song:

Ok, but seriously, please let the song be nominated for an Oscar so that we can get a live performance of it, so that I can start weeping all over again. Can you even imagine how beautiful that would be?? I'm already adding it to all my playlists so by that point, I'll know all the words by heart.

Beyoncé walked the red carpet for the film premiere literally dripping in diamonds while all this news was unfolding around her:

Bow down, everybody. Nala's here.

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