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Gregg Alexander, the frontman for the 1990s band The New Radicals who left the public eye for 15 years before returning to it as a co-writer of the songs on the soundtrack to John Carney‘s indie Begin Again, surprised guests at The Hollywood Reporter‘s post-Hollywood Film Awards party on Friday evening with only his second public performance in the last 15 years. (His first came earlier this month at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, at which he also took home a prize.)
Alexander thrilled a crowd of several hundred — which included Michael Keaton, Mike Myers, Shep Gordon, Janelle Monae, Gayle King, Emily Ratajkowski, Patrick Fugit and Queen Latifah — with a three-song medley: He opened with The New Radicals’ biggest hit, “You Get What You Give,” which he hadn’t performed since 1999; then moved on to “The Game of Love,” which he co-wrote under a pseudonym for Santana in 2002, and for which he ultimately won a Grammy; and closed with “Lost Stars,” the Begin Again single — co-written with Danielle Brisebois, Nick Lashley and Nick Southwood and performed in the film by Adam Levine and Keira Knightley, separately — that many, including me, regard as a frontrunner for this year’s best original song Oscar.
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The 44-year-old was introduced to the stage by legendary record producer Quincy Jones — who factors into this year’s Oscar race himself, having produced the highly acclaimed music-centric documentary Keep On Keepin’ On — as “a singer and songwriter who’s responsible for some of the most memorable tunes of the last 15 years.” Despite warning the crowd that he was battling a sinus infection, Alexander proceeded to blow the roof off the place, as you can see for yourself in the videos above (which features highlights of Jones’ intro and Alexander’s performance of the three songs) and below (the full performance of “Lost Stars”).
Twitter: @ScottFeinberg
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