Rock Star Pope: Francis to release 'Wake Up!' debut album in November
The rock and roll pontiff, coming soon to iTunes.
Is this whole American tour by Pope Francis just a publcity set up for the launch of the People's Pope's career as a real rock star?
On the eve of the Holy Father's arrival in Philadelphia, it was announced on Friday that on November 27, Francis will release Wake Up!, a collection of 11 hymns drawn from the sacred music tradition reimagined by modern musicians and overlayed with excerpts from the Francis' speeches.
The Vatican sanctioned release is produced by Don Giulio Nerona and features the multi-lingual pontiff dropping knowledge in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and English. Among the papal collaborators is Tony Pagliuca, formerly of Italian prog-rock band Le Orme. He told Rolling Stone: "When Don Giulio Neroni asked me to collaborate on this CD, I immediately accepted with enthusiasm. Putting my music in the service of the words and the voice of Pope Francis has been a fantastic experience and a very interesting artistic challenge."
An excerpt from the awesomely titled Pagliuca produced title track, "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!," which features excerpts from a Papal sermon in South Korea, can he heard here. The album can be pre-ordered on iTunes here. To listen to my Pope Francis inspired Papal Playlist on Spotify, go here.
Previously: A Papal Playlist Follow In The Mix on Twitter