MGM Resorts International announced the release of UNIVERSAL LOVE, a collection of reimagined wedding songs for the LGBTQ community, celebrating the enduring and overwhelming power of love and music to unite.
UNIVERSAL LOVE offers six newly recorded versions of iconic love songs that give same-sex couples a soundtrack for their own love stories and feature pronouns changed to reflect the world of LGBTQ relationships.
The album includes boundary-changing songs from some of today’s most-beloved artists. Bob Dylan, one of the most influential and successful recording artists in American history, is among the visionary artists participating in this unprecedented project. Dylan re-recorded “She’s Funny That Way” as “He’s Funny That Way.” The album features five additional stellar artists whose involvement is a testament to the urgency of equality in entertainment: Kesha (“I Need a Woman to Love Me”), St. Vincent (“And Then She Kissed Me”), Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (“And I Love Him”), Kele Okereke of Bloc Party (“My Guy“), and Valerie June (“Mad About The Girl”).
Phyllis James, MGM Resorts’ Chief Diversity & Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, said, “We believe projects like this will help all of us reach a point where seeing the world through the lens of people who happen to be different from us becomes natural and commonplace. It is an immense honor for MGM Resorts to spearhead this inspirational project which celebrates LGBTQ dimensions of the universal emotion of love.”
UNIVERSAL LOVE is a natural extension of MGM’s two decades of advocacy work with the LGBTQ community and the company’s desire to advance initiatives that unite humanity. More than a decade before same-sex marriage was legalized, same-sex commitment ceremonies were performed at chapels at MGM Resorts’ properties. In 2004, MGM Resorts became the first company in the gaming and hospitality industry to offer same-sex health benefits to employees, and MGM was a founding partner of the Las Vegas chapter of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in 2004.
MGM Resorts is a leader in all aspects of the entertainment industry (hospitality, gaming, live events, etc.) and believes in the transformational power of entertainment for all. MGM’s launch of UNIVERSAL LOVE reinforces an inclusive vision of unions that more closely mirrors the incredible diversity of today’s relationships.
The compilation album was produced by MGM Resorts in conjunction with global advertising agency McCann and will be distributed by Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music. UNIVERSAL LOVE is available on all streaming platforms beginning today.
UNIVERSAL LOVE TRACK LISTING
01 “HE’S FUNNY THAT WAY” • BOB DYLAN
02 “AND THEN SHE KISSED ME” • ST VINCENT
03 “MY GUY” • KELE OKEREKE
04 “MAD ABOUT THE GIRL” • VALERIE JUNE
05 “AND I LOVE HIM” • BENJAMIN GIBBARD
06 “I NEED A WOMAN TO LOVE ME” • KESHA
