September 27th 2024.
As long as pop music has been around, it's been no secret that singers often collaborate with other musicians in the recording studio. The goal? To take an ordinary song and turn it into something truly amazing. Some of these collaborations are well-known, like when Mick Jagger lent his iconic voice to Carly Simon's hit "You're So Vain" back in 1972. But there are others that have remained hidden, like John Legend's background vocals on Estelle's "American Boy" in 2008, featuring Kanye West.
It's tough to say which song has had the greatest guest vocalist cover-up, but the recent reveal of a 'secret' singer on Justin Timberlake's 2002 hit single "Cry Me A River" has certainly caused a stir. The song, which was released as the second single from the singer's debut album Justified, was an immediate success and even earned Justin multiple awards, including a Grammy for best male pop vocal performance, and topped charts in both the UK and US.
But what many people don't know is that some of the best vocals on the hit, particularly the whiny but infectious falsetto "Cry me, cry me" on the outro, aren't actually from Justin himself. Shocking, right? Well, it turns out that those vocals were actually performed by English musician Marsha Ambrosius, who recently revealed her involvement in an interview with The Shade Room.
As she sang the outro during the interview, Marsha couldn't help but smile as she admitted, "it was that, I'm the barbecue." Confused? Don't worry, she explained that this is a term she's seen on Twitter, where people say things like "oh did you hear those vocals? He can absolutely come to the barbecue." But in this case, it was actually her vocals that were featured on the song. Marsha clarified that she wasn't trying to throw shade at the rest of the song, as Justin is a great singer, but she couldn't help but acknowledge the reactions from fans when they found out she was the "barbecue sauce" on the track.
While Marsha was credited on the song, her involvement still surprised many fans. However, it was never actually a secret, as she was credited in the liner notes of the album. In a 2014 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Marsha recalled how she ended up on the single, explaining that they sound so similar that barely anyone even noticed her vocals. She matched her voice to Justin's in the booth and sang lines like "You don't have to say, what you did" and the outro.
The news of Marsha's involvement sparked a variety of reactions from fans. Some were shocked, like Instagram user raisingayoungking who commented, "Now I gotta go RE-listen to 'Cry Me A River' because that falsetto was def the best part! Justin you played me for a fool
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
