Raising their voices. One Republic singer Ryan Tedder revealed how the band is making a difference during the global coronavirus crisis, despite delaying their album.
The 40-year-old singer-songwriter shared his two cents about the ways that artists can be of service during the current pandemic during a conversation with USA Today on Monday, April 13. Though his band was planning on releasing a new song before summer, Tedder admitted “it’s really hard to get anyone to pay attention” to new music at a time like this. Instead of trying to “compete with the news cycle,” the Grammy nominated band chose to use their platform to make a positive change.
“We have this huge record that we wanted to drop in mid-May that we now won’t. It’s a summer song, it’s like the Beach Boys, it feels like such a hit, but I’m not going to do it in the middle of a pandemic,” Tedder explained. “So much of what OneRepublic does is driven by television. We do a lot of TV, but at that point, the Today show canceled. Ellen canceled. Everything canceled … I’m not going to go put out an album I spent the better part of 6 to 12 months working on in a vacuum.”
The “Counting Stars” singer went on to describe the new single, “Better Days,” as a “non-cheesy anthem about what it feels like now to be in this time and space we’re in.” However, he said that the only way he felt comfortable putting out a new project in this uncertain time was if his band was able to donate proceeds to charity. “I felt weird saying, ‘Come buy my stuff, check me out.’ Meanwhile, people are sick and dying,” Tedder added.
As the COVID-19 crisis grows more serious, a number of prominent artists have announced that they were postponing their tours or new albums until it was safe to gather in large groups again. While concerts might be on hold for the foreseeable future, Tedder has no doubt that the music industry will bounce back after social distancing precautions are safely lifted.
“Do I think 2021 might break every concert attendance record of any previous year in history? Absolutely,” the Songland star said. “The only thing we can do is put measures in place of preparedness, and we will be so freakin’ prepared for the next pandemic that we’ll be able to meet it head-on.”
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