THE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED REMIXES FROM FRANKIE KNUCKLES & ERIC KUPPER
OUT ON BLUFIRE / PEACE BISQUIT AUGUST 22ND
In Honour Of Frankie Knuckles Day (AUG 25TH)
Ten years ago, legendary singer, songwriter, DJ, producer and now podcast host Ultra Naté stepped into the studio with Destiny’s Child member – and GRAMMY Award-winning gospel singer – Michelle Williams. The pair recorded ‘WAITING ON YOU’, one of the stand-out tracks on what would be Ultra’s 8th studio album, the critically acclaimed ‘HERO WORSHIP’.
LISTEN TO ‘WAITING ON YOU’ ON ALL DSPS
A decade on, Ultra gifts fans something extra special to celebrate the album’s milestone anniversary. Released from her personal vault of previously commercially unreleased music comes a collection of remixes produced by dance floor royalty, Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper, under their Director’s Cut alias. Reworking the original R&B-etched house duet to perfection, Frankie and Eric whip up a set of light, airy, piano-tinged mixes that sound as good today as they did ten years ago. Flawless and absolutely timeless.
“This is such a full circle moment,” Ultra says warmly, “realising the Hero Worship album is celebrating a 10 year anniversary this year, and honouring it by releasing this epic remix which features the beautiful and talented Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child. Big love to Michelle for joining me on this disco adventure!
“The remix was blessed by my mentor, big brother and cultural icon, Frankie Knuckles – officially ‘The Godfather of House Music’, who at the time, was making his way back into remix and production work as ‘Director’s Cut’ along with Eric Kupper. ‘Waiting On You’ has always been a centrepiece of the Hero Worship album and there’s no better time than now, to drop it for Frankie Knuckles Day, coming August 25th.
“It’s important for us to continue celebrating the legacy of someone so important to the culture of house & dance music, this gorgeous slice of diva-fied classic house does just that for the generations!”
Still only halfway through 2023, Ultra is on track for one of her most successful years yet. Riding high on the 2022 release of tenth studio album ‘ULTRA’, soon to be released as a Deluxe package with brand new music, she recently joined forces with Paris Hilton to release one of the most hyped dance music podcasts in recent memory, ‘THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST NIGHTCLUBS’. Exploring the stories and legends behind iconic venues like Manchester’s Hacienda, NYC’s Danceteria and Paradise Garage, Tokyo’s Womb and Berlin’s Berghain, Ultra and Paris indulge their shared love of the dance floor. Two of her biggest global hits – FREE, and IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND with Amber & Jocelyn Enriquez – celebrated quarter century anniversaries. A recent Herve Pagez Summer rework of FREE (LIVE YOUR LIFE) set international dance floors alight, while Tommy Boy Records delivered a goldmine of previously unreleased remixes for IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND. With multiple global tour dates, including her own Deep Sugar nights Stateside and countless worldwide Prides and Festivals, Ultra continues to be as essential to dance music today as she ever has been.
Ultra Naté & Michelle Williams ‘WAITING ON YOU’ (Frankie Knuckles & Eric Kupper Director’s Cut Tribute Mixes) is out now to stream and download on all DSPs via BluFire / Peace Bisquit.
ABOUT ULTRA NATÉ:
Named one of Billboard Magazine’s Greatest Dance Artists Of All Time, and with a career spanning three decades and spawning massive crowd stompers such as Twisted, Automatic, Party Girl, New Kind Of Medicine, Found A Cure, How Long (Ultra Flava), If You Could Read My Mind, and the seminal, evergreen anthem Free, US singer, songwriter, DJ and producer Ultra Naté continues to be an integral force within the life blood of global House Music.
One of the first house music artists to sign a major label deal with she inked paper with Warner Music UK, Ultra Naté’s sound has continually embraced a variety of genres including House, Soul, Disco, Electro-Pop, R&B, HipHop and Rock. Her catalogue is one steeped in timeless classics, impressive accolades and creative highlights with everyone from The Basement Boys, Nellee Hooper, D-Influence, Mood II Swing, Nona Hendryx, Lenny Kravitz and Frankie Knuckles, to N’Dea Davenport, NERVO, Todd Terry, Michelle Williams (Destiny’s Child), 4 Hero, Deee-lite, Masters At Work, Roger Sanchez and more.
Ultra’s biggest single ‘Free’ shows no sign of letting up, 25 years after its original release. Ultra a widely noted ally of the international LBGTQIA+ community, Free was universally named one of the Top Pride anthems of all time during 2019’s unprecedented global World Pride celebrations. In 2020 Tomorrowland’s influential One World Radio included the track in the Top 10 of its ‘Best Ibiza Anthems of All Time’. In 2021, Ultra was invited by dance maestro Pete Tong to close out his Ibiza Classics tour with Jules Buckley and the Heritage Orchestra, performing Free in front of crowds of up to 90,000. June 2022 saw Swedish Pop duo Icona Pop collaborate with Ultra for a revised version of Free, titled You’re Free and aptly released on Ultra Records. In July 2022 Ultra gave a historic performance of Free at a sold out Wembley Stadium for the Women’s Euro 2022 final, alongside Becky Hill and Stefflon Don. In October 2022, at the invitation of Pete Tong, Ultra returned to the UK to record a sensational new Orchestral version of Free (Do What U Want) with LP Giobbi and Jules Buckley that incorporates Rozalla’s classic, Everybody’s Free, exclusively for Amazon Music on Ministry of Sound.
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