Music From Baz Luhrmann's Film The Great Gatsby

“The Great Gatsby” writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann and collaborators Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, an executive producer on the film, and Anton Monsted, its executive music supervisor, revealed the lineup for the movie’s soundtrack, which encompasses the broad spectrum of musical styles represented in this energetic re-telling of the classic text.

Drawing on his unique and unrivalled position in popular culture, JAY Z (with collaborator and the film’s executive music consultant Jeymes Samuel) has worked with Luhrmann and his team on the project over the past two years, translating the Jazz Age sensibility of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel into the musical equivalents of our own times, through the blending of hip-hop, traditional jazz and other contemporary musical textures.

JAY Z’s own “No Church in the Wild,” which he was recording when he and Luhrmann first came together, is included in the film, along with his original “100$ Bill.” The first single to drop will be the hauntingly melodious track “Young and Beautiful,” from recent Brit Award winner for Best International Female Solo Artist, Lana Del Rey. Del Rey collaborated with Luhrmann in creating the song. Del Rey said, “It was an honor to work with Baz Lurhmann on his amazing adaptation of one of the most extraordinary books ever written. The movie is highly glamorous and exciting; Rick Nowels and I were thrilled to write the song for the film.”

Luhrmann also worked personally alongside good friends and collaborators Florence Welch, of Florence + The Machine, and The xx. The highly eclectic soundtrack also features songs performed by such artists as Beyoncé x André 3000; Fergie + Q Tip + GoonRock; Coco O. of Quadron, Gotye; Nero; and Sia. Moviegoers will also recognize a few favorites with a new twist, such as Jack White’s interpretation of U2’s “Love Is Blindness,” Beyoncé x André 3000 collaborating on Amy Winehouse’s “Back to Black,” and Bryan Ferry’s new take on a couple of classics: his own “Love Is The Drug,” and, with Emeli Sandé, Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love.” New songs by Florence + The Machine, Lana Del Rey, Nero, will.i.am and The xx were written for scenes in the film, and appear on the soundtrack.