"Loyal Brave True" is a song recorded by American singer and songwriter Christina Aguilera, taken from the soundtrack to the 2020

action drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...

''. Co-written by Billy Crabtree, Harry Gregson-Williams,

Jamie Hartman Jamie Hartman (born 1971) is an English songwriter and producer based in Nashville, Tennessee, and the former lead singer of the indie-pop band Ben's Brother. Early life Hartman was born and raised in London. Career Ben's Brother Hartman formed ...

and

Rosi Golan Rosi Golan is an Israeli singer-songwriter. Since 2008 she has released two LPs (Lead Balloon and The Drifter & the Gypsy) and two EPs (Fortuna and Collecting Bullets). Her songs have been featured in feature films such as '' Dear John'' and '' ...

, the song was released as a single on March 6, 2020 by Walt Disney Records. "Loyal Brave True" received a nomination for the Soundtrack Song of 2020 at the

46th People's Choice Awards The 46th ceremony of the People's Choice Awards was held on November 15, 2020, to honor the best in popular culture for 2020. The show was hosted by Demi Lovato and was broadcast live by E! at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. The ...

. It was also shortlisted as one of fifteen potential nominees for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Background and composition

The song is a pop ballad, co-written by Billy Crabtree, Harry Gregson-Williams, Jamie Hartman and Rosi Golan. Hartman, who also produced "Loyal Brave True", has previously worked with Aguilera on her seventh studio album ''

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

'' (2012), writing and co-producing a dance-pop song "

Army of Me "Army of Me" is a song recorded by Icelandic musician Björk for her second studio album ''Post (Björk album), Post'' (1995). It was released on 24 April 1995 by One Little Indian Records, One Little Indian as the lead single from the album. T ...

". It was Mitchell Leib, the president of music and soundtracks for the Walt Disney Studios, who opted Aguilera for the project, as she already recorded a song for the 1998's ''

''. As Gregson-Williams disclosed, "From the demo to the final song, there was a massive leap in the intensity of the song, mainly due to the fact that Christina was going to sing it." Hartman and Gregson-Williams incorporated classic Chinese musice influences in the song—one of the instruments used during the recording sessions was

guzheng The zheng () or gu zheng (), is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from ''Paulownia'' wood. Other co ...

Critical reception

In April 2020, ''Entertainment Focus'' named "Loyal Brave True" one of the best pop songs of the year so far. '' Entertainment Weekly'' editor Joey Nolfi praised Aguilera for her "powerhouse vocals", while Bianca Gracie of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' believed that the song is "filled with the undeniable warrior spirit we've all come to love

for, but also updates the lead character's story for the 21st century". '' Bleeding Cools Jeremy Konrad stated that Aguilera's strong voice "matches what is increasingly looking like an epic, powerful film". In December 2020, the ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

'' editor Mike Wass named "Loyal Brave True" one of the best pop songs of the year, as well as one of the most underrated songs of the year. After the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards were announced, Kory Grow of '' Rolling Stone'' wrote that the song was "surprisingly snubbed" for Best Original Song.

Music videos

Lyric videos for both "Loyal Brave True" and "El Mejor Guerrero" premiered on YouTube on March 6, 2020, along with the single. A short teaser of the music video for "Loyal Brave True" was publicized on August 13, and the next day the video was released in its full form. A Spanish-language video for "El Mejor Guerrero" premiered on YouTube's DisneyMusicVEVO channel simultaneously.

Legacy

In November 2021, Pamela Yuri covered the song on the tenth season of a reality talent show '' The Voice Brasil''. The same year it was performed by Gabriela Marszał during the blind auditions of '' The Voice Kids Poland''.

Accolades

Credits and personnel

;Personnel Credits adapted from Tidal.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs 2020s ballads Christina Aguilera songs Pop ballads Songs from Mulan (franchise) Songs written by Jamie Hartman Walt Disney Records singles Songs written by Rosi Golan