''The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical'' is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

by Abigail Barlow and

Emily Bear Emily Jordan Bear (born August 30, 2001) is an American composer, pianist, songwriter and singer. After beginning to play the piano and compose music as a small child, Bear made her professional piano debut at the Ravinia Festival at the age of ...

based on season 1 of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Bridgerton ''Bridgerton'' is an American historical- romance streaming television series created by Chris Van Dusen for Netflix. Based on the book series by Julia Quinn, it is Shondaland's first scripted show for Netflix. It revolves around the epony ...

''. They developed the songs on the album on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

in early 2021 in a series of live sessions, during which they received and incorporated viewer feedback. Released in September 2021, the album charted on ''Billboard'' and elsewhere. It later won the 2022

Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award is generally given to the album producer, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more play ...

and was the first Grammy winner to be developed on

. Barlow and Bear became the youngest nominees and winners ever in their Grammy category. Barlow and Bear promoted the album by appearing at various venues and on television and online to perform songs from album. In July 2022, they organized a live concert performance of the musical at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

with notable guest soloists such as

Kelli O'Hara Kelli Christine O'Hara (born April 16, 1976) is an American actress and singer, most known for her work on the Broadway and opera stages. A seven-time Tony Award nominee, O'Hara won the 2015 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her per ...

. The same month, Netflix sued the two in U.S. federal court for copyright infringement and to prevent further live performances, but it dropped the suit in September after a reported settlement.

Conception and development

In January 2021, singer-songwriter Abigail Barlow posted a

video in which she asked, "What if ''Bridgerton'' was a musical?" and sang a verse of a song that she had written based on a line uttered by a character in the

series ''

''. Before posting the video, she sent the song to her writing partner, composer-producer

, who arranged the number. The video received wide attention, and so Barlow and Bear teamed up to write more songs inspired by the first season of the TV series. The two livestreamed their songwriting and recording sessions from Los Angeles in early 2021, inviting and incorporating viewer suggestions, and posted demos of the songs on TikTok and other social media. Members of ''Bridgerton's'' cast, the author of the ''Bridgerton'' series of novels, and Netflix expressed their admiration of the musical numbers, and Netflix did not stand in the way of the release of an album of the songs. By September 2021, Barlow and Bear had received more than 200 million views and 48 million likes on TikTok. The two performed several of the songs in New York City at

Elsie Fest Elsie Fest is an annual music festival in New York City co-created and produced by Darren Criss, Ricky Rollins, Lea Michele, and Jordan Roth. The yearly festival is touted as "New York City’s first outdoor music festival celebrating tunes from t ...

in August 2021 and in London in November, with Bear at the piano and Barlow doing most of the singing, along with several guest artists.Brown, Abram
"From Bella Poarch to a ''Bridgerton'' Musical, Meet Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Social Media"
''Forbes'', December 1, 2021

Production and release

Bear orchestrated and produced a

consisting of 15 of the songs, ''The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical'', with Barlow again singing most of the vocals, and Bear singing the rest; they released the album on September 10, 2021. It debuted at No. 3 on the

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart and No. 36 on the

Top Album Sales Top Album Sales is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine starting in December 2014. It is a weekly chart documenting the best-selling albums on a weekly basis in the United States. Up until December 2014, this had been documented by th ...

chart, among other ''Billboard'' charts."Heatseekers Albums""Top Album Sales""Independent Albums""Emerging Artists"
an
"Top Current Album Sales"
''Billboard'', September 25, 2021

Post-release

Bear and Barlow performed a song from the album, "Ocean Away", with

Darren Criss Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He rose to fame starring on the television series ''Glee'' (2010–2015) and received Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards for his leading role as spree ...

at the

50th anniversary concert in September, which aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

on October 1, 2021. The two performed "Burn for You" from the album on ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' in April 2022 and "Alone Together" on ''

The Kelly Clarkson Show ''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and segm ...

'' in May.

Grammy Award

The album won the 2022

. It is the first Grammy awarded to a project that originated on TikTok.Tangcay, Jazz
"''Unofficial Bridgerton Musical'' Becomes First Grammy-Winning Album to Originate on TikTok"
''Variety'', April 3, 2022 Bear and Barlow were the youngest Grammy nominees, and youngest winners, in the musical theater category.Burack, Emily
"The ''Unofficial Bridgerton Musical'' Wins a Grammy"
'' Town & Country'', April 4, 2022

Live concert and lawsuit

In July 2022, Bear and Barlow performed the album live in concert with the

National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National Mem ...

, conducted by

Steven Reineke Steven Reineke (born September 14, 1970) is a conductor, composer, and arranger from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the Music Director of The New York Pops. He currently resides in New York City. Biography Reineke was born in 1970 in Tipp City, Ohio a ...

, at the Kennedy Center. Guest soloists were

Solea Pfeiffer Solea Pfeiffer is a Zimbabwe-born American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Eliza Hamilton in the first national tour of ''Hamilton'', which she landed after performing as Maria in ''West Side Story'' at the Hollywood Bowl. ...

Micaela Diamond Micaela Diamond (born July 17, 1999) is an American actor and singer mostly known for her role as Babe in the Broadway musical ''The Cher Show''. She performed alongside Stephanie J. Block and Teal Wicks as the youngest version of Cher. Early ...

Ephraim Sykes Ephraim Manessah Sykes (born July 17, 1985 in St. Petersburg, Florida) is an American actor and singer. Sykes played the role of George Eacker in the Broadway musical ''Hamilton''. In December 2016, he played Seaweed J. Stubbs in NBC's live prod ...

Denée Benton Denée Ayana Benton (born December 31, 1991) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her performance as Natasha Rostova in the 2016 musical '' Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812'' on Broadway, for which she was nominated ...

Emmy Raver-Lampman Emmy Raver-Lampman (born Emily Christine Raver Lampman, September 5, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She began her career working in musical theater, and has performed in various Broadway and national touring productions such as '' Hair ...

, Jason Gotay and

, with direction by Sammi Cannold. A similar concert was planned for September 2022 at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in London with the

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale symp ...

, but it was cancelled following the initiation of the Netflix lawsuit against Barlow and Bear. In late July 2022, Netflix sued Barlow and Bear in U.S. federal court for copyright infringement and to enjoin further live performances, claiming that the company had objected to live concerts of the album and that Barlow and Bear had refused a licensing deal with Netflix. The lawsuit also alleged that live shows competed with Netflix's own live touring "Bridgerton Experience". The company discontinued the case in September 2022 after a reported settlement.Maddaus, Gene
"Netflix Settles Copyright Lawsuit Over ''Unofficial Bridgerton Musical''"
''Variety'', September 23, 2022

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

*
"The Rise & Fall of the ''Unofficial Bridgerton Musical''"
August 2022 feature on the background of the musical and the lawsuit {{DEFAULTSORT:Unofficial Bridgerton Musical 2021 albums 2021 debut albums Bridgerton Concept albums Unofficial adaptations Self-released albums TikTok Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album