Doja Cat‘s “Vegas” will be the first single from the soundtrack to the upcoming Baz Luhrmann Elvis biopic. RCA Records announced on Tuesday (April 26) that the song — which interpolates Big Mama Thornton’s 1952 foundational rock and roll song “Hound Dog” — will be the first taste of ELVIS Original Motion Picture Soundtrack when it drops on May 6.
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Doja debuted the single during her Coachella performances over the past two weekends and brought out gospel singer Shonka Dukureh — who plays Thornton in the film — for the sets. The movie, which stars Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as the late rock icon’s controversial manager, Colonel Tom Parker, will open in theaters on June 24.
Dukureh will appear on the soundtrack alongside Yola, who portrays another foundational rock pre-cursor, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, in the film. The full line-up and release date of the soundtrack album have not yet been announced.
Luhrmann was on hand for the Coachella preview, posting snippets of Doja’s performance in which Doja tells the Indio, California crowd, “I just made a song for the new Elvis movie directed by Baz Luhrmann, it’s called ‘Vegas,'” before the sound of Dukureh’s growly, rough interpolation of “Hound Dog” bubbles up over the song’s trap-like beat.
He also gave a big shout-out to Yola for killing it in the film (and on the soundtrack) as well. “Couldn’t wait for Elvis Thursday to post this pic of the strong self-visioned artist with a powerhouse voice full of song, plus a beautiful soul, Yola!” he said. “Performing at Coachella this weekend, here she is recording in Nashville with us for the film. She was so devoted to playing the role, she came all the way to Australia and captured the detail of how Sister Rosetta Tharpe expressed herself on stage for the film as well.”
Check out a preview of “Vegas” below, as well as pics and video of Luhrmann at Coachella with Doja and Kukureh.