Last month, Nashville pop-rock upstarts Hot Chelle Rae premiered their new single “Hung Up,” the first look at the follow-up to their 2011 sophomore album “Whatever.” Frontman Ryan Follesé also told Billboard that the group recently re-recorded the Hall & Oates classic “You Make My Dreams” with John Oates, in a collaboration that will be released later this year.
“I have known John since I was a kid, and I asked him, ‘If this is okay with you, we want to record your song and I’d love you to be a part of it,'” recalls Follesé. “He came back in and sang all the original background, brought the guitar he used on the song, and we rearranged it, just slightly, with him. It was really cool, because whenever you’re changing something on such a classic song, you never know if you will get disapproval. And we did it with him, and he helped us reshape a classic song.”
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Working with Oates happened to be on Follesé’s personal bucket list — but the singer of “Tonight, Tonight” and “I Like It Like That” has an array of music stars he’s dreamed of collaborating with. From the R&B girl running the world to the sadly deceased leader of Queen, check out the Hot Chelle Rae singer’s quintet of dream collaborators in the latest edition of Pop Shop’s “Gimme Five” series:
1. Missy Elliott
Ryan Follesé: “I think that her style has just been untouched. I feel like, if any one of her hits came out today, if they had never been heard before, I think it would still be a hit. Missy Elliot’s just amazing.”
2. Will.i.am
“I’m a huge fan. I don’t know if it would be for our project or what it would be for, but I would love to just sing something that he produces. He’s such an interesting artists in terms of hook approach.”
3. Calvin Harris
“I would love to sing a chorus or write a song with Calvin Harris, just because I appreciate that style of music so much.”
4. Freddie Mercury
“Can it be alive or dead? If [both], then absolutely Freddie Mercury. I’m not going to say the Beatles because that is not fair, and nobody wants to hear that.”
5. Beyonce
“Let’s give her what she deserves: Beyonce. It doesn’t even matter if it’s ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ — I would do pretty much any type of collaboration with Beyonce.”