Sophie Ellis Bextor delighted her children with her new single.
The 44-year-old pop star is married to Richard Jones and has Sonny, 19, Kit, 16, Ray, nine, Jesse, seven, and four-year-old Mickey Jones with him and admitted it felt “really special” to record ‘As Long As I Belong’ – which will serve as the theme song for Channel 4 and Universal Pictures’ adaptation of Judith Kerr’s children’s book, ‘Mog’s Christmas’ later this year – because the feline character has been a part of their lives for so long.
She said: “When I told my kids I’d been asked to sing Mog’s song, they couldn’t really believe it because Mog has been part of our world since my eldest was small, and he’s 20 next year. It feels really special.”
The ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ hitmaker has teamed up with lyricist Don Black – who is noted for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber – and composer David Arnold for the project, who claimed he would have been “annoyed” if anyone else had been chosen to work on the track.
He said: “I’d have been really annoyed if they’d have asked someone else – it takes you back to the days when you were reading the book to your kids, so it’s a lovely thing to be asked to do!”
Don – who has worked on the likes of ‘Tel Me on a Sunday’ and ‘Starlight Express’ – described the new track as a “dream project” for someone such as himself, especially after working on the adaptation of Judith Kerr’s famous picture book.
He said: “We both had such a great time doing ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ that it was an easy decision to come back for ‘Mog’ – it’s a dream project for a lyricist!”
‘As Long As I Belong’ will debut in December along with the film.