Barbie's Ryan Gosling releases Christmas version of 'I'm Just Ken'
Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson have created a festive version of Barbie tune 'I'm Just Ken'.
In this year's pink phenomenon of the big screen, Gosling made Mattel's Ken doll into an icon of modern cinema, joining Margot Robbie's Barbie on a trip to the real world while busting out some bombastic ballads.
You can watch, listen and, if you wish, sing along to the Christmas revamp of the song, titled 'I'm Just Ken (Merry Kristmas Barbie)' in its entirety here:
The release comes on the same day that it was announced the 'I'm Just Ken' scene won the Digital Spy Reader Award for Most Mind-Blowing Movie Moment. In total, Barbie won four awards.
Unveiling a clip of their post-Barbie collaboration on Instagram yesterday (December 19), producer Ronson revealed to his followers how the 'I'm Just Ken' revamp came about.
"We first recorded this song back in March 2022 at a studio in North London called Eastcote. I'd never met Ryan & was a little starstruck when he walked into this no-frills studio where the Clash once made records," Ronson's caption began.
So the story goes: the pair enjoyed a quick cuppa before heading into the studio's control room, with Gosling being allotted just two hours by the Barbie bosses to nail the track.
"Andrew [Wyatt] & I had written a song with different sections, a number of modulations and the vocal was pretty unhinged at moments.
"Well, it only took 2 or 3 warm up takes for me to realise not only was he going to be able to handle the vocal but it was going to far exceed anything Andrew and I could have hoped for," recalled Ronson.
"Not only did he bring a broken falsetto, a hefty growl, & everything in between, he brought the emotional resonance of a great actor who'd been living in a role for the past 6 months."
Related: Ryan Gosling comments on status of Barbie 2
Following Barbie's domination of the global box office this summer, Gosling and Ronson started to text each other about the music last month – leading to a festive version of the track.
"I told him I fantasised about us performing the song live, so we started to dream what that might sound like [sic]," the producer added.
"I was also dying to show the song in a different context — he demanded I go 'Full Ronson' with the arrangement (which I took to mean 2007 motown/wall of sound-obsessed me).
"Anyway, I sent this version to him last Tues and he dug it & it sounded so f***ing xmas that we were like, 'Man, can we get this out in a week?!'
"So he rerecorded the vocals and here we are, a week later serving up this version that we love with about 5 days til no one wants to hear a xmas record, but sometimes u have to do it 4 fun (& maybe a little for Barbie).
"Happy holidays, we hope u [love it]."
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