‘Wake Me Up’ Writer Aloe Blacc Reveals His Inspiration


Singer Aloe Blacc loves his life, and he’s used it to get the entire world dancing. The “Wake Me Up” singer stopped by the Today show and discussed his inspiration for the lyrics. According to Blacc, he was on a bus in Switzerland when he started to reflect on the state of his life. He thought of his life as a dream and said he wanted someone to “Wake Me Up” when it ended, leading to the popular chorus of the song.

The 35-year-old singer, born Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III, also recently explained why he didn’t receive credit for the hit 2013 song “Wake Me Up.” The Huffington Post reported that while Blacc wrote the lyrics and developed the melody for “Wake Me Up,” the version Blacc recorded was acoustic. The dance mix version of “Wake Me Up” most of us know and love was the brainchild of DJ Avicii. According to Blacc, Avicii created the dance mix by himself, which is why Avicii received credit. While Blacc said he doesn’t recommend artists forgo credit, he feels the song is more important than him, and still feels blessed to have been a part of the release.

Credit or not, things are still looking bright for Blacc.

Post-“Wake Me Up,” the singer joined the case of Get On Up. The movie is a biopic chronicling the life of beloved singer James Brown. Blacc plays Nafloyd Scott, the guitarist in an early version of The Famous Flames. James Brown was the vocalist of The Famous Flames before going solo in the 1960s. Scott left the band before it became famous. In an interview with The Oakland Press, Blacc said Scott’s early departure from the band made research difficult, which he described as a mixed blessing.

“I had to learn it all,” he explains. “There isn’t much information about that time in (Brown’s) career available, no photos I could find of Nafloyd Scott on Wikipedia or anything. He wasn’t really part of the meteoric rise of James Brown; he quit the band because of personality conflicts, before it really took off.”

Blacc seems poised for a meteoric rise of his own. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Aloe Blacc replaced singer Pharrell Williams on the Canadian leg of Bruno Mars’ “Moonshine Jungle” tour. While no reason was given for Pharrell’s departure from the tour beyond “personal differences,” Blacc is reaping the benefits. According to the singer’s Twitter account, the performances were a resounding success.

No word on if the singer performed the acoustic version of Wake Me Up.

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