With George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin” out in limited release on Friday, Netflix has debuted an original song by Lenny Kravitz that plays over the film’s credits.
Called “Road to Freedom,” the track finds Kravitz backed by a “glowing choir,” according to a Netflix press release. The four-time Grammy winner is not just the singer of “Road to Freedom” but he also plays “drums, bass, piano, Hammond B-3, and tambourine.” The song also “features a guest appearance by fellow Grammy winner Trombone Shorty and longtime Kravitz collaborator and guitarist Craig Ross.”
Kravitz has never been nominated for an Academy Award in his lengthy career (he does have two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations as an ensemble member of “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and “Precious”).
“Rustin,” which debuts on Netflix starting on November 17 after its brief theatrical run, is about civil rights activist and hero Bayard Rustin (Emmy winner Colman Domingo) and his efforts to organize the March on Washington in 1963. The film debuted at the Telluride Film Festival and received strong reviews for Domingo, who is considered a strong contender in the Oscars Best Actor race.
In terms of finding the film’s closing credits track, Wolfe said in a statement that he felt like Kravitz was the only choice. “I first met Lenny Kravitz very early in both of our careers and the first time I heard him sing was acapella — I remember the sound quite vividly —and there was something about the quality of his voice that seemed viscerally perfect for the end of the film,” Wolfe said.
“The one note I gave him was that the song needed to help deliver us as an audience, from feeling to action,” he added. “And trombones, I begged for trombones. Ever since [‘Rustin’ composer] Branford [Marsalis] introduced me to a recording of the holy trombone choir from the United House of Prayer, I’ve been mesmerized. Lenny took my request to the next level and brought on board the legendary Trombone Shorty. ‘Road To Freedom’ captures both 1963 and 2023; a bold celebration, as Lenny’s voice sermonizes and soars.”
Listen to the track below and then see it used in “Rustin” either in theaters starting Friday or on Netflix later this month.
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