No Broadway musical in recent memory has received the recognition and enjoyed
the immense success of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton”.
Earlier this month “The Hamilton Mixtape” was released, an album featuring songs from the musical performed by an impressive collection of artists including Sia, The Roots, Alicia Keys, Usher and Kelly Clarkson, who contributed “It’s Quiet Uptown,” about the death of the Hamiltons’ young son.
Clarkson, herself a young mother, takes the lyrics to heart, and sings with palpable emotion.
Last week she performed “It’s Quiet Uptown” on the season finale of “The Voice,” alongside Billy Gilman, who came in 2nd place in this year’s competition.
A Broadway show tune airing on Top 40 radio is unusual today, but when we Boomers were teens, Top 40 stations often played songs from Broadway musicals, plus the occasional classical piece, novelty songs, even tunes in other languages.
Today’s Top 40 radio is a tighter format, and it’s a testament to the huge impact that “Hamilton” has made that one of its songs is on mainstream radio.