Miranda to Receive Star on Puerto Rico’s Walk of Fame

Lin-Manuel Miranda is getting an enchanted star…

The 36-year-old Broadway star will be honored in Puerto Rico with his very own star in the island’s Walk of Fame.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

The Hamilton creator and award-winning artist is set to reveal his star on Wednesday, July 27 on La Isla del Encanto’s iconic Ashford Avenue.

“For us, it is great news that Lin-Manuel Miranda will join us during this ceremony. He is an international artist who has given Puerto Rico great pride because of his success with Hamilton. It’s an honor and much happiness that he has accepted our invitation to be present when we reveal his star,” said founder of Puerto Rico’s Walk of Fame Santiago Villar in a statement.

Miranda recently performed for the last time with Hamilton’s original cast.

He also recently released the peace and love anthem “Love Make The World Go Round” with Jennifer Lopez, which was inspired by Orlando Shooting victims; proceeds will benefit the Hispanic Federation‘s Proyecto Somos Orlando initiative, which pledges to “address the long-term needs for mental health services that are culturally competent and bilingual.”

Lopez & Miranda Perform Tribute to Orlando Shooting Victims on “Today”

Jennifer Lopez & Lin-Manuel Miranda are making the world go round…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress and the 36-year-old Broadway star performed their new peace anthem entitled “Love Make the World Go Round,” inspired by the Orlando Shooting, on Today on Monday morning.

Jennifer Lopez & Lin-Manuel Miranda

The track, made available for download on July 7 on iTunes, benefits the Hispanic Federation‘s Proyecto Somos Orlando initiative, which “will address the long-term needs for mental health services that are culturally competent and bilingual.

The initiative will enable care to be delivered to those affected directly in the communities in which they live. Beyond emergency assistance, they will be provided with case management, crisis intervention and mental health services, among other needs.

Fifty survivors and family members of the victims of the Orlando tragedy were present in the Rockefeller Plaza crowd for the performance.

Beginning with a clip of the Hamilton creator’s “Love is love” speech at the Tony Awards, the dance track features Miranda rapping about peace and love (“A generation of innovators enabled to patiently wait for change ’cause change is what they’ve been afraid of / the malevolence can wait, raise a level of debate, celebrate, elevate”) while Lopez sings the titular line to ring in the chorus: “We’re not staying inside today / they’re not taking our pride away.”

How did the song come to be? Lopez explained on Today that she’s had the song for eight months, but “when everything happened in Orlando, I heard it in a different way for the first time. I was like, ‘The world needs this right now. The world really needs the message of love being the answer. That’s what really matters; that’s what really makes the world go round, nothing else. Hate, anger, it’s not gonna get us anywhere.'” She then approached Miranda about rapping on the bridge of the track.

Gomez Among 24 Artists Featured on Orlando Shooting Charity Single “Hands”

Selena Gomez is lending her hands to help the victims of the Orlando Shooting.

The 23-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress is among 24 artists featured on a new recording to raise money for the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre.

Selena Gomez

The all-star release, entitled “Hands” — a charity single from Interscope Records with support from GLAAD — was conceived by hit songwriter Justin Tranter, co-writer of Justin Bieber’sSorry” and hits for Gomez, DNCE, Fall Out Boy and Gwen Stefani.

In addition to Gomez, the single also features Jennifer Lopez, who has worked on her own charity single with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stefani, Jason Derulo, Meghan Trainor, Juanes, Pink, Mary J. Blige and Britney Spears.

The June 12 shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando, which killed 49 people and injured 53, is the most deadly mass shooting in American history and the deadliest act of violence against the LGBT community.

Funds from the song will aid families with medical care, counseling and will also be used for education.

“Like the rest of the world I woke up to the news that morning and was horrified and sad and scared,” says Tranter, who has raised money and awareness for LGBT causes since coming out at age 14.

“Hands” is available on iTunes.

Proceeds will be distributed by Equality Florida Pulse Victims Fund, the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida and GLAAD.

The idea for the all-star project came together one day after the shooting.

L.A.-based Tranter and songwriting partner Julia Michaels had been on the road with Gomez writing songs aboard her tour bus in Miami the weekend of June 11 when news of the bloodshed prompted Tranter to switch course. That afternoon he signed on as a volunteer at The Center Orlando, the region’s chief LGBT community center.

“I called them and said, ‘If I fly up is there something for me to help with?'” he tells Billboard. “They say, ‘We need as many hands as we can possibly get.'”

“Hands” took hold the next day when Tranter met GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis who had arrived at the center from New York.

Beyond their immediate efforts — distributing food and water and GLAAD’s work with media — both were looking to make contributions that would have ongoing benefits. They point out that the massacre was also a profound attack on people of color, as that Saturday evening had been a popular “Latin Night” at Pulse. Most of the victims were of Latin heritage and Ellis says she does not want that point forgotten.

“When you hear the song it talks about hate being the driver here,” she says, “and that’s important because we have to be able to identify what’s driving these cruel acts in order to stop them. Artists using their platforms to accelerate acceptance is very powerful.”

Aligning with Interscope for the release, Tranter, GLAAD and Interscope president of A&R Aaron Bay-Schuck put the word out that a fundraiser was in the works. Within days artists from all spheres of the business had lined up — also among them Halsey, Ty Herndon, Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons, Adam Lambert, The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, MNEK, Alex Newell, Mary Lambert, Prince Royce, Jussie Smollett, Nate Ruess and RuPaul — all recording separately from their homes, local studios, touring locations or wherever they happened to be at that moment.

“We assigned everybody what we thought would be the best part for their voice,” Tranter says, “and we asked them all to sing an additional part, just in case. But everybody got it done in time so we ended up with extra vocals.”

In Los Angeles “Interscope let us use their studio,” he notes. “Mary J. Blige recorded in New Orleans. Britney Spears in Thousand Oaks, I think. Pink in Santa Barbara. MNEK recorded at home in London. Selena recorded in her studio bus. Dan Reynolds recorded in his home. Adam Lambert was in Luxembourg. Ty Herndon the country star was in Spain. Kacey Musgraves, Nashville. Everyone just got it done.”

Another goal of the record, according to GLAAD, is to fund educational programs.

“This was an American guy who was born in Queens,” Ellis says of the gunman, Omar Mateen, 29, who was killed by police after a three hour stand-off. “He learned that hate here in America. This happened on American soil, against a particular community.”

While politicians and lobbyists have focused in recent weeks on Islamic terror and familiar narratives about gun ownership, Ellis, Tranter and others in the LGBT community want people to remember that this was a hate crime.

“I’m not educated enough to speak on the political details,” Tranter says. I’m a songwriter, not a politician. It could have been a million things but clearly, 100 percent, this was an attack on the LGBT community and people of color.”

“Hands” grew out of an unfinished piece that Tranter, Michaels and co-writer and producer BloodPop (formerly known as Blood Diamonds) had been working on and then shelved.

“The song didn’t ever finish itself and it didn’t ever feel right,” Tranter says of their initial efforts. “Now we know why.”

Mark Ronson also co-produced, while vocal engineer Benjamin Rice finessed the disparate tracks: “He helped us find the structure and make sense of it all.”

Warner/Chappell publishing executive Katie Vinten brought in numerous artists, among them P!nk, whom Tranter calls “a lifesaver,” adding, “Her vocal on the chorus is like from heaven directly.”

Spears opens the song with the plaintive line, “Can hold a gun or a hold a heart.” RuPaul is heard quietly toward the end, saying “take my hand baby.”

The songwriters had no specific plan as they entered the studio — only that they didn’t want the piece “to ever sound dated.”

“We didn’t want to have any trendy electronic elements,” Tranter notes. “We wanted it to sound classic, timeless and human. We want this anthem of positivity to be played for years to come.”

Download “Hands” here at iTunes.

Lopez Collaborating with Lin-Manuel Miranda on New Song to Benefit Orlando Shooting Victims

Jennifer Lopez is spreading the love, all for charity…

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican singer/actress is joining voices with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda on new single to benefit the Orlando shooting victims.

Jennifer Lopez & Lin-Manuel Miranda

Lopez and Miranda tweeted on Monday about their new track, entitled “Love Make the World Go Round.”

The song will benefit the Hispanic Federation‘s Proyecto Somos Orlando initiative, which “will address the long-term needs for mental health services that are culturally competent and bilingual. Proyecto will enable care to be delivered to those affected directly in the communities in which they live. Beyond emergency assistance, they will be provided with case management, crisis intervention, and mental health services, among other needs.”

Miranda teased the track on Twitter as “a taste of some new music you don’t need tickets to hear.”

The accompanying video features Miranda rapping about peace and love (“A generation of innovators enabled to patiently wait for change ’cause change is what they’ve been afraid of / the malevolence can wait, raise a level of debate, celebrate, elevate.”) while Lopez sings the titular line to ring in the chorus: “We’re not staying inside today / they’re not taking our pride away.”