J.Law Catapults To Pop Star Status With Hunger Games’ “Hanging Tree”
Looks like Jennifer Lawrence will have to add pop singer in her prolific résumé as the Hunger Games' starlet dominates music charts everywhere with her song "Hanging Tree". The song is a track from The
Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 where she sings a song in acapella and then joined in by a choir and an orchestra.
The 24-year old Oscar winner finds herself neck to neck with the likes of One Direction and Taylor Swift and ahead of artists Lorde and Nicki Minaj as she lands the number 12 spot at the ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart and the 14th spot at the Official U.K Singles Chart. It also displays a potential to enter the Top 40 in Billboard Hot 100 with a forecasted 150,000 download count for its first week. She's not alone in the actress-turned-pop star predicament as Pitch Perfect's Anna Kendrick also experienced the same thing with the song 'Cups'.
"Hanging Tree" is an eerie childhood song sung by Lawrence's character, Katniss Everdeen, which she used to rally the rebellion against the Capitol. The song was composed by James Newton Howard and written by Suzanne Collins, author of the hit dystopian, young-adult trilogy, and Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers.
According to her previous interview with HitFix, Lawrence confesses that one of her fears is singing in front of people. She also confessed that she cried on the day they taped the song. "I was shaking. I was like, 'I want my mom.' I've never listened to it. When that scene comes on, I plug my ears."
Director Francis Lawrence adds in an interview with Vulture that the actress was anxious when it came to singing the song for an important scene. In an interview with People, he further adds that though her vocals were more like her speaking voice, they were not aiming for a Grammy-esque performance but rather they wanted a "real girl singing".
Currently, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 has grossed a total of $480 million in international box office receipts since its premier last November 10.