They say never cross the streams, but in 2025 studios in both music and film can’t let a single promo opportunity pass them by.
Thus, while tension and attention mounts for F1, the high-speed, high-thrills movie of the sport directed by Top Gun: Maverick’s Joseph Kosinski and starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, so does the pile-on for its big-name soundtrack album.
And one new track confirmed on the grid is pulling out all the stops for pole position.
The song is Drive, a new collaboration between Ed Sheeran, Dave Grohl and John Mayer, and it’s just broken cover on the official Instagram of the movie.
After posting the song was soon front and centre on Sheeran’s Story on the non-Sheeran branded Teddy’s Photos which he uses to carry pics of his many and frequent self-promoting/self-deprecating antics.
"Sneak peek of the song I did for the F1 movie,” Sheeran writes. “Mayer on guitar, Grohl on drums. A lot of fun making this, coming out next month with the movie x."
Drive… To The Danger Zone?…
Quite whether the song itself deserves such a star-billing (and if you can actually hear that those three huge names are behind it) is debatable, but as a promo for an upcoming media explosion – and an audible homage to Top Gun and Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone… – this is pretty dynamite stuff.
Piling on the tie-ins for the movie and its soundtrack, seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton is credited as one of the film's producers and EA have even got an F1 ‘25 ‘Icon Edition’ of their annual driving game featuring the movie’s fictional APXGP team out on 27 May.
But, best of all, the album is shaping up to be quite the cross-genre, audience synergising banger (full tracklist below) also featuring ROSÉ’s recent hit Messy with the star even appearing at the Miami Grand Prix and shooting lots of lovely promo on the F1 YouTube.
The movies full tracklist runs thus:
1. Don Toliver – Lose My Mind (feat. Doja Cat)
2. Dom Dolla – No Room for A Saint (feat. Nathan Nicholson)
3. Ed Sheeran – Drive
4. Tate McRae – Just Keep Watching
5. ROSÉ – Messy
6. Burna Boy – Don't Let Me Drown
7. Roddy Ricch – Underdog
8. Raye – Grandma Calls The Boys Bad News
9. Chris Stapleton – Bad As I Used To Be
10. Myke Towers – Baja California
11. Tiësto & Sexyy Red – OMG!
12. Madison Beer – All At Once
13. Peggy Gou – D.A.N.C.E
14. PAWSA – Double C
15. Mr Eazi – Attention
16. Darkoo – Give Me Love
17. Obongjayar – Gasoline
Dead not dead
And – in other John Mayer news – it appears that Dead & Company – the Grateful Dead-honouring project from the band’s Bob Weir and Mickey Hart with John Mayer respectfully chipping in his talents – may not be as dead as we all presumed.
After a final gig in 2023, the band set up a residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere – home of U2’s eye-popping shows last year. Now, with that scheduled run coming to a close tomorrow (17 May) Weir seems to be having second thoughts about calling it quits. Again.
On the subject as to whether this Dead project could actually run and run Weir tells Guitar World: “Oh, it's something I would still love to do. We've got our best guys on it.”
Meanwhile, Mayer, while being a little more measured, only seems to confirm the project’s extension: “It hasn't been discussed in a while,” he says. “But I have a boilerplate response to ideas like that. Which is: If Bobby and Mickey want to do it, I want to do it.
“I want to follow them where they want to go. So if that's something that naturally comes up and it starts to materialize, you won't see me being the one to say no.”
F1, the movie is out 25 June, with its soundtrack album out two days later on the 27th.
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