Peabo Bryson Talks Award-Winning Career And New Album Release

Peabo Bryson first hit the music scene in the 1970s. Since then, it’s been a career filled with timeless hits, as well as Grammy and Oscar awards.

In fact, he’s been nominated for a Grammy eight times — and he’s won twice. He received his first Grammy for his duet with Celine Dion on “Beauty and the Beast” in 1992, and his second came the following year for “A Whole New World.”

Both were hits from the popular Disney films “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin,” respectively.

“Disney songs don’t come with a manual,” Bryson said. “It’s whatever you give it. There’s no suggestion on how you approach it. You have to have something to give it; you have to make it yours.”

In fact, he said, before recording “Beauty and the Beast” with Celine Dion, they had never met prior to recording in the studio.

Fast forward to today, and Bryson’s journey is continuing with a new album called “Stand For Love.” And, as the album’s title indicates, Bryson sings primarily about love, with songs that have names like “Here For You,” “Love Like Yours and Mine”, and, of course, a song bearing the same name as the album itself.

“In terms of subject matter, I could write about love everyday for the rest of my life and never repeat myself because love is a separate entity that is individual from one heart to the next heart,” he said. “It’s about as different as snowflakes are. Although there are some common denominators that always apply to all of us, it’s still different for each individual every single time you feel anything for another human being.”

Despite the fact that “Stand For Love” is already Bryson’s 21st album, he says that this is not the end, either.

“I have miles to go before I sleep,” he said. “There’s a gazillion things to sing about, to write about, to shout about.”

Peabo Bryson’s “Stand For Love” was released in August on Perspective Records.