Music Icons Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. Release Official Music Video of Single “Blackbird”

Pop Culture Icons, multiple Grammy Award-winners and multi-platinum selling artists Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. released the official music video to their single “blackbird” from their highly anticipated first studio album in three decades, Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons (EE1/BMG), due April 30. The official music video is a poignant tribute to the blackbirds whose lives ended tragically by violence, and those who sacrificed their all in the name of social justice.

McCoo and Davis also released “Ticket to Ride,” another single from the upcoming album, which honors civil rights icons Rosa Parks and her husband, Raymond Parks. “Ticket To Ride” is available to download with a pre-order of the album and streamable on all streaming services.

“Before we say anything, we have to acknowledge Questlove and the impact his genius is having on our career and lives. For his movie, Summer of Soul (... Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised), which of course, took the two biggest prizes at Sundance. Everything Questlove is doing is incredible. Questlove unlocked the vaults of our history and let sunshine in on our music from the past, and us today. Questlove knew we were working on Blackbird: Lennon McCartney Icons, and that combination gave us a whole new Renaissance ... even with kids who had heard our older songs, but didn't know our names. We thank Questlove, EE1, BMG and our Producer, Nic Mendoza, for giving us a platform at this age, to use our artistry as part of the activism we’ve always practiced,” say McCoo and Davis.

On releasing “Ticket To Ride” ahead of Mother’s Day, says the couple, “Ticket To Ride is our tribute to the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks. One thing people have to realize is that Mrs. Parks was arrested December 1st, 1955, because she refused to give up her seat to a White man. There were seats in what was called the colored section ... for you young people, that was a little phrase that was used about us before we figured out that Black and African American would be a whole lot better. Mrs. Parks was not the first person to be arrested for this. That happened to a young girl who was only 15 years old! That baby's name was Claudette Colvin. This crisis made Mrs. Parks and Dr. King famous all over the country and parts of the world.”

“Mrs. Parks was a seamstress who did secretarial work for the NAACP, so she got dressed knowing when she bought her ticket that day, that she was going to go to jail, because she had told Dr. King that she was not going to give up her seat. She said, "I'm just tired of this. It has to stop." Mrs. Parks was taking her life into her hands. There was no way of knowing, once she went to that jail, if she would come out alive. Especially in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. She didn't care that she was going to jail, when she bought her ticket on that bus! What was keeping her down, was segregation ... the klan ... the scourge of racism,” says Marilyn McCoo.

“Blackbird” Official Music Video Credits:

Blackbird Principal Vocals by: Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr.

Directed by: Jon Carrasco

Digital Art by: Brittany Duncan & Jon Carrasco

Produced by: Nic Mendoza

Watch the music video for “Blackbird” here

Pre-Order “Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons” here