Natasha Bedingfield unveiled a lot more sunshine than her signature pocketful amount Monday (June 29) for a delightful Billboard Live At-Home performance that raised money for the Black Youth Project (BYP) 100. BYP 100 works to end gender violence in the Black community through its national She Safe, We Safe campaign.
Performing on the first-ever Rolling Live studio designed by Carrie Brown, Bedingfield played her new song “Together in This” from the new animated family flick Jungle Beat: The Movie and a couplet of hits with legendary guitarist Rod Castro. But “Unwritten” has more to its story, she told her online viewers.
“One thing that people might not know about this song is it was actually inspired by many things. One of the things that inspired us for the verse was this kind of thing that was a bit like The Beatles,” the 38-year-old singer-songwriter said while introducing the Billboard Hot 100 No. 5 song. “You know how The Beatles use a lot of like Indian, Hindi-like chanting, sitars…. So in yoga, you have this note that kind of, and in a lot of music from India, it has this note that runs through it. And The Beatles did it in ‘Norwegian Wood.'”
She finished her set with another hit that landed at No. 5 on the Hot 100 two years after “Unwritten,” but she expanded her “Pocketful of Sunshine” to a wave of hope fueled by the youth-led movement.
“I just want to dedicate this moment to so much incredible change that’s happening in the world. I feel like I am daring to hope that some of the things could change, and I think what’s wonderful is it’s coming from the youth,” Bedingfield said. “I just want to get behind this next generation. Also, I’m a mother, and I want my son to be an amazing person, a kind person, and to be educated and to be part of the change and part of that wave.”
She also shared a special message to the LGBTQ community to close out Pride Month, thanking the “beautiful community of people who are so full of vibrance and life” for supporting her music and closing out her set with an un abashed celebration of “who we are.”
Watch Bedingfield’s entire Billboard Live At-Home performance below, and donate to BYP 100 here.
