NEW YORK – Pope Francis is becoming Pop Star Francis: The religious leader is set to release a pop-rock album.
The label Believe Digital announced Friday that "Wake Up!" will be available on Nov. 27, featuring extracts from Pope Francis' speeches in various languages, including English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
Pope Francis premiered the first single called "Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!" on Rolling Stone's website on Friday. The album is available for pre-order on iTunes.
The album's 11 tracks range from pop to rock to Latin sounds. Some of the album's proceeds will be donated to "a support fund for refugees," according to a news release.
Several of the Wake Up! songs were composed by Tony Pagliuca, who in the 70s founded the prog-rock band Le Orme and topped the charts.
"When Don Giulio Neroni asked me to collaborate on this CD, I immediately accepted with enthusiasm," he told Rolling Stone. "Putting my music in the service of the words and the voice of Pope Francis has been a fantastic experience and a very interesting artistic challenge," he added.
Based on reporting by the Associated Press.
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