Jermaine Edwards, Rushawn Ewears’ ‘Beautiful Day’ Opens Apple iPhone Event
Beautiful Day, the Billboard-charting song by Jermaine Edwards that was covered by youngster Rushawn Ewears, was used as the opening song for the Apple Event today, (September 12).
During the virtual 90-minute presentation, which has attracted over 20 million viewers worldwide in four hours, young Rushawn’s voice could be heard at the three-minute mark, where Apple debuted a short film titled “Another Birthday.”
Created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab and directed by Goh Iromoto of Sanctuary, the film tells real-life stories of how the Apple Watch and iPhone alerted users to hidden medical issues or helped them in emergencies.
On Tuesday, the company announced the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, complete with USB-C charging, starting at $799, and the titanium iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, starting at $999. Another key announcement was the new 95% titanium Apple Watch, with 72 hours of battery life, as well as updated AirPods with USB-C, according to the Washington Post.
Edwards was in high spirits when he spoke to DancehallMag following the stream.
“The sensation of my dreams continually becoming reality is overwhelming,” he said.
“This is a significant milestone in my musical career. The moment I reviewed the contract and saw Apple’s name as the party interested in a sync license with me, I understood that my dreams had transcended my wildest imaginations; some things are simply beyond what one can dream of.”
The Apple event and film used a version of the song done by production duo Trinix, which has over 45 million views on YouTube.
Tor Myhren, Apple’s VP of marketing communications, told AdAge that the “Another Birthday” spot was inspired by feedback the tech giant got from consumers about its product features.
“Almost every day we get emails and letters from people about how our products have saved their lives—from a heart notification on Apple Watch, to Crash Detection or an Emergency SOS on iPhone,” he said. “There’s nothing more profound, or more rewarding, than hearing these remarkable stories from our customers all over the world. It’s why we do what we do.”
“These are of course real people, and our director captured the truth of their stories perfectly,” Myhren added. “He got to know them and became a trusted part of their families, allowing him to capture such remarkably raw footage that made the end result so powerful.
In January, both Edwards and Rushawn inked a monumental deal with Sony Music UK.
In an interview with DancehallMag at the time, Sony Music UK A&R Milo Saville noted that the agreement was the first step in exploring all possibilities for the song. Today’s announcement has proved him right.
“The main thing is that the licensing (and) mastering are a hundred percent Jermaine’s and Rushawn’s. We’re just licensing off them to work the record in the best way possible, and it’s a case of them being yeah, the centre of it all. It’s all reflecting back onto them. It’s their record,” Saville explained.
“In terms of the specifics of deal, I doubt it’s my place to say. It’s a license agreement so all of the masters are belonging to Jermaine and Rushawn which I think is important.”
Beautiful Day debuted in 2014, and has since seen multiple covers and remixes.
A six-year-old clip of Rushawn giving his version of Beautiful Day while attending the Top Hill Primary School in St. Elizabeth began making rounds on social media in late 2022.
A singer who goes by the name The Kiffness added his own Reggae twist to Rushawn’s recording, which made it skyrocket even more.
The official remix of the track, which features Rushawn, spent four weeks on the UK Singles chart, where it peaked at No. 63.
In the US, the song reached No. 26 on the Billboard Afrobeats Songs chart, and No. 7 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Song chart.
Watch the full Apple event below: