Harry Connick Jr.’s latest single ‘Stars Still Shine’ pays tribute to key workers

Harry Connick Jr.’s latest single. ‘Stars Still Shine’ is a tribute to key workers across America. Connick, who played all instruments on the track except for guitar, is joined by longtime band member and guitarist Jonathan Dubose Jr. and local New Orleans choir Tara Alexander and the Frontline Singers, who recorded at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Following the success of his lockdown video series Hunker Down With Harry, Connick Jr. also embarked on a pandemic road trip to meet key workers on the front line of the crisis, with the help of his daughter, Georgia, who is a filmmaker.

‘I just want to reach out and meet some of these folks, sanitation workers or elementary school teachers or people that are working at food banks,’ Connick said. ‘These are the people that are keeping the supply chain going and keeping our lives going.’

The trip has been turned into a special ‘United We Sing: A Grammy Tribute to the Unsung Heroes’a TV special that aired in the US last month (June) , with help from Connick’s celebrity friends, including Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Renee Zellweger. The show also featured musical performances from Jamie Foxx, Cyndi Lauper, Dave Matthews and Tim McGraw, among others.

Over the course of around 12 days, Georgia Connick filmed her father on handheld cameras or GoPros as he learned about how the coronavirus has been affecting workers across areas such as public transport and health care.

They started their trip at a hospital in Queens, New York, where Connick’s sister, an Army Reserve colonel and psychiatrist, has helped with the Pentagon’s response to the pandemic.

‘It was highly emotional,’ Connick said. ‘We wanted to do a show that was about celebration as opposed to constantly reminding people of how sad the situation is. And it is. But there’s a lot of silver linings.’

The two-hour special event culminated in Connick’s hometown of New Orleans, with moving musical performances by Connick, Trombone Shorty and Irma Thomas at iconic locations throughout the city.