Michelle Branch – Everywhere and Back Again

Today, Grammy Award-winning artist Michelle Branch and New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander share a new, reimagined version of “The Game of Love,” produced by Alexander.

The new version brings Branch back together with Alexander, the song’s original writer and producer, for their first collaboration since the song initially came out in 2002. The release of “The Game of Love” heralds a brand new era of music for Branch, with her Everywhere and Back Again EP arriving November 6 via BMG. The project celebrates Branch’s 25-year career and brings her iconic catalog into a new era through reimagined recordings featuring friends, peers and special guests.

Everywhere and Back Again revisits the songs and cultural moments that have defined Branch’s career, while looking firmly toward the future. The EP will feature reimagined recordings of some of Branch’s most beloved songs such as “The Game Of Love” and “Everywhere,” “All You Wanted”, “Goodbye To You,” “Breathe” and more. Each track will feature collaborations with acclaimed artists from across genres, with additional names to be announced soon! The project reframes songs Branch first wrote and released as a teenager through the voices and perspectives of artists who grew up alongside her music

“Getting to hear these songs, many I wrote as a teenager, performed by friends and peers that I so greatly admire has been such a ‘pinch me’ moment as a songwriter,” Branch shares.  “Suddenly these adolescent songs about love lost and found take on an entirely new meaning and weight when sung by artists of all different genres and in a different era. Being able to celebrate a 25 year career while firmly believing my best work is still ahead of me is the dream of any artist. And having fans that have grown up beside me who are still listening and still care after all these years is the greatest gift. Thank you all for helping me celebrate.”

The reimagined version of “The Game of Love” with New Radicals frontman Gregg Alexander kicks off the new project, which sees the pair collaborating together more than two decades after Branch’s Santana collaboration won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. “The Game of Love” was originally written by Alexander, who also wrote The New Radicals’ nearly lost hit, “Murder On The Dancefloor,” which was originally earmarked to be their 1998 debut single, but instead sat in the vault until released as a 2001 single by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. After being used in a pivotal scene in the box office and viral hit film Saltburn in 2024, the song had a resurgence, again reaching #2 on the UK chart, going platinum in America and making its first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 chart two decades after its initial release.

“‘The Game of Love’ has been such a special song in my life made possible by one of my personal musical heroes, Gregg Alexander from New Radicals,” shares Branch. “Many people don’t realize that Gregg wrote The Game of Love and being able to sing this together with him is really a full circle moment and captures the original spirit of the demo.”

The story behind the new version of “The Game of Love” stretches back to the earliest days of Branch’s career. After New Radicals paused touring, Branch toured with several musicians from the New Radicals live band and began covering “You Get What You Give” during her first tour. When Clive Davis was searching for the right voice for “The Game of Love,” both Tina Turner and Macy Gray had recorded versions of the song, but in his mind he was still searching for a young unknown. Alexander suggested Branch, having heard that she had been covering New Radicals live, and she nailed the demo on the first try. The rest is history.

On re-connecting with Branch and the new version of “The Game of Love” New Radicals Gregg Alexander said: “Michelle has been acknowledged as inspiring so many artists and Michelle is one of the kindest artists I’ve ever worked with. Our sometime mentor Clive Davis brought icons Tina Turner and Macy Gray to the studio to “try out” “The Game Of Love” in 2001. Yet Clive envisioned a brand new voice delivering my idealistically innocent lyric and melody.  So when 19 year old Michelle waltzed in delivering a jaw dropping one take vocal, we won a Grammy a year later.  New Radicals and Michelle recently raised the “mix faders” at NYC’s Hit Factory with both our 2001 and 2026 vocals side by side, us both realizing singing our hearts out is perhaps just what the doctor ordered amidst today’s anxiety and global crises!  And Clive, the music world misses you already… this record is dedicated to you.  So let’s turn this motherfucker up and dance like no one’s watching!”

Last night, Branch celebrated the launch of Everywhere and Back Again with MBTV Presents: Everywhere and Back Again – Live in Front of a Studio Audience, a one-night-only event at The Sun Rose in West Hollywood that was livestreamed across Branch’s socials. Inspired by the MTV and TRL era that helped launch her career, the event transformed the venue into an early 2000s-inspired live experience, bringing fans inside the world of Branch’s new project.

The MBTV event followed a mysterious rollout across Los Angeles, where cryptic Michelle Branch billboards appeared ahead of the announcement. The billboards directed fans to a phone number featuring a voicemail message from Branch saying she “can’t come to the phone right now because she’s getting ready for her MBTV event.” On July 8, Branch officially announced the event on social media, giving fans the chance to enter to attend the special one-night-only taping.

The event transformed The Sun Rose into a TRL inspired tv studio where Branch sat down with former MTV VJ Damien Fahey to talk about the new era of music. Fahey intro’d the event saying “We are celebrating Michelle and she has a few awesome surprises in store!” The two chatted about how they met back in the day “Not many people can say they met at the MTV Beach house! Did we time travel?” said Branch.  Branch then broke the news on the new single and the upcoming Everywhere and Back Again EP. Then Gregg Alexander surprised Branch with a voicemail introducing the new version of “The Game of Love” and then they played a snippet of the song.

Fans sang along to every word as she performed “All You Wanted,” “Breathe,” and  “Everywhere” and the live stream went wild as she announced she will be going out on the Everywhere and Back Again Tour kicking off on September 27th and making stops at nearly 20 venues across the country including: Los Angeles’ The Wiltern on October 3rd, New York’s Beacon Theatre on November 5th and more. Artist pre-sales begin today, July 15 at 10am local time and general on sale begins Friday, July 17 at 10am local time.

EVERYWHERE AND BACK AGAIN TOUR DATES
September 27 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox
September 29 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
October 2 – San Francisco, CA – The Castro
October 3 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
October 4 – Del Mar, CA – The Sound
October 6 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theater
October 8 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
October 9 – Las Vegas, NV – Zouk
October 10 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen
October 11 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
November 4 – Boston, MA – Royale
November 5 – New York City, NY – Beacon Theatre
November 6 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Stone Pony
November 7 – Nantucket, MA – The Muse
November 10 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
November 11 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
November 12 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
November 13 – Lexington, KY – Manchester Music Hall

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