Out Music: MGM Resorts Reimagines Wedding Songs For The LGBTQ Community

Because Las Vegas IS the wedding capitol of the world :)

MGM Resorts has produced a new EP of reimagined pop hits with a same-sex twist from artists international recording artists Bob Dylan, Kesha, Benjamin Gibbard, St. Vincent, Valerie June and Kele Okereke.

UNIVERSAL LOVE, a collection of reimagined wedding songs for the LGBTQ community, celebrates the enduring and overwhelming power of love and music to unite.

Via press release:

The album includes boundary-changing songs from some of today’s most-beloved artists. Bob Dylan, one of the most influential and successful recording artists in American history, is among the visionary artists participating in this unprecedented project. Dylan re-recorded “She’s Funny That Way” as “He’s Funny That Way.”

The album features five additional stellar artists whose involvement is a testament to the urgency of equality in entertainment: Kesha (“I Need a Woman to Love Me”), St. Vincent (“And Then She Kissed Me”), Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie (“And I Love Him”), Kele Okereke of Bloc Party (“My Guy”), and Valerie June (“Mad About The Girl”).

Phyllis James, MGM Resorts’ Chief Diversity & Corporate Social Responsibility Officer, said, “We believe projects like this will help all of us reach a point where seeing the world through the lens of people who happen to be different from us becomes natural and commonplace. It is an immense honor for MGM Resorts to spearhead this inspirational project which celebrates LGBTQ dimensions of the universal emotion of love.”

UNIVERSAL LOVE is a natural extension of MGM’s two decades of advocacy work with the LGBTQ community and the company’s desire to advance initiatives that unite humanity. More than a decade before same-sex marriage was legalized, same-sex commitment ceremonies were performed at chapels at MGM Resorts’ properties.

In 2004, MGM Resorts became the first company in the gaming and hospitality industry to offer same-sex health benefits to employees, and MGM was a founding partner of the Las Vegas chapter of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in 2004.

UNIVERSAL LOVE is now available on iTunes and all streaming platforms beginning today.

UNIVERSAL LOVE Track Listing:

01 “He's Funny That Way” • Bob Dylan
02 “And Then She Kissed Me” • St Vincent
03 “My Guy” • Kele Okereke
04 “Mad About The Girl” • Valerie June
05 “And I Love Him” • Benjamin Gibbard
06 “I Need A Woman To Love Me” • Kesha

My favorite track would have to be Gibbard's cover of the Beatles classic, "And I Love Him," but the full EP is terrific.

It's important to note that more than a decade before same-sex marriage was legalized, same-sex commitment ceremonies were performed at chapels at MGM Resorts’ properties.

In 2004, MGM Resorts became the first company in the gaming and hospitality industry to offer same-sex health benefits to employees, and MGM was a founding partner of the Las Vegas chapter of the Human Rights Campaign in 2004.

MGM Resorts was named one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality” for the fifth year in a row earning a perfect score for its LGBT Employee Policies and Benefits.

So, yeah, this is a company we want to support and thank for all they do for the LGBTQ community.