Sheryl Crow knows how to make an entrance, and her appearance at D23 was no exception.
The nine-time Grammy winner made a surprise showing during Disney‘s Experiences Showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event on Saturday, where she reignited her connection to Pixar‘s Cars franchise. Crow debuted “Built to Last,” her new theme song for the upcoming Disney Jr. series Cars: Lightning Racers, before giving fans an extra dose of nostalgia with a performance of her Cars favorite “Real Gone.”
The original Cars film celebrated its 20th anniversary this past June, meaning the surprise was very fitting. Crow’s “Real Gone” was featured in the 2006 Pixar film, making her unexpected return to Radiator Springs something of a musical homecoming.
Crow isn’t simply lending her voice to the new series. She has written “Built to Last” as its theme song and contributed to 10 additional original songs that will appear throughout Cars: Lightning Racers. The series is slated to arrive on Disney Jr. and Disney+ in 2027.
For fans in the Honda Center in Anaheim over the weekend, however, the biggest moment was getting to see Crow take the stage and perform the new track live before immediately pivoting back to a song that helped define the original Cars soundtrack.
Cars: Lightning Racers will introduce a new generation of young viewers to Lightning McQueen, Mater and their friends as they embark on more adventures around Radiator Springs. Several familiar voices are returning for the series, including Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Larry the Cable Guy as Mater and Bonnie Hunt as Sally.
Watch a snippet of the performance below.
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