Evita is the third soundtrack album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 12, 1996 by Warner Bros. Records. It also includes performances by Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce and Jimmy Nail. It was released to promote and accompany the 1996 motion picture, Evita. The soundtrack is considered a Madonna album since the majority of the songs are sung by her.[1] The RIAA certified it Gold and Platinum on January 24, 1997 and 5x Multi Platinum on March 29, 1999,[2] recognizing 2.5 million shipments throughout the United States (as it is a double album and exceeds 100 minutes in length, the RIAA counts each unit sale twice).
The soundtrack was released in two different versions: a two-disc edition entitled Evita: The Motion Picture Music Soundtrack featured all the tracks from the film, and Evita: Music from the Motion Picture, a single-disc edition contained a selection of highlights from the soundtrack. The single-disc version uses the same artwork that was used to promote the film. The album was an international top 10 success, reaching #2 in the US and #1 in the UK, and contains three hit singles; "You Must Love Me" (#18 in the US and #10 in the UK), sung by Madonna; "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" (#8 in the US, #3 in the UK, and #1 in France), also sung by Madonna; and "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" (#7 in the UK), in which Madonna sings lead vocals.
"You Must Love Me", specially composed for the film Evita, won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Madonna, herself, took home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical, and the film won the award for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. Madonna later performed an instrumental interlude of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" on her 2001 Drowned World Tour, and in 2004, she performed "Lament" during her Re-Invention Tour on a controversial electrical chair. In 2008 and 2009, she performed "You Must Love Me" during Sticky & Sweet Tour, accompanied by the Kolpakov Trio, a Russian Roma ensemble. During her concerts at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which were filmed for later broadcast and DVD/Blu-ray release, Madonna also sang "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" after the performance of "You Must Love Me".
The two-disc edition includes the entire soundtrack to the film, the single-disc edition includes the highlights from the film soundtrack. All lyrics written by Tim Rice, all music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. "Dice are Rolling" comes immediately before "A New Argentina" on the 2-CD edition, hence the longer running time. This is not mentioned in the liner notes, "Latin Chant" actually appears on the 1-CD edition, immediately after "Eva's Final Broadcast", hence the longer running time. This is not mentioned in the liner notes.
Credits:
Lyrics by Tim Rice, Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Produced by Nigel Wright, Alan Parker, Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Caddick
Mixed by Madonna, David Reitzas and Nigel Wright
Engineered by Dick Lewzey, David Reitzas, Robin Sellars and Mark "Spike" Stent
Orchestrations by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Additional Orchestrations by David Cullen