The Roots of Muse

How well do you know Muse?

12 questions on the credits, the Daylight story and the muses John and Pharrell named. Every answer comes with its source.

12 questions

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All answers and sources
  1. Which R&B star, John’s battle advisor on The Voice in 2019, sings background vocals on Pray For Ya?
    Usher. Usher Raymond IV is credited for background vocals on Pray For Ya, alongside Pharrell and Natalie Imani. Apple Music: Pray For Ya credits
  2. Which choir sings on Fireflies?
    Voices of Fire. Voices of Fire, the gospel choir Pharrell and his uncle Bishop Ezekiel Williams built in Hampton Roads, Virginia, for a 2020 series. They are credited as the choir on Fireflies. Apple Music: Fireflies credits Wikipedia: Voices of Fire
  3. Kawan “KP” Prather was the A&R on John’s Evolver in 2008. How many Muse songs does he co-write?
    Five. Five: Pray For Ya, Her, Get Back, Are You Ok? and Under The Bridge. He also sings background vocals on Daylight. Apple Music: Muse credits Wikipedia: Evolver
  4. Who arranged the horns on Muse, and happens to share John’s exact birthday, December 28, 1978?
    Terrace Martin. Terrace Martin is credited as horn arranger on Muse, Pray For Ya and Get Back, and plays alto sax on the title track. Both men were born December 28, 1978. Apple Music: Muse credits Wikipedia: Terrace Martin
  5. Daylight is “the song that started it all.” Who wrote it with Pharrell before he sent it to John?
    Samm Henshaw. Pharrell wrote Daylight with South London singer Samm Henshaw. Wayne Hector and John are also credited writers. Roc Nation: Muse bio Apple Music: Daylight credits
  6. Where did John record Daylight?
    At home in LA, around Christmas 2024. Pharrell sent the song over and John cut it at home in Los Angeles around Christmas 2024. Roc Nation: Muse bio
  7. Muse started with a hook John sang on someone else’s record. Which one?
    Clipse, The Birds Don’t Sing. John sang the hook on The Birds Don’t Sing, the opener of Clipse’s Pharrell-produced Let God Sort Em Out. Pharrell loved it and called about a whole album. Roc Nation: Muse bio The Breakfast Club
  8. Pharrell called from Paris to pitch the album. What time was it in LA?
    Before dawn, around 5 AM. “It’s like 5 am in LA and I don’t answer,” John says in the Roc Nation album bio. Roc Nation: Muse bio The Breakfast Club
  9. John wrote Bodies On The Floor with Samm Henshaw while bingeing which crime drama?
    MobLand. MobLand. John let its language of gang warfare bleed into a toxic, magnetic love song, and said it reminds him of Again and Another Again from Once Again. Roc Nation: Muse bio
  10. Where did the world first hear a song from Muse?
    A Louis Vuitton runway show. Pray For Ya soundtracked Louis Vuitton’s Fall Winter 2026 men’s show, Pharrell’s runway. Roc Nation: Muse bio
  11. Which three greats does John name, again and again, as the muses behind Muse?
    Nina Simone, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye. “Nina Simone is a big influence, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye,” John told Elvis Duran. Pharrell also pushed him to talk-sing like Sinatra or Nat King Cole. Elvis Duran Show Billboard
  12. How did John describe Pharrell’s idea for the album’s look and sound?
    A Black James Bond aesthetic. “…all of these classic, cinematic elements, this Black James Bond aesthetic … but with a modern backbeat at its foundation.” Roc Nation: Muse bio