How Do The ‘Fifty Shades’ Movies Always Have Such Bangin’ Soundtracks?

If the first few dramatic notes of The Weeknd’s “Earned It” don’t send a shiver up your spine, then turn it up louder. Excuse me, the OSCAR NOMINATED, “Earned It.” That’s right, the jam off of the 2015 Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack earned the film its sole Oscar nomination — and a damn worthy one at that. It also racked up three Grammy nominations, including a win for Best R&B Performance in 2016, making it an undeniable hit.

It’s three years later and that song will still make you want to grab your lover and go make out in the shower. Look, this song’s got me saying things like “lover,” that’s the power it holds. Along with 15 other tracks, including Elle Goulding’s swelling “Love Me Like You Do” and Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love (2014 Remix)”, very few soundtracks can boast such a slinky and sexy lineup of jam after jam. The Fifty Shades team was smart about stacking the soundtrack with total hits. In fact, despite casting and writer/director drama, and less than favorable reviews, it could be the songs that helped the movie succeed at the box office with an opening weekend of $85 million. Having a popular book series never hurts of course, either. But damn, even seeing those trailers with the sounds of The Weeknd and Goulding highlighting the glances and the romance and the sex, made viewers want to see, and hear, what the action was all about.

“We really wanted the songs to be part of the fiber of the film — nothing crowbarred in or just auxiliary to the experience,”Mike Knobloch, president of film music and publishing at Universal told Buzzfeed in 2015. “There was a very deliberate effort to create as much original material as possible, to tailor the production, the lyrics, and the performance.” They took the song selection so seriously, it began almost two years before the film’s release.

The mix of original songs from pop powerhouses The Weeknd, Goulding, and Sia, mixed with covers from Annie Lennox (“I Put A Spell on You”) and AWOLNATION (“I’m On Fire”) and appearances from rising star Jessie Ware to freakin’ Frank Sinatra provided such an eclectic mix that anyone watching the film, from housewives to young fans to the husbands, guardians, and various people they roped into viewing it with them, could all find something they enjoyed hearing. You know, in between the sounds of whips hitting buttocks.

And then, somehow, they recreated the magic all over again for 2017’s Fifty Shades Darker. Now, the sequel’s soundtrack wasn’t quite as epic as the original (but the second film was better than the first!). But Zayn and Taylor Swift’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” found a way to dig those falsettos right on into your ear drums, where they settled in and took up residence for more weeks than any of us would care to admit. The song was breathy and catchy enough to serve as a worthy single to the sequel. With songs from Halsey (“Not Afraid Anymore”), John Legend (“One Woman Man”), and Nick Jonas and Nicki Minaj (“Bom Bidi Bom”), the soundtrack came supplied with the perfect mix of slinky, seductive, and pulsating sounds that served as excellent background music while Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson tied each other up and gasped for pleasured breath after pleasured breath. Plus, with contributions from The-Dream, Tove Lo, and Sia once again, as well a haunting version of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” from Corinne Bailey Rae, the playlist proved to be full of legit artists.

Now, with the third release coming up, Fifty Shades Freed, in theaters February 9th, it appears they just might have done it again. “For You”, the first single from Liam Payne and Rita Ora is nowhere near as much of a banger as “Earned It” was, but give it a few listens and tell me it doesn’t grow on you. With the full track listing including songs from Hailee Steinfeld, Julia Michaels, and yes, of course, Sia, there could be some hits hiding in there, just waiting to thrill you throughout the film. Oh, and what’s that? A “Maybe I’m Amazed” bonus track from Jamie Dornan himself? RIP, panties.

The Fifty Shades films were right to take their soundtracks as seriously as they did. No one needed cheesy, sax-heavy softcore porn songs underneath their BDSM business. By layering legit artists and catchy tunes over the sexy scenes, it made what could have been cartoonish moments actually kind of…sexy. And watchable! AND SEXY.

Soundtracks certainly aren’t treated the same way in 2018 that they have been in the decades before. Movies still know how to use cool songs, but rarely do they put the effort and care into selecting (and promoting) a collection of songs as an extension of the film. The Fifty Shades franchise has continuously and expertly chosen songs that are simultaneously old-school and modern, jazzy and understated, and all pleasantly listenable. They’re curated playlists that even the snobbiest music snob in your life has to acknowledge as legit. No matter how seriously you take the films, you can’t deny that they come with some seriously sexy songs.

Where to watch Fifty Shades Darker