Toby Gad unveiled the music video for “Run (Piano Diaries),” his previously unreleased collaboration with the late Donna Summer, exclusively to Billboard on Friday (June 13).
The Queen of Disco’s voice shines as she delivers the ballad’s powerful message, singing, “You can sit it out, wait until you see your chance/ Try your luck, you can dare to dance/ Dream away your life and never live your dream/ Or breathe every breath you get and run with it.”
Meanwhile, the music video features Gad accompanying Summer’s vocals on the piano as 13-year-old dancer London! performs an emotional lyrical routine over a montage of archival footage of the late “MacArthur Park” dance floor diva, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 63.
Gad and Summer originally worked on the song for the disco legend’s final studio album, 2008’s Crayons, which also earned the pair a No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart with fourth single “Fame (The Game).”
Though “Run” ultimately didn’t make the cut for Crayons‘ final tracklist, Gad is now releasing the ballad as special part of his ongoing Piano Diaries project, reimagining some of the greatest hits in his catalog with new artists.
“Donna was funny, such a warm spirit — we instantly connected,” Gad tells Billboard. “I was a little nervous at first working with such an icon, but unlike Madonna, who enjoyed testing my character for several days before letting me into her world, Donna opened up to me immediately as I showed her my first ideas. She loved to crack jokes and had such an immediate sense of humor. She enjoyed big hugs and on the first day it felt like she had already decided that I was part of her family.”
The songwriter behind hits like John Legend’s “All of Me” and Beyoncé’s “If I Were a Boy” went on to recall, “Donna was not only an amazing singer who was totally in charge of her voice, much like Beyoncé when I worked with her, [she] was also a great songwriter, intuitively finding words that are honest, authentic and have emotion.”
Watch Gad’s emotional music video for “Run (Piano Diaries)” below.