Diana Ross's Hilarious Stranger Things Confession After Song's Streaming Surge
Music icon Diana Ross has made a delightfully entertaining revelation about the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, despite her classic 1980 disco single Upside Down experiencing a dramatic resurgence after featuring prominently in the show's final season. The sci-fi phenomenon, which is famously set in the 1980s, released its concluding episodes last year, with one installment giving Ross's beloved track significant airtime.
Thunderous Streaming Increase and Onstage Confusion
Following its placement in Stranger Things, Upside Down witnessed an astonishing 373 percent increase in on-demand streams, according to detailed data published by Billboard magazine. However, when the 81-year-old Queen of Motown performed the song recently during her concert at The Wynn Las Vegas, she disclosed that not only had she never actually seen the series, but she was somewhat uncertain about its exact format.
'You know that song is a hit all over again,' Ross announced to her audience, prompting enthusiastic applause. She continued, 'with that movie, that television show - what is it, a movie? Stranger Things?' In footage shared by television producer John Pascarella on his Instagram account @jpasc24, Ross then cheerfully inquired of a concertgoer, 'What is that movie about?'
Pascarella captioned the viral video when uploading it last Thursday, writing: 'STRANGER THINGS may be a global hit … And may have helped Diana Ross’ UPSIDE DOWN race up the charts again … But she hilariously revealed during a recent Las Vegas show at The Wynn that she doesn’t know much about the show….'
International Tour and Contrasting Artist Reactions
The legendary performer was appearing in Las Vegas as part of her extensive international Diana in Motion tour, which will subsequently take her to the United Kingdom and Japan later this year. After completing American engagements in cities including San Antonio, Memphis, Nashville, and Orlando, she is scheduled to perform in the Japanese metropolitan areas of Yokohama and Osaka during May. The concert series will conclude at the Brighton and Hove Pride festival in England this August.
Ross's amusingly detached perspective on Stranger Things presents a droll contrast to the reaction of fellow musician Kate Bush, whose 1985 track Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) also received a substantial popularity boost following its use in the series. Unlike Ross, Bush expressed being a dedicated viewer throughout the show's entire run, specifically praising the 'touching' incorporation of her song as a 'talisman' for the character Max, portrayed by Sadie Sink.
'I think they put it in a really special place. I thought: "What a lovely way for [Running Up That Hill] to be used, in such a positive way,"' remarked Bush, 67, in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. She elaborated that the song 'was written as the idea of a man and a woman swapping with each other. Just to feel what it was like, from the other side.'
Song Origins and Royal Approval
Meanwhile, Upside Down - which is reportedly a personal favorite of King Charles - was originally composed for Diana Ross by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, the founding members of the influential disco group Chic. The track served as the lead single from Ross's massively successful solo album titled Diana.
The song's memorable chorus features Ross singing: 'Upside down, boy, you turn me inside out and 'round and 'round.' One verse continues: 'Instinctively, you give to me the love that I need. I cherish the moments with you. Respectfully, I say to thee, I'm aware that you're cheating when no one makes me feel like you do.'
In a quoted interview from the blog Twenty First Century Music, Rodgers reflected on their collaborative process, stating: 'Diana Ross was the first big star we ever worked with and we took it very seriously.' He explained that he and Edwards spent multiple days interviewing Ross to genuinely understand her personality, a marked departure from their previous work with the girl group Sister Sledge, for whom they had written the now-classic 1979 anthem We Are Family.
'This was the first time in her life somebody cared about who she was; what she was - everyone previously had treated her the way we had treated Sister Sledge - they got her in and said: "Sing this,"' Rodgers observed. They adopted a different approach with Ross 'because we felt we'd misrepresented Sister Sledge because we hadn't met them before they came in to sing We Are Family.'
Stranger Things released its final episodes recently, which included a notably lengthy and widely criticized scene depicting Will Byers, played by Noah Schnapp, coming out as gay to his group of friends.
