The Wanted are not only feeling the love from Rihanna, who has given their cheeky single her seal of approval, but also from their former tourmate Justin Bieber.
The U.K. fivesome have confirmed that the “Boyfriend” singer will make an appearance on their upcoming album, for which “Walks Like Rihanna” serves as the lead single.
Max George didn’t spill too many details about the collaboration when the band spoke to MTV U.K., but he did say they also recruited Dr. Luke, Rita Ora and Nasri, who is a frequent producer for Bieber. “Hopefully there’ll be a couple of surprise collabs there as well,” Max George added.
The guys have long teased that Bieber could make an appearance on their follow-up to 2011’s Battleground, which spawned their breakthrough hit “Glad You Came.” They shared with MTV News last October that they would potentially be cooking up tunes with the pop superstar while on his Believe tour.
With a Bieber cameo in the bag, the group can sleep easy also knowing that their latest single has been co-signed by its muse. “We met [Rihanna’s] manager Jay Brown in New York and he said that he really liked it and that she really liked it which is always a good sign [’cause] if she hated it we’d be in a pretty bad place,” Tom Parker shared about her take on “Walks Like Rihanna.”
But George noted, “We’d put it out anyway!” with Jay McGuiness adding, “I think she’s avoiding us since we wrote that one.”
George added that with Nathan Sykes able to perform with them again after recovering from vocal surgery, he’s optimistic that “it’s gonna be our best album yet.” Sykes played his first show with the band over the weekend in the U.K. at Capital FM’s Summertime Ball.
And McGuiness seemed to be more than thrilled about his bandmate’s return, adding, “It just feels so tender.”
No Comments