It's been nearly 12 years since we met a six-year-old piano
prodigy named Emily Bear.
Take a look.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
But how long have you been playing?
A year and three months, since I was four.
So how long did it take to write that song?
10 minutes.
10 minutes!
And how did you come up with that?
How did you write that?
It just came out.
[APPLAUSE]
Why did you write the song for me?
Well, it's a song for you, for your wedding.
I wrote it--
[APPLAUSE]
I want to give it to you as a gift.
[APPLAUSE]
All right, get ready to feel old.
Please welcome 17-year-old Emily Bear.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hi!
Hello!
Oh, my god!
It is crazy when I see how long ago that was.
That was-- that was crazy.
It's been a hot second.
Yeah.
And so much has gone on.
I mean, you have gone on to--
you were at the Hollywood Bowl, right?
Yeah, I was there last week.
OK, and performed there.
And Quincy Jones has kind of taken you in.
And you've worked with Quincy Jones.
What else is going on?
No, yeah, so Quincy has been a huge mentor of mine
since I was eight, now.
And he's the most incredible person.
I mean, the fact that he's crossed over to so many genres
is such an inspiration to me.
Because that's what I love doing,
as well, jumping from jazz, to pop, to classical,
to writing for orchestra.
And now you're singing.
Because you've been mainly just writing songs.
And now you're singing.
Yeah, so I sort of got into singing accidentally,
and writing songs.
It was like two years ago.
And a bunch of people had been coming to me.
And they were like, hey, do you write pop songs?
Because I know you do a lot of other genres of music.
But I had never really gotten into that world.
But I was like, oh, I kind of want
to see if I can try to write one.
So I got in the studio with a friend of mine
who had done all the music for Pitch Perfect.
And she actually had me sing the demo for some reason.
And when I played it for people, they're
like, oh, this is great.
Who's singing?
I'm like, it's me.
And so then they started setting up more sessions.
And I got into it more.
And the more that I sang--
and the thing is, I was terrified of singing.
I would not sing in front of my dog, a couch.
It was like, no one.
But the more I did it in the studio,
the more I got used to doing it, and the more I
sort of fell in love with it, and the whole songwriting
world.
So here we are.
Well, that's great.
That's amazing.
And--
[APPLAUSE]
So I produced a movie.
I produced Nancy Drew that was just out.
And you did the music for Nancy Drew, which was--
and you didn't even know that was my movie.
No, I had no idea.
I got a call.
And they're like, hey, we have this pitch.
And I think you would be perfect for it.
We want an uptempo song that's super happy
and is very girl power-y for the opening sequence of this movie
called Nancy Drew.
And I love Nancy Drew.
I used to read when I was little.
And I was like, oh, my god.
This would be amazing.
So I wrote it, sent it in.
And they ended up using it for the movie.
Right.
And they actually came back to me.
And they were like, hey, can you write another one for the end,
too?
So I had two songs.
And I had no idea you were involved in the project
until I saw my music in the scene.
And I was like, produced by Ellen DeGeneres.
And I'm like, hm, interesting.
That was a--
Back together again.
--full circle moment for me.
Yeah, amazing.
Here to perform her new single "Dancin,"
please welcome Emily Bear.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SCATTING]
I'm feeling good, a little better.
Haven't seen the sun forever.
But I know it's always dark before the dawn.
A voice inside my head was heavy.
It was so I couldn't get it.
Used to hold it in.
But now, I let it go.
Who knew emotions could be so damn physical.
I'm going to celebrate this feeling on my own.
And I want us dancing to the song that made me cry.
There's not a chance that I would wear those tears tonight.
Going on a date when I used to be half dead, not fully alive.
And I want us dancing to that song that
made me cry, that made me cry.
You took the power outta my hands.
I knew, inside, there'd come a day when I could hear the words
and not come so undone.
And I want to turn it up, yeah, get lost in the rhythm of love.
There's nothing inside me that still holding on.
Who knew emotions could be so damn physical.
And I want us dancing to the song that made me cry.
There's not a chance that I would wear those tears tonight.
Gone are the days when I used be half dead, not fully alive.
And I want us dancing to the song that
made me cry, that made me cry.
[SCATTING]
[APPLAUSE]
That was really good.
Go to my Spotify page to hear more music from Emily.
I want to thank Emily Bear, Harrison Ford.
And I'll see you tomorrow.
Be kind to one another.
Bye bye.