Songfacts®:

• This song is from the 2011 animated movie Rio and is sung by The Social Network actor Jesse Eisenberg, as the main character Blu, a socially awkward Spix's Macaw who learns how to fly. He is accompanied on the song by characters voiced by Jamie Foxx, Anne Hathaway, George Lopez and will.i.am. Hathaway previously played Eisenberg's on screen sibling in the TV comedy drama Get Real.
• Brazilians Carlinhos Brown and Sergio Mendes composed the song. Brown, whose music blends traditional Brazilian percussion with Tropicália, reggae and more recently electronic elements, is a significant star back in his home country. Pianist and band leader Sergio Mendes plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk and is best known for his signature tune "Mas Que Nada."
• Mendes was brought on board Rio to act as music guru and surprisingly the 70-year-old Brazilian told Billboard magazine that it was the first film for which he had specifically written music.
• The lyric was written by American singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett, who is best known for her collaborations with Michael Jackson, which include "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" and "Man In The Mirror."
• Along with "Man or Muppet," this was one of just two songs nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category of the Academy Awards held in 2012.