It was late 2017. Critics basically hated it. If you look back at the early reviews for the Hugh Jackman circus biopic, they were—honestly—pretty brutal. People called it shallow. They said it played fast and loose with the actual history of P.T. Barnum (which, yeah, it definitely did). But then something weird happened. The movie didn't disappear. Instead, the soundtrack from The Greatest Showman became a global juggernaut that refused to leave the charts for years.
It wasn't just a "hit." It was a cultural takeover.
While the film stayed in theaters, the music started living a double life on Spotify and Apple Music. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the duo behind La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen, managed to capture something that most modern musicals miss. They didn't write "period-accurate" circus tunes. Nobody wants to listen to calliope music on their morning commute. Instead, they wrote massive, unapologetic pop anthems that felt more like Katy Perry or Imagine Dragons than Rodgers and Hammerstein.
The secret sauce behind the soundtrack from The Greatest Showman
There is a specific reason this music worked when so many other movie musicals fail. It’s the "anachronism" factor. If you listen to "The Greatest Show," the opening track, it starts with that heavy, rhythmic stomping. It feels like a stadium rock concert.
It’s aggressive.
By the time Hugh Jackman starts whispering those first lines, you’re already hooked into a beat that feels contemporary. This was a deliberate choice by director Michael Gracey. He didn't want the movie to feel like a dusty history lesson; he wanted it to feel like the feeling Barnum’s shows gave people at the time—something fresh, loud, and slightly dangerous.
The songwriting team, Pasek and Paul, have a knack for "The Hook." Think about "This Is Me." It’s the emotional spine of the whole project. Keala Settle’s performance is raw because she wasn't just acting; she has spoken openly about how terrified she was to sing that song. She spent a lot of the workshop phase hiding behind the music stand. When she finally stepped out, that vulnerability translated directly onto the track. That’s why it became an anthem for basically every marginalized group on the planet. It’s a "screw you" to anyone who ever told you to stay in the shadows.
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Why "Never Enough" actually fooled people
Let’s talk about Jenny Lind. In the movie, she’s the "Swedish Nightingale," the greatest singer in the world. Rebecca Ferguson plays her with this incredible, icy grace. But here’s the thing: Rebecca Ferguson isn't the one singing on the soundtrack from The Greatest Showman.
The vocals actually belong to Loren Allred.
Loren was a former contestant on The Voice, and her performance on "Never Enough" is a technical masterclass. It’s a notoriously difficult song to sing because of the huge leaps in the chorus and the breath control required for those sustained high notes. For a long time, casual fans didn't realize it was a "ghost singer" situation. It’s one of those rare moments where the lip-syncing was so perfect and the vocal was so powerful that the two performers essentially merged into one character in the public consciousness.
Honestly, the "Never Enough" phenomenon says a lot about the album's production. It wasn't about being "authentic" to the actors' voices; it was about achieving maximum emotional impact.
Breaking down the chart domination
Most soundtracks have one hit. The Greatest Showman had about five.
"Rewrite the Stars" became the definitive teen ballad of 2018. Zendaya and Zac Efron had this undeniable chemistry, and the song’s production—light at the start, building into a sweeping orchestral pop finish—made it a staple for every talent show and TikTok cover for the next three years. It’s a simple metaphor about fate, but it works because it doesn't try to be too clever.
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The numbers are actually staggering when you look at them:
- The album spent 28 non-consecutive weeks in the UK Top 10.
- It was the global top-selling album of 2018.
- It beat out major releases from Drake, Post Malone, and Taylor Swift.
Why did it beat the pop stars at their own game? Because the soundtrack from The Greatest Showman offered something pop music usually lacks: a cohesive narrative arc. When you listen to the album from start to finish, you're traveling through a story of ambition, failure, and redemption. In a world of fragmented playlists, people actually craved a beginning, a middle, and an end.
The "A Million Dreams" effect on parents
If you have kids, you've heard "A Million Dreams" approximately four thousand times. It’s the ultimate "optimism" song.
What’s interesting about this track is how it uses Michelle Williams and Hugh Jackman to bridge the gap between childhood wonder and adult responsibility. It’s a very clean, aspirational song. It’s also one of the few tracks on the album that feels like a traditional musical theater "I Want" song. You know the trope—the protagonist stands on a balcony or a street corner and sings about what they hope to achieve.
But again, the production saves it from being cheesy. The percussion is crisp. The strings aren't overly sentimental. It feels like a Coldplay track from the early 2000s.
The Reimagined album and the legacy of the songs
You know a soundtrack has reached "legendary" status when the studio releases a second version of it featuring actual pop stars. The Greatest Showman: Reimagined saw artists like Pink, Kelly Clarkson, and Panic! At The Disco covering the tracks.
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Brendon Urie’s version of "The Greatest Show" basically proved what we all suspected: these were rock songs in disguise. Pink’s version of "A Million Dreams" with her daughter, Willow Sage Hart, went viral because it highlighted the intergenerational appeal of the music.
This second album was a brilliant marketing move, but it also served as a validation. It was the industry’s way of admitting, "Okay, these aren't just 'theater songs.' These are legitimate pop hits."
Getting the most out of the music today
If you're revisiting the soundtrack from The Greatest Showman, or maybe discovering it because you finally gave in to the hype, there are a few things to look for that most people miss.
Listen to the background vocals in "From Now On." That’s the song where Barnum realizes he’s messed up and needs to go home. The ensemble isn't just singing harmony; they’re acting as a percussive element. The "hey!" and the rhythmic breathing create this sense of a train picking up speed. It’s the most "human" sounding track on the record. It feels like a bunch of people in a room together, which is exactly what the story needs at that point.
Also, pay attention to "The Other Side." The banter between Jackman and Efron is timed perfectly to the clinking of shot glasses on the bar. It’s a rhythmic feat that is incredibly hard to pull off in a recording studio.
Practical ways to enjoy the music
- Check out the "Making Of" footage: If you haven't seen the video of Keala Settle singing "This Is Me" for the first time during the green-light session, go find it on YouTube. It provides a level of context that makes the recorded track hit way harder.
- Listen for the "Vocal Fry": Modern pop techniques are all over this album. Unlike traditional Broadway where every note is perfectly "round" and clear, Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron use a lot of "vocal fry" and breathiness to make the songs feel intimate and "radio-ready."
- The Instrumentals: If you’re a student or someone who needs to focus, the instrumental versions of these tracks are surprisingly good for productivity. They maintain the energy without the distracting lyrics.
- Cover Versions: Look for the live versions from Hugh Jackman’s world tour. Hearing these songs performed with a live orchestra and a 30-piece choir adds a scale that even the studio recording can't quite match.
The reality is that The Greatest Showman didn't need the critics. It had a direct line to the audience's dopamine receptors. It’s a masterclass in how to blend the storytelling of theater with the glossy, high-energy production of 21st-century pop. Whether you love the "showbiz" cheese or you just appreciate a well-constructed bridge, there's no denying that this collection of songs changed the landscape for movie musicals. It proved that people still want to be swept up in a spectacle, as long as it has a beat they can dance to.
To really appreciate the technicality, try listening to "The Other Side" with a good pair of headphones. You can actually hear the spatial positioning of the actors as they "move" around the bar. It's a small detail, but it's what separates a "soundtrack" from a cinematic experience. Once you start noticing those layers, the album becomes a lot more than just a collection of catchy tunes—it becomes a blueprint for how to make the old world feel brand new again.
Actionable Insights:
- Deepen your listening: Use high-fidelity headphones to catch the foley-style percussion (glasses clinking, canes tapping) embedded in the tracks "The Other Side" and "The Greatest Show."
- Explore the "Reimagined" versions: Compare Kelly Clarkson’s "Never Enough" to the original film version to see how different vocal timbres change the emotional weight of the lyrics.
- Contextualize the history: Read up on the real Jenny Lind to understand why the songwriters chose to give her a massive, modern power ballad instead of the operatic style she actually sang in the 1800s.
- Analyze the structure: If you're a songwriter or creator, look at how "This Is Me" uses a standard pop structure (Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus) to create a sense of familiarity that helped it cross over to mainstream radio.