By John Mark Pineda
Natalie Taylor’s “Surrender” suddenly started making waves on music streaming platforms surprising the composer of the power of social media and other online platforms in making classics and old songs find new audiences.
“It is crazy it’s hard to grasp, you know… ‘Surrender’ has such a large audience now,” Natalie said in a recent zoom conference with some select members of the entertainment press.
Five years after its release, the ballad experienced an unexpected resurgence this pandemic enjoying a massive number of streams across digital platforms including the video-sharing app, TikTok.
“This song is five years old, and so for us, it’s just like, I mean it is really crazy to see that happen, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We noticed that my Spotify audience was growing and were like, ‘Where is this coming from?’ We had no idea. But when I checked TikTok, I saw that it has been used in so many videos,” Natalie said.
According to the singer-songwriter, “Surrender” is an emotional track, a story about “coming back together in your marriage and surrendering to each other again.”
“Surrender” has seen a resurgence since going viral on TikTok with over 1.5 million videos curated to the song. The track has spent over four weeks on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart and has nearly 115 million views on YouTube worldwide. The track was used in more than 3.6 million videos on TikTok. The song has more than 115 million views on Spotify and 80 million collective views on YouTube.
Hailing from just outside Birmingham, AL, Natalie’s influences range from American legend, Patty Griffin, to classic country artists, Dixie Chicks and Jo Dee Messina. However, her “vocal training” as she calls it, comes from ‘90s R&B icons Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, and Destiny’s Child.