“Songs That Shook The Planet” reintroduces listeners to indelible songs from artists who literally put their lives on the line to speak truth to power and provides a soundtrack of civil uprising that is perhaps even more powerful and relevant today.

The Audible Original  takes listeners on an extraordinary journey through politically and socially conscious music. Part history lesson and part memoir, Songs That Shook the Planet spans genres and decades to call out the brave artists who continue to inspire necessary change in the world.

You’ll hear the stories behind legendary tracks as well as the songs themselves, performed by Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Too Short, and more. Listening is both empowering and haunting; too often the artists paid a shocking price for their ability to articulate injustice so forcefully. Chuck D makes the experience even more revelatory by adding his own reminiscences about how the songs—many heard on the record player at home that his mother kept spinning with a stunning range of music—influenced his early life and his own career as an agent of change.

Audible’s Words + Music franchise provides a unique outlet for musical icons to defy traditional formats and go beyond simple artist biography, resulting in a profoundly intimate performance through-line that is truly unique to the Audible experience. Songs That Shook the Planet is in good company with Audible’s expansive Words + Music catalogue, including previously released originals from Tom Morello, Smokey Robinson, Tariq Trotter, Rhiannon Giddens, Elvis Costello, Gary Clark Jr., James Taylor, Common, T Bone Burnett,  Laura Jane Grace, Yo-Yo Ma, Eddie Vedder, and more (full catalogue can be found HERE).

Song Selections Included in the Audible Original:

    Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
    Curtis Mayfield - People Get Ready
    Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come
    Edwin Starr - War Live
    Marvin Gaye - What's going On?
    Stevie Wonder - Living For The City
    Bob Marley - Get Up, Stand Up
    The Special AKA - Nelson Mandela
    Too Short - The Ghetto