AceShowbiz - Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemons have released their powerful new version of "Better Days", which they performed for the "Celebrating America" special on Wednesday night (20Jan21), as a new single.

The track, featuring gospel great Kirk Franklin and students and alumni from the Stax Music Academy in Timberlake's native Memphis, Tennessee, was made available as a download as soon as it aired on the TV event, hosted by Tom Hanks, which took place after Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as America's 46th President and the nation's first female Vice-President in Washington, D.C.

Timberlake and Clemons performed the track at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, which is housed on the site of Stax Records, where soul legends like Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGS, Carla Thomas, Isaac Hayes, and William Bell recorded their hits.

"The fact that the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy were chosen by Justin Timberlake, Ant Clemons and the Presidential Inaugural Committee to represent Memphis, Tennessee in the 2021 presidential inauguration, speaks not only volumes about the power, magic, and timelessness of soul music, but also casts a bright light on the work we have been doing here at the Soulsville Foundation for more than 20 years now," said Soulsville Foundation President and CEO Richard Greenwald.

"We are grateful to our friend Justin Timberlake for embracing our mission and genuinely caring about the young people with whom we work every day."

Timberlake and Clemons premiered "Better Days" for Rock the Runoff, a virtual fundraiser for Stacy Abrams' organisation, Fair Fight in December (20). Clemons first conceived the idea of the song months before the presidential election in November and invited Timberlake to feature on the track. Justin laid down his vocals on election night as he watched the returns.