Watch Sheryl Crow Surprise Fans With New ‘Cars’ Song ‘Built to Last’ Ahead of Spin-Off Disney Jr. Series
Sheryl Crow made a surprise appearance at Disney's D23 fan event, performing a newly written theme song, "Built to Last," for the upcoming Disney Jr. and Disney+ series Cars: Lightning Racers. The moment marked a notable return to the Cars franchise for Crow, whose track "Real Gone" featured in the original 2006 Pixar film, and it came shortly after the movie's 20th anniversary in June, making the reunion especially timely for longtime fans.
Crow's involvement extends beyond the theme tune: she has written 10 additional original songs for the new spin-off series, which is set to launch in 2027. At the Honda Center event in Anaheim, she followed her debut of "Built to Last" with a live performance of "Real Gone," delighting attendees. Cars: Lightning Racers will bring back familiar voice talent including Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Larry the Cable Guy as Mater and Bonnie Hunt as Sally, continuing the story for a new generation of young viewers.
- Sheryl Crow debuted new "Cars" theme song "Built to Last" at D23
- She also wrote 10 more songs for spin-off series Cars: Lightning Racers
- Series arrives on Disney Jr. and Disney+ in 2027 with returning voice cast
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Sheryl Crow is an American singer-songwriter best known for hits such as "All I Wanna Do" and "Soak Up the Sun," who also contributed the song "Real Gone" to Pixar's original Cars film in 2006. Cars is one of Disney and Pixar's biggest animated franchises, following the racing car Lightning McQueen and his friends in the fictional town of Radiator Springs, and it has spawned two sequels alongside a wide range of merchandise and spin-off content aimed at families and young children.
Cars: Lightning Racers is a forthcoming animated series for Disney Jr. and Disney+, extending the franchise for a younger television audience with the return of established voice cast members, including Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy and Bonnie Hunt. D23 is Disney's official fan convention, held periodically in California, where the company unveils news and previews about upcoming films, series and other projects across its various brands.
This story matters to fans of the franchise because it signals how Disney plans to keep Cars relevant for a new generation of viewers, twenty years after the first film's release, and because Crow's renewed involvement links the new show musically to the original movie.