New Radicals : Gregg Alexander Has Given More Than He’s Got

Last month marked the 20th anniversary of New Radicals one and only album, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed, Too.

Anyone who’s interested in why the “group,” which was really just singer-songwriter Gregg Alexander, disappeared after that album and its one hit, “You Get What You Give,” should check out an interview with the reclusive Alexander that ran Monday in Billboard.

The piece tells why he broke the group up, what caused him to drop out of the music business three times and what he’s been doing for the past two decades. It also details the work he has done — such as writing the Grammy-winning “The Game of Love” for Santana, and composing the music for the 2014 movie Begin Again, for which he got an Oscar nomination for the song “Lost Stars” — but also what he’s accomplished outside of music. 

Alexander explains that he’s actually got seven to 10 full albums worth of new material that he could release if he wanted to. Speaking about them, he explains that, “Sting once said music is its own reward. In that context, it’s been its own reward for me. I still scheme sometimes about the idea of maybe putting records out. Maybe after I die, I’ll put them out every year.”