Taken To Church?

Beats By Dre Taps New Leon Bridges Song For Marcus Mariota Ad Dropping Just In Time For NFL Draft.

Turns out the rapid ascent of Fort Worth soul singer Leon Bridges ain't slowing down any time soon. The latest proof? The fact that “River,” the just-dropped latest single off his highly anticipated, June 23-due Coming Home debut LP — a song that's been floating around through live YouTube versions for some time now — has been tapped for a new Beats By Dre headphones ad centered around the promise of Heisman Trophy-winning NFL quarterback prospect Marcus Mariota and, I dunno, his use of that product in his daily life, I guess?

Point is, given that we're heading into NFL Draft weekend, where Mariota is expected to go as a first-round choice and among the first two quarterbacks selected, you can expect to hear a lot of this song over the next few days and during the broadcast's many commercial breaks.

Here's the song's placement in the uncut, over-two-minutes-long ad.

Here's the song itself, without people talking about how much they love Mariota over it.

Now, I'm not saying a performance with Annie Lennox at the Grammy Awards is in the cards for Bridges' immediate future, but the last out-of-nowhere performer and song I can remember getting the sentimental athlete ad treatment from Beats was Hozier and his “Take Me To Church,” which scored a prominent Lebron James spot. History repeats itself, but not always so clearly,

Still, this Bridges kid sure is blowing up just as anticipated, ain't he?

(Hat tip.)