Team USA Gets Soundtracked by Sheryl Crow, Nelly

Sheryl Crow, Nelly and 3 Doors Down are among the artists that have recorded exclusive tracks for the upcoming AT&T Team USA Soundtrack, a collection of songs that hope to motivate American Olympians at this year's Games in Beijing. Also contributing songs are Colbie Caillat, Kate Voegele and Army of Me. All proceeds from the soundtrack will benefit Team USA. "It's my job as an artist to encourage others through music, and I'm honored to work to support Team USA through this soundtrack," Sheryl Crow said. Swimmer Michael Phelps, who won eight medals at the last Olympics in Athens and will just qualified for eight events for this summer's competition, said "I know this soundtrack is something we will all be able to enjoy while we're in Beijing and will help motivate us to compete at our very best." As it's sponsored through AT&T, customers of that phone service will have first dibs on ringtones of these songs. The songs themselves will be available for download throughout the Games, from August 8-24.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

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