Friday, May 29, 2026

Listen: Nick Jonas Has a Potential Hit and Best Song Oscar Nominee in “How to Write a Song Without You” from Paul Rudd Movie, “Power Ballad”

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Nick Jonas has a potential hit out today.

“How to Write a Song Without You” is the very catchy, beautifully produced main song from the John Carney movie, “Power Ballad.”

Gary Clark, one of the UK’s great current pop composers, wrote it.

Paul Rudd also sings his own version in the movie. Rudd plays a journeyman musician living in Ireland who meets a boybander (Jonas) looking for a hit. Their chance encounter produces the song, and changes Rudd’s character’s life.

The movie is incredibly charming, and both men make a film about how music is created and friendships are navigated into a winner. The movie comes next Friday.

In the meantime, the Jonas track is out on all platforms and it sounds even better now than I remember it from the movie.

PS You can also hear Rudd’s version of the song on YouTube. He sings throughout the movie and deserves a lot of credit. But this version is the one for hit purposes.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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