Ed Sheeran Is Hiding in the Background of Shakira's New Zootopia Anthem, and Nobody Saw It Coming

Ambo Fam, gather round, because the credits on Disney's new single "Zoo" read like a secret superstar summit that nobody warned us about. Yes, the song is Shakira's triumphant return to the world of Zootopia, the franchise where she famously voiced pop sensation Gazelle back in 2016. But buried in the liner notes is a detail that has fans doing double takes: Ed Sheeran is on this track, singing background vocals, co-writing, and producing, and he barely said a word about it.

The single, released on 10 October 2025 as the lead song from the Zootopia 2 soundtrack, pairs Shakira with producer Blake Slatkin as the core creative team. But the full personnel list, as shown on the song's official store listing ^[1], reveals a small army of contributors. Sheeran appears three times over: once as a background vocalist, once as a songwriter, and once as a producer. That is not a casual drop-in. That is a genuine creative fingerprint on one of the biggest family film songs of the year.

A Reunion Nine Years in the Making

Let's rewind for a second, because context matters here. When the first Zootopia film arrived in 2016, Shakira's character Gazelle delivered "Try Everything," a song that somehow escaped the usual fate of disposable movie tie-in singles. It became a genuine streaming monster, a workout-playlist staple, and a rare case of an animated film song crossing over into everyday rotation for adults with no children in sight. The song's message of persistence, wrapped in a relentlessly sunny melody, made it sticky in a way Disney soundtracks rarely manage.

So when Zootopia 2 was announced, the question was never whether Gazelle would return. It was whether the new song could possibly live up to "Try Everything." Based on early reactions, "Zoo" is not trying to be "Try Everything" at all, and that might be the smartest move Disney could have made.

Where "Try Everything" was a bouncy pep talk, "Zoo" is a straight-up party record. The opening lines set the tone immediately: the track urges everyone to get up, declares the crowd wild and untamable, and promises to turn the dance floor into, well, a zoo. The lyric snippet available on the track's streaming page ^[2] shows the song leaning into a hedonistic, celebratory energy, a vibe closer to Shakira's own catalog of dance-floor smashes than to a kids' movie ballad.

The Sheeran Factor

Here is where the story gets genuinely interesting, at least for those of us who read credits the way other people read horoscopes. Ed Sheeran has a long history with Disney, having contributed "I See Fire" to The Hobbit franchise's soundtrack era and more recently penning songs for other major film projects. But his role here is unusually deep for a background gig.

Alongside Sheeran, the background vocal roster includes Blake Slatkin, Noa Getzug, Jack Goldsmith, Jamie Kinelski, Jennifer Knoepfle, and, in a genuinely delightful curveball, comedian and actress Rachel Sennott. Yes, the same Rachel Sennott known for chaotic comedy roles is apparently in the vocal stack of a Disney anthem. The credits also list Alex "A.C." Castillo as a producer, Josh Gudwin and Dave Clauss on mixing, and Adam Ayan on mastering, which tells you Disney was not cutting corners on this one.

The production split is telling. Shakira and Slatkin share lead production duties, with Sheeran and Castillo also credited as producers. Slatkin, known for his work shaping some of the biggest pop radio hits of recent years, brings a polished, low-end-heavy sensibility, while Shakira's own influence keeps the track rooted in the percussive, hip-driven style that has defined her career since before most of the Zootopia audience was born.

The Official Video Seals the Deal

The release is accompanied by an official music video from Disney's music channel ^[3], with the film itself now streaming for audiences eager to see how Gazelle's new era fits into the sequel's story. The video leans fully into spectacle, positioning the song as the movie's flagship musical moment rather than a tacked-on promotional extra.

And that positioning is working. The single has been climbing global charts since release, a reminder that the Zootopia brand now carries genuine musical weight. The album listing confirms the track is released under Walt Disney Records ^[4], marking it as the official soundtrack centerpiece rather than a loose side project.

Why This Song Works Where Others Fail

Here is my honest take, Ambo Fam: most soundtrack singles from animated sequels are corporate obligation in audio form. They exist to fill a marketing checkbox, they vanish from memory within a month, and nobody mourns them. "Zoo" escapes that trap for one simple reason: it sounds like a Shakira song that happens to be in a movie, not a movie song that happens to feature Shakira.

The difference is ownership. Shakira co-wrote it, co-produced it, and sings it with the same conviction she brings to her own albums. The lyric about being wild and unable to be tamed is not just a throwaway hook, it is a thesis statement that doubles as a mission statement for her entire career. When she sings about turning the floor into a zoo, you believe her, because this is a woman who has been turning floors into zoos for three decades.

The Sheeran contribution, meanwhile, is the kind of quiet craftsmanship that only reveals itself on repeated listens. His background vocals are buried in the mix rather than showcased, which suggests he was there to serve the song, not to steal a headline. In an era where celebrity collaborations are often announced with more fanfare than the music itself deserves, the fact that this one slipped out with minimal bragging feels almost refreshingly old-fashioned.

What Comes Next

The bigger question is whether "Zoo" can match the improbable longevity of "Try Everything." That song benefited from being tied to a film that became a cultural phenomenon, and Zootopia 2 arrives with enormous shoes to fill. But the early signals are promising. The single is charting internationally, the video is racking up views, and the song has that rare quality of working on two levels at once: kids will love the animal-party energy, while adults will recognize a legitimately well-constructed dance track underneath the fur and glitter.

For Shakira, this feels like a victory lap. For Sheeran, it is a fascinating footnote in an already eclectic career. And for the rest of us, it is proof that sometimes the best collaborations are the ones nobody saw coming.

Keep it locked here, Ambo Fam. We will be watching the charts on this one.