Pope Francis Music Album Wake Up
The cover of the Vatican-approved album Wake Up! featuring vocals and lyrics from Pope Francis Believedigital

He has already proven himself on stage, with his weekly live performances regularly drawing thousands of people, so perhaps it was only natural that Pope Francis would further his rock star image and publish a music album.

The first single of Wake Up!, the Holy See-approved LP featuring lyrics and voice from the pontiff, who last year famously persuaded Patti Smith to sing at the Vatican Christmas concert, has been released as he is on tour in the US, after an appearance in Cuba.

The 11-track album blending pop, rock and religious themes will come out in November but pre-orders are already available online. It overlays recordings of key speeches made by Francis around the world to music bases iTunes describes as a being in the Christian & Gospel genre.

Produced in collaboration with Believe Digital the album costs £7.99 ($12, €11), with part of the profits going to refugees refugees.

Lyrics from Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!, the first track premiered by Rolling Stone, for example, are taken from a speech the pontiff gave in South Korea last year.

"I tried to be strongly faithful to the pastoral and personality of Pope Francis: the Pope of dialogue, open doors, hospitality," producer and artistic director Don Giulio Neroni told Rolling Stone. "For this reason, the voice of Pope Francis in Wake Up! dialogues music. And contemporary music dialogues with the Christian tradition of sacred hymns."

Both Francis predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II had published religious music albums, but the Argentinian is the first to use contemporary music to speak to the souls, wading into the pop-rock world.

Here you can listen to Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!:

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