Music
Ally McBeal was a heavily music-oriented show. Vonda Shepard, a virtually unknown musician at the time, was featured continually on the show. Her song "Searchin' My Soul" became the show's theme song. Many of the songs Shepard performed were established hits with lyrics that paralleled the events of the episode, including "Both Sides Now", "Hooked on a Feeling" and "Tell Him". Besides recording background music for the show, Shepard frequently appeared at the ends of episodes as a musician performing at a local piano bar frequented by the main characters. On rare occasions, her character would have conventional dialogue. A portion of "Searchin' My Soul" was played at the beginning of each episode but, oddly enough, the song was never heard in its entirety.
Due to the popularity of the show and Shepard's music, a soundtrack titled Songs from Ally McBeal was released in 1998, as well as a successor soundtrack titled "Heart and Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal" in 1999. Two compilation albums from the show featuring Shepard were also released in 2000 and 2001. Other artistes featured on the show include Barry White, Al Green, Tina Turner, Anastacia and Elton John. Josh Groban played the role of Malcolm Wyatt in the May 2001 season finale, performing "You're Still You". The series creator, David E. Kelley, was impressed with Groban's performance at The Family Celebration event and based on the audience reaction to Groban's singing, Kelley created a character for him in that finale. The background score for the show was composed by Danny Lux.
| Soundtrack name | Tk# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Songs from Ally McBeal | 14 | May 5, 1998 |
| Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal | 14 | November 9, 1999 |
| Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas | 14 | November 7, 2000 |
| Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life | 14 | April 24, 2001 |
| The Best of Ally McBeal | 12 | October 6, 2009 |
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