'This Music Has Never Left Me': Morgan Freeman to Release Blues Album

Hollywood veteran Morgan Freeman, 89, known for his roles in "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Million Dollar Baby," is set to release a blues album bearing his name.

According to CNN and People magazine, Freeman will release "Morgan Freeman's Symphonic Blues Experience" on Aug. 7.

Freeman serves as producer and narrator on the project. Vocals and instrumentation are handled by five-time Grammy winner Taj Mahal, Cap "Mo," Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell and the Chickene Orchestra. The 12-track album was previewed with the lead single "Death Letter Blues," released June 19 to coincide with Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Freeman is also scheduled to take the album on the road, with live performances planned in Houston, Memphis and Gulfport from August through October.

Freeman said he first heard the blues in his grandmother's front yard in the Mississippi Delta, and that the music had never left him since. Blues is widely regarded as a musical tradition rooted in the experiences of African Americans.

"Releasing the single on Juneteenth is not just symbolic," he said. "It's about the truth of where this music came from and who created it."

Freeman is one of Hollywood's most celebrated senior actors, having won the Golden Globe for best actor for "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1989 and the Academy Award for best supporting actor for "Million Dollar Baby" in 2004.