Best Olympics Music Performances: 20 Stunning Ceremony Moments

19: Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso and Anitta: Isso Aqui, O Que É? (Rio, 2016)

Kicking things off with tribal drumming and a colourful parade of outlandish costumes, the opening ceremony for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics felt like a non-stop samba party. As a vibrant celebration of the musical riches of Brazil, Tropicália legends Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso memorably teamed up with contemporary Latin pop star Anitta for one of the best Olympics music performances of the 2010s. “I come from the ghetto in Brazil where we don’t have a lot of career opportunities,” Anitta told Billboard, “so I’m sure my family and people who live there never imagined that one day I’d become a singer and be able to perform at an event like the Olympics.” Igniting a million Latino hearts with Isso Aqui, O Que É?, the formidable trio flitted from a bossa nova lilt to an explosion of samba-jazz percussion that sure got pulses racing.

Best Olympics Music Performances: 10 Unforgettable Opening Ceremony Moments

18: Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham: Dare To Dream (Sydney, 2000)

Olivia Newton-John, known to the world as one of the stars of the 1978 musical film Grease, grew up in Australia, though she was actually born in Cambridge, England. John, wisely chosen ahead of Rolf Harris, said it was one of the most “exciting honours of my life” to sing for the whole world at Sydney’s lavish opening ceremony in 2000. Her performance was a duet with John Farnham, who’d had a global hit in 1986 with You’re The Voice. They teamed up to deliver a memorable version of Dare To Dream. “It was, and will always be, one of the greatest joys of my life,” said Sydney native Vanessa Corish, who co-wrote Dare To Dream with her partner, Paul Begaud, and Nashville’s Wayne Tester.

17: The Chicks: Ready To Run (Salt Lake City, 2002)

The 2002 Winter Olympic ceremony in Salt Lake City, Utah, was an imaginative, varied feast with no shortage of contenders among the best Olympics music performances. LeAnn Rimes sang the theme tune – her own song Light The Fire Within – while cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed on a field of ice as dove-shaped kites were released into the sky. The showstoppers, however, were country music band The Chicks (known then as The Dixie Chicks), who performed a rousing version of Ready To Run while dressed in woolly hats, scarves and thick winter coats. The gala, held on a cold February evening, was watched by three billion people worldwide, and The Chicks’ lead singer, Natalie Maines, rallied the crowd in the Rice-Eccles Stadium with a cry of, “Y’all ready?” as skaters dressed in prairie skirts and cowboy hats re-enacted the journey to the West by Mormon pioneers. “This place rocks,” said Chicks’ drummer Rick Sinese.

16: EXO: Growl/Power (PyeongChang, 2018)

The global popularity of K-Pop seemed to reach its cultural apex at the closing ceremony for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, where Korean boy band EXO delivered a show-stopping performance of their single Growl while dressed in white Gucci jackets. After arriving on mopeds, the band launched into a high-energy choreographed dance that sent Twitter (now X) into meltdown, with the hashtag #EXOOlympics quickly going viral. “I was really nervous and it was something unimaginable,” EXO member Chanyeol said after the event. “I was shocked too when we were informed that we would be performing, but I’m glad everyone enjoyed it.”

15: Jessie J and Queen: We Will Rock You (London, 2012)

The London 2012 Games was packed with some of the best Olympics music performances of all time, with the closing ceremony continuing to up the ante with a celebration of British pop and rock history. Following a bit of nostalgic crowd participation courtesy of some “Ay-oh”s that brought the late Freddie Mercury to the party, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor invited Jessie J on stage to get the audience stomping and clapping along to a version of We Will Rock You. “Queen have played their share of big gigs,” Taylor later told Reader’s Digest, “but it’s difficult to top the Olympic closing ceremony in your own country. It really was a tremendous honour.”

14: Alanis Morissette: Wunderkind (Vancouver, 2010)

Wunderkind was originally written for the soundtrack of the 2005 movie The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but it was only when Alanis Morissette performed the song at the closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver that the song’s lyrics took on a much deeper meaning. As athletes waved flags and embraced each other in joyous celebration, the Canadian star sang on stage with snow falling around her shoulders, marking the occasion with fitting words that conveyed a sense of personal triumph (“I am a magnet for all kinds of deeper wonderment/I am a Wunderkind, oh/And I am a pioneer naive enough to believe this/I am a princess on the way to my throne”). Easily one of the best Olympics music performances of modern times, Morissette’s spellbinding appearance is one for the history books.

13: Spice Girls: Wannabe/Spice Up Your Life (London, 2012)

Rolling into the stadium in a fleet of London taxis and bringing girl power to a star-studded closing ceremony, the original line-up of Spice Girls – Posh, Scary, Baby, Sporty and Ginger – reunited to perform a riotous medley of Wannabe and Spice Up Your Life at the London 2012 Olympics. “That was literally one of the best moments of being a Spice Girl,” Mel C told Stereogum. “It’s something we’d talked about, we really wanted to perform at an Olympics. We were so nervous and we were so excited.” It remains the last time all five members of Spice Girls shared a stage together, and as career high points go, it still lingers long in the memory.

12: Stevie Wonder: Imagine (Atlanta, 1996)

Performing in front of a TV audience of 40 million people at the closing ceremony for the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games, Stevie Wonder covered John Lennon’s Imagine, truly soothing souls at a time of collective mourning. Dedicated to the victims of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, which occurred just a week prior to the ceremony, Wonder’s plea for unity and harmony never felt more appropriate. “I just liked his desire to want to see peace,” the Motown icon once said of John Lennon in an interview with HuffPost, “to want to see people come together and live together and make this world a better place.” By choosing to sing Lennon’s song in the wake of such a tragic event, Wonder voiced our shared humanity and embodied the timeless Olympic ideals of global solidarity.

11: John Williams: Olympic Fanfare (Los Angeles, 1984)

The opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Games, in 1984, celebrated the musical legacy of the US, and the two most memorable performances that summer came from Etta James and John Williams, the New York-born composer famed for film work such as his Star Wars soundtracks. Williams was asked by the organising committee to compose a fanfare for the modern Olympic movement. “I’m not an avid sports fan and I have never been to an Olympics,” Williams said at the time. “But from watching Olympics competition on television, I developed a feeling that I aspired to make the theme of Fanfare. A wonderful thing about the Olympics is that young athletes strain their guts to find and produce their best efforts. The human spirit stretching to prove itself is also typical of what musicians attempt to achieve in a symphonic effort. It is difficult to describe how I feel about these athletes and their performances without sounding pretentious, but their struggle ennobles all of us. I hope I express that in this piece.” Williams achieved his aim, and when he led the orchestra in a version at the opening ceremony, it was a genuine “goose bump” moment.

10: Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page: Whole Lotta Love (Beijing, 2008)

Arriving in a red London bus that unfurled like a lotus flower, the sight of the X Factor winner Leona Lewis performing Whole Lotta Love with Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics was the perfect way to bridge the gap between past and future hosts. “That really was a highlight,” Page said in an interview with Classic Rock magazine. “It was like passing on a relay baton to the next people hosting the Olympics, which was London. People were saying: ‘Oh, you shouldn’t do that.’ And I thought: Oh, yes I should.” Also making an appearance was footballer David Beckham, who kicked a ball into the crowd as the final note on Page’s guitar rang out. As handovers go, they knocked it out of the park.

9: k.d. lang: Hallelujah (Vancouver, 2010)

Singer k.d. lang, who was born in Edmonton, Alberta, was an inspired choice to perform at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She chose Hallelujah, by fellow Canadian Leonard Cohen, and delivered a stirring, spiritual rendition that remains one of the best Olympics music performances. The ceremony took place just hours after the 21-year-old Georgian luger competitor Nodar Kumaritashvili died while training for the Games, and Cohen’s lyrics seemed painfully fitting for the moment. “All sorts of things made the environment for the song transcend into something beyond all of us,” lang said. “The song just really blew through me. It was one of the quickest six minutes I’ve ever experienced.”

8: 2,008 drummers: The Song-Fou (Beijing 2008)

Olympic opening ceremonies are all about spectacle – and few could match the thrilling drama of the opening of the China Olympics in 2008. In the dark of night, a clap of thunder from 2,008 tightly ranked fou drummers (using bronze versions of the oldest Chinese percussion instrument, dating back to the Xia dynasty), marked the start of a drum spectacular. These traditional musical instruments, which looked like laundry baskets and were lit from within, were used to play a sweeping drum song by musicians using flailing glowing red sticks to beat in time to a light-show sequenced by computer. The rhythmic movements of the percussionists, filling the floor of the stadium known as the Bird’s Nest, created a stunning spectacle of music and movement.

7: Montserrat Caballé and Freddie Mercury: Barcelona (Barcelona, 1992)

“As far as I am concerned, Montserrat Caballé has the best voice of anybody in existence,” said Queen singer Freddie Mercury, who had been hoping to perform their duet, Barcelona, to a global TV audience for the opening of the Olympics in Spain. Mercury died in 1991, however, and Caballé went on stage and poignantly performed alone in the opening ceremony, with Mercury’s unmistakeable vocals accompanying her while a video of them together played on the big screen. Even without Mercury’s appearance, the inspiring Barcelona became one of the best Olympics music performances.

6: Céline Dion: The Power Of The Dream (Atlanta, 1996)

Canadian star Céline Dion gave a stunning performance of the rousing ballad The Power Of The Dream – with stirring lyrics about “the power of the dream that brings us here”, penned by David Foster, Linda Thompson and Babyface – at the opening ceremony of the 1996 summer Games. Dion later donated the money she received for the occasion to a fund to support athletes from her homeland. The singer was accompanied by pianist David Foster and joined by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Centennial Choir. Ensuring its place among the best Olympics music performances, the song became the unofficial anthem of Atlanta 1996 and was even repeated at the closing ceremony by a choir of children. Dion described the experience of singing at the Olympics as “one of the thrills of my life”.

5: Muse: Survival (London, 2012)

Written especially for the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Survival gave Muse the chance to prove why they are one of the biggest live bands on the planet. “I was just imagining being in the athlete’s mind just before they’re about to take off, when they’re in the blocks,” frontman Matt Bellamy told NPR of writing the song. “For me, it’s about competition. It’s about these athletes and the focus they need. And I wanted to find a way to sing about that.” Full of bombastic piano stabs, gleefully OTT choral backing and pyrotechnics galore, Muse brought the 2012 Games to a fiery close in undeniably extravagant style, their appearance still burning bright as one of the best Olympics music performances.

4: Luciano Pavarotti: Nessun Dorma (Turin, 2006)

Opera master Luciano Pavarotti was battling pancreatic cancer when he sang Giacomo Puccini’s great opera aria Nessun Dorma (aka Let No One Sleep) for the opening ceremony of Italy’s Winter Olympics, in 2006. Nessun Dorma had been popular with sports fans since becoming the unofficial theme for the Italy 1990 football World Cup. Conductor Leone Magiera later revealed in the book Pavarotti Visto Da Vicino (Pavarotti Seen From Close Up) that the singer’s rousing rendition had been pre-recorded because it would have been too dangerous for his health to sing live in the Stadio Olimpico. “The orchestra pretended to play for the public there, I pretended to conduct, and Luciano pretended to sing,” Magiera wrote. “It came off beautifully, no one was aware of the technical tricks.” Pavarotti died a year later.

3: Kylie Minogue: Dancing Queen (Sydney, 2000)

Not just one of the best Olympics music performances of all time, but also an important moment in LGBTQ+ history, Kylie Minogue’s rendition of ABBA’s Dancing Queen at the closing ceremony for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was fabulous to behold. Sporting a feathered headdress and dressed in a pink showgirl outfit, Minogue got the farewell party in full swing, culminating in a gloriously camp parade in which Australian golfer Greg Norman rode a giant shark and Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, made a special appearance in her iconic lavender bus. “I felt like I was in the middle of some weird special effect where you’re dragged into another dimension,” Minogue later said. “There were drag queens everywhere, prawns on bicycles. Elle MacPherson walking out of this massive lens… it was perfect. The whole stadium was dazzling!”

2: Paul McCartney: Hey Jude (London, 2012)

With some of the greatest musical exports in the world, the UK knew it had to put on an extravaganza for the opening of the 2012 London Games. As well as stellar live performances by younger British acts such as Arctic Monkeys, Dizzee Rascal and Emeli Sandé, talent director Danny Boyle brought in the quintessential symbol of British music, Beatle Paul McCartney, to close the show, with a crowd-pleasing version of the Fab Four classic Hey Jude. McCartney was even able to joke about a misstep that meant he was slightly out of sync with the playback. “I was supposed to wait for a cue. But I forgot. Why? Well, there’s this bloody great bell that we didn’t know about. It was deafening. There was no stopping, it was the Olympics.”

1: Björk: Oceania (Athens, 2004)

Icelandic star Björk stole the show at the opening of the 2004 Greek Games with a memorable, eye-catching performance as she debuted her single Oceania, a song she had composed specifically for the event. As well as her stunning rendition of the heavenly nautical ballad, she created a dazzling impression with a giant purple silk dress that slowly unravelled to double as a projection screen. As the fabric rippled across the stadium, it displayed an image of the map of the world. Topping our list of the best Olympics music performances, Björk’s display was worthy of a gold medal.

For more great marriages between music and sport, check out our best football songs.

Original article: 21 July 2021

Updated: 22 July 2024. Words: Luke Edwards