From the Olympics to Cricket, here are 10 epic Music X Sports Moments.

From Gojira belting out “Ah! Ça Ira” at Olympics 2024 to English Premier League club Aston Villa getting Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath to launch their home kit, heavy metal is having quite the year in terms of mainstream recognition. Today, we look back at some of the most memorable Music X Sports collabs of our lifetime. We've also queued up all these videos in this Deadend Playlist, so feel free to open it up on another tab as you read along.

10. Gojira - "Ah! Ca Ira!" (Olympics 2024)

Decapitated Mario Antoinettes. Mezzo-soprano Marina Voitti floating by on a ship. Fire and lighting. All soundtracked by the 4 members of French heavy metal band Gojira -lead singer Duplantier; his brother, drummer Mario; lead guitarist Christian Andreu; and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie- belting the sh*t out of the 19th century French anthem "Ah! Ca Ira!" from different windows of the Conciergerie palace. Probably not what the majority of people who tuned into watch the opening ceremony of Olympics 2024 was expecting, but as Duplantier put it, "It’s French history. It’s French charm, you know, beheaded people, red wine, and blood all over the place — it’s romantic, it’s normal." Well it may have been just another weekday for the French, but it sure as hell changed every other country's perception of how to kick off a global sporting tournament. And no doubt, won the metal veterans some new fans as well.

9. "Hey Jude" - Adidas x Jude Bellingham (Euro 2024)

That choosing (and getting the rights to) the right music is integral to the success of advertising is a no-brainer. But has any score ever so perfectly complimented an ad? Of course it goes without saying that most businesses can only dream of being able to afford music by The Beatles to peddle their ware, but Adidas could and boy did they get it right! Adidas's Euro UEFA 2024 ad supporting the England football team features moments of heartbreak from previous tournaments. It features English football legends Frank Lampard, David Beckham and Ian Wright, sports presenter Laura Woods, and even grime rapper Stormzy. But the undisputed star of the advertisement is undoubtedly The Beatles classic "Hey Jude" that soundtracks it even as the Adidas film puts all its might behind Engalnd's Great Young Hope, the titular Jude Bellingham. Irrespective of how you feel about the English football team, we dare you to not get swept up in the moment as The Beatles break into the legendary na-na--na chorus as English players and fans erupt in celebration.

8. Spotify x FC Barcelona (Since 2022)

FC Barcelona's partnership with Spotify, which launched in 2022, is hands down one of the more interesting brand activations in recent years. By putting the names of Spotify's highly streamed artists on Barcleona FC jerseys, the music streaming platform found a way to both highlight their product and stars in an innovative way, and also managed to unlock a new stream of revenue for both parties. The partnership has now seen artists like Drake, The Rolling Stones, and Rosalia emblazoned on Barcelona club jerseys. Interestingly, the club also collaborated with Karol G, Spotify’s most-streamed female Latin music artist globally for four consecutive years —launching a special jersey featuring Karol's signature barbed wire heart logo. Fans could purchase the limited-edition club jersey through FC Barcelona’s online merch store, with just 1899 available—a homage to the team’s founding year.

While we're on the topic of jersey collaborations, English Premier League club Ipswitch Town FC has been displaying singer Ed Sheeran's name of their jersey since 2021. Sheeran is a lifelong fan of the club, and the first year of this collaboration reportedly enabled the club to sell the most home jerseys in 15 years.

7. Three Lions (It's Coming Home)- Frank Skinner, David Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds (since Euro 1996)

Let's face it, any non-English football fan would justifiably bristle at England's chorus of "It's coming home" before every international football tournament. It sounds arrogant, entitled, and frankly delusional considering their record. But the origin of the song itself is a sweeter, simpler tale, and it deserves its place on this list for its cultural impact and longevity. The words "it's coming home" was actually the hook of the song "Three Lions", composed by comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner with Liverpudlian band The Lightning Seeds. It was created to celebrate England hosting Euro 96, but it was also a bit of a roast of the whole culture of team-songs. Most importantly, the song was tinged with nostalgia for both England's greatest (and only?) triumph on the global football stage -winning the 1966 World Cup- and the tragic optimism that is part and parcel of being an England football fan. A sentiment that anybody who supported the Indian cricket team in the 1990s can appreciate, or at least sympathise with. That the song took on a life of its own and continues to reverberate across football stadiums hosting The Three Lions is just one of those beautiful ironies of both art and sports fandom.

6. Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler - Aston Villa Kit (2024- 2025) Launch

With TikTok and Instagram Reels (not to mention a lot of derivative fashion brands) introducing heavy metal stalwarts Black Sabbath to Gen Z, it was only a matter of time before some brand brought the heavy metal legends onboard to endorse them. What makes this particular collaboration feel less cynical -in fact it feels entirely authentic, at least to us- is that the brand in question is Aston Villa FC, and both Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler are life-long fans of the football club. In fact, both of them reportedly grew up a stone's throw away from Aston Villa's ground, Villa Park!

5. The White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army" (Global, since 2003)

Okay, this next one is less of a collab and more of a life-affirming, real-life meme. A global Mexican Wave of sport chants, if you will.""Seven Nation Army," the hit song by The White Stripes, has become a global sporting anthem since its release in 2003. The song's distinctive bass line was first adopted by fans of the Belgian football club Club Brugge during a 2003 Champions League match against A.C. Milan. Its infectious, easily chantable riff quickly spread across Europe, becoming a staple in football stadiums. The anthem gained widespread global popularity during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where Italian fans embraced it as their rallying cry. Today, "Seven Nation Army" is chanted at various sporting events worldwide, symbolizing unity and enthusiasm among fans.

4. U2 - "Where The Streets Have No Name" (Super Bowl Half Time Show 2002)

It would be strange for any discussion about Music X Sports collabs to not mention the Super Bowl. In fact, most non-Americans probably only care about the famed Super Bowl Halftime Show which routinely ups the ante by convincing the biggest rock and popstars of the time to go bigger, harder, better. The Super Bowl has hosted some incredible musical performances over the years, ranging from Michael Jackson to The Rolling Stones to Prince to Aerosmith to... the list goes on, honestly. Hell they even convinced 50 Cent to descend on to the stage on a rope and perform "In Da Club" upside down in 2022 - while being supported by Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Mary J Blige! But our favourite SuperBowl Halftime performance was by none other than Irish stadium-rockers U2. The year was 2002, and America -if not the world- was still coming to terms with the events of September 11, 2001. U2 was perhaps as big as they had ever been, with the humongous success of their 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind. And while they did perform a couple of bangers from the album, it was their 9/11 tribute that got the crowd collectively stuck in a moment- a touching rendition of "Where The Streets Have No Name" backdropped by the names of all the victims of the WTC attacks, with Bono finishing the song to open his jacket and reveal the stars and stripes in its lining.

3. Motorhead - "The Game" (Triple H Entrance Music since 2001)

Ah yes, WWE. Look I've been a fan of the World Wrestling Enterprise since before it was called WWE. And the organisation has a long and curious history of musical associations. Snoop Dogg has appeared on it multiple times - as rapper, presenter and even as a fighter. Limp Bizkit has escorted The Undertaker on-stage. So has Metallica. Kid Rock has a long association with WWE that extends to this day. Wrestler and all-around irritant Chris Jericho has a fairly successful hard rock band called Fozzy. John Cena rapped and recorded his own entrance music, and still puts out vanilla-ice rap music to this day. But our favourite WWE music collab will always be the electric entrance music performed and recorded by Motorhead for Triple H. The song, titled "The Game", became so iconic that Motorhead even made it a part of some of their concerts. We only wish they had recorded the tune for Stone Cold Steve Austin instead.

2. Alan Parsons Project -"Sirius" (Chicago Bulls Court Entrance Song from 1984)

Next on this list is something that might be before most of your lifetimes. But back in the 90s, even in India -thanks primarily to NRI cousins, but also repeated viewings of Space Jam on VHS- Michael Jordan was kind of a big deal. And because ol' Michael Jordan was a big deal, all of us kids tried to catch as many Chicago Bulls games as we could (remember this is pre-cable, pre-internet), mainly through -again - VHS tapes. And while I genuinely don't remember much of the games, I do remember being hypnotised by The Alan Parsons Project jam "Sirius" which was the entrance music for Jordan and the Bulls to make their way onto the court. I think I even managed to make it my ringtone during a brief phase in college. And yup, this was before mobile phones had internet capabilities.

1. India - "Sachin! Sachin!" (for Sachin Tendulkar, since 1989)
   

Last but certainly not the least, cricket. But before we go there, the question must be asked: What even is music? The Oxford dictionary tells me that music is simply vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. Read that again: beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. By that logic, I would argue that a particular chant that echoed around cricket stadiums in India for over twenty years is music incarnate. It's not niche or underground or alternative like so much of the music I have -perhaps mistakenly- dedicated my life to chasing after, to discovering, to recommending to others. But it had beauty of form and absolute clarity of expression; it was sung in harmony, it was sung with faith, hope, joy, fear and a myriad other emotions, and it transcended the individual and region and religion in a way I have never had the privilege of experiencing ever again. It was music -or song- as prayer, as praxis. It was a little ditty, composed of exactly one word - composed of one name, in fact- repeated over and over and over again. And this was the last time it was sung while the God of Cricket was still listening to our prayers.

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