Uefa Champions League Music Download

[Kim Veller]

TheUEFA Champions League Anthem, officially titled simply "Champions League", is the official anthem of the UEFA Champions League, written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992, and based on George Frideric Handel's Zadok the Priest.[1] It was also the official anthem of the UEFA Women's Champions League from its creation in 2001 to the 2021 creation of an independent anthem.[2] The complete anthem is about three minutes long, and has two short verses and the chorus. The lyrics are in UEFA's three official languages: English, French, and German. The chorus is set to the exclamations "Die Meister! Die Besten! Les grandes quipes! The champions!"

The anthem is played inside the stadium before the start of each UEFA Champions League match, in addition to the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the games. Special vocal versions of the anthem have been performed live at the UEFA Champions League Final. UEFA's official website states, "the anthem is now almost as iconic as the trophy."[3]

In 1991, UEFA instructed its commercial partner Television Event and Media Marketing (TEAM) to develop new ways of branding the European Cup (which would be renamed the UEFA Champions League in 1992). This process resulted in the Champions League's anthem, as well as its "starball" logo and distinctive house colours.[4]

The anthem was written by English composer Tony Britten in 1992, adapted from George Frideric Hndel's anthem Zadok the Priest, which is traditionally performed at the coronation of British monarchs. In a 2013 newspaper interview, Britten stated that "I had a commercials agent and they approached me to write something anthemic and because it was just after The Three Tenors at the World Cup in Italy so classical music was all the rage. Hooliganism was a major, major problem and UEFA wanted to take the game into a completely different area altogether. There's a rising string phase which I pinched from Handel and then I wrote my own tune. It has a kind of Handelian feel to it but I like to think it's not a total rip-off."[6] The composing process took "just a matter of days".[7] Britten also mentioned that he does not own the rights to the anthem, which are retained by UEFA, but he receives royalties when it is used.

For the recording used in television transmissions of UEFA Champions League matches and events, the piece was performed by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chorus.[1] The chorus is in UEFA's three official languages: English, French, and German.[8]

The majestic music which rises to an impressive major key crescendo signifies the installation of a new head of state. The baroque music of the Zadok anthem associates the Champions League with the monarchies of Ancien Regime Europe. The baroque music also interconnects with the silver house colours, for the aristocratic connotations evoked by the silver are reflected and affirmed in this noble music. It is notable here that the anthem is associated with the (silver) cup itself because, in the introductory sequences, the music reaches its climax just as the footage of the Cup being lifted at the end of the previous year's competition is shown. It is interesting that the anthem is orchestrated so that the most prominent instruments at this climax are horns; they communicate a shining metallic sound which musically reflects the trophy itself. Music and colours merge together as one dense signifier, communicating a concept of silver in both sound and vision.

The anthem's chorus is played before each UEFA Champions League game as the two teams are lined up, as well as at the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the matches, and when the winning team lifts the trophy after the final. Special vocal versions have been performed live at the Champions League Final with lyrics in other languages, changing over to the host country's language for the chorus. These versions were performed by:

In the 2013 final at Wembley Stadium, the chorus was played twice. In the 2018 and 2019 finals, held in Kyiv and Madrid respectively, the instrumental version of the chorus was played, by 2Cellos (2018) and Asturia Girls (2019),[9][10] while the 2020 and 2021 finals used the pre-recorded anthem's chorus instead, without any live performances due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 and 2024 finals similarly used a standard pre-recorded version of the anthem. In the 2023 final, held in Istanbul, Hungarian pianist dm Gyrgy performed the piano version of the anthem.[11]

The complete anthem is about three minutes long, and has two short verses and a chorus. In addition to the anthem, there is also entrance music, which contains parts of the anthem itself, which is played as teams enter the field.[12] The anthem has been released commercially in its original version on iTunes and Spotify with the title of Champions League Theme. In 2018, composer Hans Zimmer remixed the anthem with rapper Vince Staples for EA Sports' video game FIFA 19, with it also featuring in the game's reveal trailer.[13]

Ahead of the 2014 UEFA Champions League final -- a Madrid derby in Lisbon's Estadio da Luz -- famed choreographer Wanda Rokicki said the prematch entertainment would honor Portuguese traditions "including naval history or the art of tiles." The following year in Berlin, an estimated 180 million viewers in 200 countries watched Barcelona dust Juventus 3-1, but not before opera stars Nina-Marie Fischer and Manuel Gomez Ruiz sang hymns with the Junges Ensemble Berlin Choir.

Somehow that was a departure from the 2013 iteration, which included a giant game of chess, 300-plus drummers and Joey, the equine puppet from Steven Spielberg's "War Horse," galloping around the Wembley pitch.

But that was all before PepsiCo -- whose 10-year Super Bowl halftime show sponsorship deal ended last year -- entered into a partnership with UEFA that has seen it sponsor the Kick Off Show since 2015. In 2016, fresh from joining Season 11 of "The Voice," Alicia Keys -- keen to point out that the UCL final reaches "every corner of the world" -- debuted new music in Milan ahead of that year's final.

"By creating a global stage as part of the UEFA Champions League final for the first time will produce an epic, memorable moment that will draw an even broader global fan base to the pitch, elevate the excitement of the 2016 final, and establish a new tradition for one of the world's most beloved sport spectacles," Carla Hassan, then-senior vice president of PepsiCo's global brand management, said at the time.

But multi-Grammy winner Keys' performance did not leave an impression on the San Siro crowd. The following year the Black Eyed Peas, flanked by dueling keytarists, ran their hits -- including "Let's Get it Started" off 2003's "Elephunk" -- but did so without Fergie, whose departure from the band was announced the day before.

"I noticed a change in 2017 in Cardiff [with] the Black Eyed Peas," Andy Elliot, UK media liaison of UEFA, told ESPN. "To get them to play a football match was quite something -- it was the first big one [Pepsi] did and they really cut it fine. [In the end], they were being chased off the field."

Taboo, will.i.am and APL.DE.AP, the remaining Peas, entered the Millennium Stadium pitch in a full sprint. "People in Cardiff, put your hands up!" Taboo beckoned amid "Boom, Boom, Pow" -- a plea which, a panning camera revealed, went largely unfulfilled.

Global pop stars such as Dua Lipa, Sean Paul, Imagine Dragons, Marshmello, Selena Gomez, Khalid and Camila Cabello have all showcased their talents before kickoff in club soccer's biggest match in the years since, to mixed receptions.

"We start internal discussions with UEFA in the summer and with artists typically about nine months before the UCL final," said Mark Kirkham, PepsiCo's chief marketing officer of international beverages. "We usually then begin the creative process with the artist about seven months before the big date.

"We see the Kick Off Show as a creative platform to bring international genres to a mainstream stage and celebrate diversity in the music industry: Camila Cabello and how she infused aspects of her Cuban-Mexican heritage, this year Burna Boy celebrating his Nigerian roots and Anitta bringing Brazilian flair," Kirkham added. "[We ask ourselves]: 'Are they the biggest name in music right now? Are they the next big thing?'"

"It's not a stretch to say they looked at the Super Bowl and saw the kind of impact the entertainment had on the [game]," Elliot said. "[UEFA] have tried to make [the final] a much bigger occasion and the entertainment is part of that."

Kirkham confirms that only official PepsiCo partners and sponsors, such as Gatorade and Lay's, have branding presence in and around the stadium. And while Super Bowl halftime show performers aren't compensated for the performance, PepsiCo declined comment on if artists are paid or how much the production typically costs.

"[But] not counting the promotional activities leading up to the show, the performance is broadcast to nearly 200 countries and territories globally," Kirkham said. "It's an incredible platform for any artist, and many integrate it into their overall marketing campaigns and tour schedules where appropriate."

Super Bowl LVII in February was the second-most-watched Super Bowl of all time, according to Nielsen, with 136 million viewers between Fox television and digital. In a typical year, the UCL final's global audience is three to four times that -- but, arguably, what the Super Bowl does better is entice casual fans. To illustrate the gap in audience reach between the Super Bowl and UCL performances, Rihanna's 2023 halftime show garnered 162 million views on YouTube and the 2022 Super Bowl show got 204 million views, while last year's Champions League performance mustered 39 millions views and the 2021 performance hit similar numbers with 33 million views.

"Those two hours [of the UCL final] have proven year in and year out to be an absolute draw, so why not piggyback [and] bring in more of the casual audience?" said Rob Stone, Fox Sports' lead soccer host since 2012. "If you're able to pull in those casual viewers, that's another feather in [executives'] cap. Mom or Dad or your sister who doesn't know much about soccer, if Rihanna's going to be on, they're going to be interested."

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