Olympic songs and anthems are adopted officially by International Olympic Committee (or by official broadcasters and partners selected by IOC), to be used prior to the Olympic Games and to accompany the games during the event.
They are used as theme music in TV broadcast and also used in advertising campaigns for the Olympic Games. Some songs and anthems are more popular and famous than official songs and anthems.
Summer Olympics
editOfficial theme songs and anthems
edit| Games | Host City |
Title | Language(s) | Performer(s) | Writer(s) and producer(s) | Audio and Videos | Live Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athens | "Olympic Hymn" | Greek | Spyridon Samaras (conductor)[1] | Spyridon Samaras (music); Kostis Palamas (lyrics) | |||
| Los Angeles | "Olympic Hymn"[1] | English | Walter Bradley Keeler (music); Louis Benson (lyrics) | ||||
| Berlin | "Olympische Hymne" | German | Richard Strauss (conductor), Berlin Philharmonic, the National Socialist Symphony Orchestra | Richard Strauss (music); Robert Lubahn (lyrics) | |||
| London | "Olympic Hymn (Non nobis Domine)"[1] | English | Malcolm Sargent (conductor)[1] | Roger Quilter (music); Rudyard Kipling (lyrics) | |||
| Helsinki | "Olympiahymni" (Olympic Hymn)[1] |
Finnish | Matti Turunen (conductor)[1] | Jaakko Linjama (music); Toivo Lyy (lyrics) | |||
| "Olympiafanfaari" (Olympic Fanfare) |
Instrumental | Aarre Merikanto | |||||
| Montreal | "Bienvenue à Montréal" (Welcome to Montreal) |
French | René Simard | Claude Lacombe, René Simard, Vic Vogel | Music Video | ||
| Moscow | "Festive Overture" | Instrumental | Dmitri Shostakovich | ||||
| "Олимпиада-80" (Olympiad 80) |
Russian | Tõnis Mägi, Mykola Hnatyuk | David Tukhmanov, Robert Rozhdestvensky | Music Video Music Video |
|||
| "Стадион моей мечты" (My Dream Stadium) |
Russian | Muslim Magomayev | Music Video | ||||
| Los Angeles | "Reach Out" (official song, also used as track theme) |
English | Paul Engemann | Giorgio Moroder | Official Music Video | ||
| "Olympic Fanfare and Theme" (official theme)[2] |
Instrumental | New American Orchestra | John Williams | Opening Ceremony | |||
| Seoul | "Hand in Hand" - English Version |
English | Koreana | Giorgio Moroder, Tom Whitlock (English lyrics), Kim Moon-hwan (Korean lyrics) | Official Music Video | Opening Ceremony | |
| "손에 손 잡고" - Korean Version |
Korean | Music Video | |||||
| Barcelona | "Canto Olympico" | Greek | The Greek Radio Symphonic Orchestra, the Greek Radio Chorus | Mikis Theodorakis | |||
| "Amigos Para Siempre" (Friends for Life) |
English and Spanish | José Carreras, Sarah Brightman | Andrew Lloyd Webber | Official Music Video | Closing Ceremony | ||
| Atlanta | "Reach" (official song) |
English | Gloria Estefan | Gloria Estefan, Diane Warren | Official Music Video | Closing Ceremony | |
| "Summon the Heroes" (official theme)[3] |
Instrumental | Atlanta Symphony | John Williams | Opening Ceremony | |||
| Sydney | "Dare To Dream" | English | Olivia Newton-John, John Farnham | Paul Begaud, Vanessa Corish, Wayne Tester | Audio | Opening Ceremony | |
| Athens | "Oceania" | English | Björk | Björk, Sjón | Official Music Video | Opening Ceremony | |
| Beijing | "You and Me" | Chinese and English | Liu Huan, Sarah Brightman | Qigang Chen | Official Music Video Music Video |
||
| London | "Survival"[4] | English | Muse | Matthew Bellamy | Closing Ceremony | ||
| "Good Life" | English | Delphic | James Cook, Matt Cocksedge, Richard Boardman | ||||
| Rio de Janeiro | "Alma e Coração"[5] (Soul and Heart) |
Portuguese | Thiaguinho, Projota | Music Video | |||
| Tokyo | "Colorful"[6] | Japanese | Ai, Motohiro Hata, Little Glee Monster, Daichi Miura, Perfume, Taemin, Miyavi, Nasty C, Sabrina Carpenter, Ayumu Imazu, Blue Vintage, Mizki, Sanari, Chikuzen Sato | Ryosuke Imai | Music Video | ||
| Paris | "Parade"[7] (official theme) |
Instrumental | Orchestre National de France | Victor Le Masne | Audio | Live Performance | |
| "Hello World"[8] (official song) |
English | Gwen Stefani, Anderson .Paak | Ryan Tedder | Official Music Video |
Medal ceremony theme songs
edit| Games | Host City | Title | Peformers | Writer(s) and producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | "Chariots Of Fire" | N/A | Vangelis | |
| "Medal Ceremony" (during closing ceremony) | David Arnold | |||
| Rio de Janeiro | "Brazilian Fantasy" | Alexandre de Faria | ||
| Tokyo | "Tokyo 2020 Victory Ceremony Theme" | 144 people from top Japanese studio musicians and leading symphony orchestras - Recorded Version | Naoki Sato | |
| Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Tokyo Symphony Chorus - Live Version | ||||
| Paris | "Parade" | Orchestre National de France | Victor Le Masne |
Other notable songs and anthems
edit| Games | Host City |
Title | Language(s) | Performer(s) | Writer(s) and producer(s) | Audio and Videos | Live Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | Amsterdam | "Olympiademarsch"[9] | Dutch | Kees Pruis | James Klein and Franz Doelle (music), Kees Pruis (lyrics) | ||
| "Op ter Olympiade" | Dutch | Duo Hofmann | Gerrit van Weezel (music); Joh. P. Koppen (lyrics) | ||||
| 1964 | Tokyo | "Olympic Games"[10] | Instrumental | Ken Lean | André Popp | ||
| "Tokyo Melody" - BBC broadcast Theme song[11] |
Instrumental | Helmut Zacharias | Helmut Zacharias | ||||
| "The Olympics Song"[12] | Kyu Sakamoto | T. Miyata, M. Koga | |||||
| 1968 | Mexico City | "Mexico Melody" - BBC broadcast Theme song |
Instrumental | Helmut Zacharias | Helmut Zacharias | ||
| 1976 | Montréal | "Vive les Jeux Olympiques" | French | Serge Laprade | Pierre Sauvil | ||
| 1980 | Moscow | "Ода Доброму Вестнику" ("Ode To The Bearer Of Good News") | Russian | Eduard Artemyev (synths), Gennadiy Trofimov (vocals), Boomerang, Melody (choir)[13] | Eduard Artemyev | ||
| "Olympic Games" | English | Miguel Bosé | Miguel Bosé, Steve Kipner, Toto Cutugno | ||||
| "Do Your Best" - Planned theme song for the Japanese teams |
Japanese, English | Pink Lady | Shunichi Tokura, Shizuka Ijūin | ||||
| Seoul | "One Moment in Time" - NBC Sports Broadcast Theme Song |
English | Whitney Houston | Albert Hammond | Official Music Video | ||
| "The Olympic Spirit" - NBC Sports Broadcast Theme Music |
Instrumental | John Williams | John Williams | ||||
| "You're Not Alone" - Australian Official Olympic Team Song |
English | Australian Olympians | Rob Hirst, Angry Anderson, Bernie Lynch, Mal Logan, John Schumann | Official Music Video | |||
| "Korea"[14] | English | Leslie Mandoki and Eva Sun | Leslie Mandoki, László Bencker | ||||
| "Heart and Soul" - NHK Broadcast Theme Song |
Japanese, English | Mari Hamada | Hiroyuki Ohtsuki, Mari Hamada | ||||
| Barcelona | "Barcelona" - Official Theme Song Candidate - BBC Grandstand Theme Song |
English and Spanish | Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé | Freddie Mercury, Mike Moran | |||
| Atlanta | "The Power of the Dream" | English | Celine Dion | Kenneth Brian Edmonds, David Walter Foster, Linda Diane Thompson | Opening Ceremony | ||
| "Return to Innocence" - Promotional Video Theme Song |
English, Amis | Enigma | Michael Cretu, Kuo Ying-nan, Kuo Hsiu-chu | Music Video | |||
| "Javelin" - Official Bid Theme[3] |
Instrumental | Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | Michael Torke | Audio | |||
| "Tara's Theme" - BBC broadcast Theme song |
Instrumental | Steve Spiro & Paul Wickens | Max Steiner | ||||
| "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Simple Minds | Charlie Burchill, Derek Forbes, Jim Kerr, Michael MacNeil | ||||
| Sydney | "The Flame" | English | Tina Arena | John Foreman | Official Music Video Audio | Opening Ceremony | |
| "Heroes Live Forever" | English | Vanessa Amorosi | John Gillard & Trevor White | Audio | Opening Ceremony | ||
| "Under Southern Skies" | English | Nikki Webster & Sing 2001 Choir | Damien Halloran & Maria Millward | Audio | Opening Ceremony | ||
| "Sui riku sora, mugendai" - Japanese Official Olympic Team Song |
Japanese | 19 | Kenji Okahira and Keigo Iwase | ||||
| Athens | "Good Enough" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Dodgy | Nigel Clark, Mathew Priest, Andy Miller | |||
| "Yume ga Chikara" - Japanese Official Olympic Team Song |
Japanese | Kokia | Kokia | ||||
| Beijing | "Forever Friends" | Chinese, English | Sun Nan, A-Mei, Coco Lee | Giorgio Moroder | Official Music Video | ||
| "Love Love Love" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
Chinese | Jolin Tsai | Konstantin Meladze | Official Music Video | |||
| London | "Proud" - Official Bid Theme |
English | Heather Small | Heather Small, Peter-John Vettese | |||
| "Anywhere in the World" - part of Coca-Cola's Move to the Beat campaign |
English | Mark Ronson and Katy B | Mark Ronson, Katy B, Gordon Warren | ||||
| "Spinnin' for 2012" - Torch Relay Promotional Song |
English | Dionne Bromfield and Tinchy Stryder | Dionne Bromfield, Kwasi Danquah III, Corynne Elliott | ||||
| "First Steps" - BBC broadcast Theme song |
English | Elbow | Guy Garvey, Elbow | ||||
| "Sky on Fire" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Handsome Poets | Erik Schurman, Tim van Esch, Daniel Smit, Nils Davidse, Semimo | ||||
| Rio de Janeiro | "Rise" - NBC Sports Broadcast Theme Song |
English | Katy Perry | Katy Perry, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ali Payami | Official Music Video | ||
| "Shadow Wind" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Dotan | Dotan Harpenau, Mark Van Bruggen, William Douglas Burr Knox | ||||
| "Where I'll Stay" - Australian Official Olympic Team Song |
English | Jessica Mauboy | Jessica Mauboy, David Musumeci, Anthony Egizii, Sarah Aarons, R. Pym | ||||
| Tokyo | "Remember This" - NBC Sports Broadcast Theme Song |
English | Jonas Brothers | Nicholas Jonas, Kevin Jonas II, Ryan Tedder, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Oliver Peterhof, Michael Pollack, Casey Smith | Official Music Video | ||
| "Big in Japan" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Alphaville | Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, Frank Mertens | ||||
| "Kite" - NHK Broadcast Theme Song |
Japanese | Arashi | Kenshi Yonezu | ||||
| Paris | "Butai ni Tatte" - NHK Broadcast Theme Song |
Japanese | Yoasobi | Ayase | Official Music Video | ||
| "I Believe" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Douwe Bob | Gordon Groothedde, Douwe Bob Posthuma, Stijn van Dalen |
Winter Olympics
editOfficial theme songs and anthems
editMedal ceremony theme songs
edit| Games | Host City | Title | Peformers | Writer(s) and producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nagano | ||||
| Salt Lake City | "Call of the Champions" | Utah Symphony, Tabernacle Choir | John Williams | |
| Turin | Henoel Grech | |||
| Vancouver | "Medals" | The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Orchestra | Dave Pierce | |
| Sochi | "VICTORY!" | Petr Andreev, Nikolay Skvortsov, Dmitry Petrov,Margorita Mirmova, Il'ya Yudin[19] | Maxim Bobkov | |
| Pyeongchang | "티어스 오브 글로리 (Tears of Glory)"[20] | Cho Young-soo | ||
| Beijing | ||||
| Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo | "Fantasia Italiana - Gran Finale" | Dardust (Dario Faini) |
Other notable songs and anthems
edit| Games | Host City |
Title | Language(s) | Performer(s) | Writer(s) and producer(s) | Audio and videos | Live Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarajevo | "The Gold and Beyond" - ABC broadcast Theme song |
English | John Denver | John Denver, Lee Holdridge | |||
| Nagano | "Big in Japan" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Alphaville | Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, Frank Mertens | |||
| Turin | "Live Olympic" | English | Verena Pötzl | Atanas Kovatchev Nasco | |||
| "Someday" - NBC Sports Broadcast Theme Song |
English | Flipsyde | Michael Urbano, Jinho "Piper" Ferreira, Steve Knight, Dave Lopez | ||||
| Vancouver | "One World, One Flame" - ARD broadcast Theme song |
English | Bryan Adams | Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance and Gretchen Peters | |||
| "100%" - Official Team USA Theme song |
English | Mariah Carey | Mariah Carey, Crystal Johnson, Jermaine Dupri, Bryan-Michael Cox | ||||
| Sochi | "Promises of No Man's Land" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Blaudzun | Blaudzun | |||
| "Legendary Lane" - Holland Heineken House Theme song |
English | Dinand Woesthoff | Dinand Woesthoff, Peter Kriek | ||||
| Pyeongchang | "Let Everyone Shine" - Torch Relay Promotional Song |
Korean | Insooni | Official Music Video | |||
| "Whatever it Takes" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Imagine Dragons | Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman, Joel Little | ||||
| Beijing | "Skate" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
English | Silk Sonic | Bruno Mars, Brandon Anderson, Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Domitille Degalle, JD Beck | |||
| "A Fire" - NOS Speed skating broadcast Theme song[21] |
English | Orange Skyline | Simon Christiaanse, Mart Atema, Stefan van der Wielen, Niels van der Wielen | ||||
| Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo | "Fino all'alba" | Italian | Arisa | Giulio Gianni, Francesco Marrone | Official Audio | ||
| " Bellissima" - NOS broadcast Theme song |
Italian | Annalisa | Davide Simonetta, Annalisa Scarrone, Paolo Antonacci |
Albums
editSummer Olympics
| Games | Host City |
Official | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rome | Olympia in Rome[22] | ||
| Montréal | Games of The XXI Olympiad, Montréal 1976 - Original Soundtrack | ||
| Moscow | Олимпийский Сувенир (Olympic Souvenir) | ||
| Los Angeles | The Official Music Of The XXIIIrd Olympiad Los Angeles 1984 | ||
| Seoul | 1988 Summer Olympics Album: One Moment in Time | ||
| Barcelona | Barcelona Gold | ||
| Atlanta | Rhythm of the Games: 1996 Olympic Games Album | ||
| Sydney | The Games Of The XXVII Olympiad 2000: Music from the Opening Ceremony | ||
| Syd, Millie and Olly Sing Their Favourite Olympic Songs[23] | |||
| Athens | Unity: Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games | ||
| Harmony: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games Classical Album | |||
| Beijing | The Official Album for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games | AT&T Team USA Soundtrack | |
| London | Isles of Wonder | ||
| A Symphony of British Music | |||
| Mike Oldfield - Music For The Opening Ceremony Of The London 2012 Olympic Games | |||
| Rio de Janeiro | Rio 2016 (Olympic Themes & Anthems) | ||
| Tokyo | Olympic Games Tokyo 2020: "Hoop" Lights Our Way | ||
| Paris | Music from The Opening Ceremony of The Olympic Games Paris 2024 |
Winter Olympics
| Games | Host City |
Official | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squaw Valley | The Ralph Sutton Quartet - Jazz At The Olympics[24] | ||
| Albertville | Cérémonies d'Ouverture et de Clôture des XVIe Jeux Olympiques d'Hiver d'Albertville 1992[25] | ||
| Salt Lake City | Salt Lake 2002 Official Music Of The Games | ||
| Vancouver | Sounds of Vancouver 2010: Opening Ceremony Commemorative Album | ||
| Sochi | Хиты Олимпийских Зимних Игр В Сочи II (Hits Of The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games II)[26] |
See also
edit- Olympic Hymn
- Art competitions at the Summer Olympics
- List of FIFA World Cup songs and anthems
- “Bugler’s Dream” (Leo Arnaud), used as theme music for Olympics broadcasts in the US
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barker, Philip (2004). "The Anthem - Olympism's Oldest Symbol" (PDF). Journal of Olympic History. 12 (2): 46–53.
- ↑ "IOC awards the Olympic Order to John Williams". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. 30 April 2003. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- 1 2 Swed, Mark (18 July 1996). "The Best Music Doesn't Get 'Official' Nod". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
- ↑ "Muse unveil official Olympic song". BBC News. 27 June 2012. Archived from the original on 2023-03-05.
- ↑ Olympic Spirit Is Contagious in 2016 Official Theme Song Video: Watch
- ↑ "J-pop Artists Join Forces on 'Colorful' Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics Theme Song". Billboard. Billboard Japan. 2021-07-21. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
- ↑ "Olympic Games Paris 2024: The Official Musical Theme of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, composed by Victor le Masne, for the ceremony". Paris 2024 Olympics. 18 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
- ↑ Lee, Eleanor (25 July 2024). "Olympic Games Paris 2024: Coca-Cola, Gwen Stefani, Ryan Tedder and Anderson .Paak celebrate the power of sport and music with official Olympics song 'Hello World'". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ↑ "Kees Pruis – Loflied op ons biertje/Olympiademarsch". Discogs.
- ↑ "Ken Lean – Olympic Games / J.O. Via Tokyo". Discogs.
- ↑ Murray, Scott (28 October 2011). "The Joy of Six: sporting theme tunes". The Guardian. Retrieved 2026-04-06.
- ↑ "Kyu Sakamoto – The Olympics Song / Tankobushi". Discogs.
- ↑ "Three Odes Review by François Couture". Allmusic.
- ↑ "Eva And Leslie – Korea". Discogs.
- ↑ Aune, Oddvin; Flå, Ellen (11 February 2024). "Da «Se ilden lyse» med Sissel Kyrkjebø skulle bli en verdenshit". nrk.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). NRK. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
- ↑ 10 Best Olympic Winter Games Anthems
- ↑ 평창동계올림픽, 공식주제가가 없다
- ↑ ""Italian Fantasia" by Dardust is the official soundtrack of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026". Milano Cortina 2026. 29 December 2025.
- ↑ VICTORY! Music for Victory ceremony of the Olympic Games (Sochi 2014), retrieved 2026-03-20
- ↑ "'대한민국 저작권료 1위' 조영수 작곡가, "성공적인 올림픽에 일조했다는 자부심 크다" 감격 소감". iMBC 연예 (in Korean). 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- ↑ Denie, Nathalie (10 February 2022). "A Fire van Orange Skyline is hét schaats-anthem van de Olympische Spelen". Hanzemag.
- ↑ "Various – Olympia in Rome". Discogs.
- ↑ "Syd, Millie And Ollie – Fun And Games - Syd, Millie And Ollie Sing Their Favourite Olympic Songs". Discogs.
- ↑ "The Ralph Sutton Quartet – Jazz At The Olympics". Discogs.
- ↑ "Various – Cérémonies D'Ouverture Et De Clôture des XVIe Jeux Olympiques D'Hiver Albertville 1992". Discogs.
- ↑ "Various – Хиты Олимпийских Зимних Игр В Сочи. II = Hits Of The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. II". Discogs.