Released June 1982 Length 1:54 | Format Vinyl, CD Label Arista Records | |
Recorded Abbey Road Studios, London England Genre Progressive rock, art rock, pop rock, instrumental rock | ||
"Sirius" is a 1982 song by the British rock band The Alan Parsons Project from the album Eye in the Sky. It is a 1:54 minute instrumental piece that segues into "Eye in the Sky"' on the original recording. From the 1990s onward, "Sirius" has become a staple of many big-time college and professional sporting arenas throughout North America.
Contents
Overview
On the album, "Sirius" segues into "Eye in the Sky". The former is usually followed by the latter on airplay, though not always in live performances — at the World Liberty Concert "Sirius" was played as the introduction to "Breakaway" (from the Alan Parson solo album Try Anything Once), with Candy Dulfer on saxophone.
Sports
"Sirius" is best known in the U.S. as the instrumental song that was used to introduce the starting lineup of the Chicago Bulls for home games played at the old Chicago Stadium (closed in 1994 and demolished a year after that) and then the United Center in the 1990s, during their run of six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998. "Sirius" was even the opening number of the 2000 documentary Michael Jordan to the Max.
The piece has also been used by the NBA teams Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks to introduce their starting lineup during home games. The Utah Jazz used the instrumental piece to introduce their starting lineup for Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals.
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat used an abbreviated version of "Sirius" as his entrance music for his 1980s tenure in the World Wrestling Federation. However, to avoid paying royalties, WWE has edited out Steamboat's entrances with the track or overdubbed them with a homegrown theme from his 1991 run in the WWF.
Since the 1994 season, "Sirius" has played before the Nebraska Cornhuskers' home football games as part of the pre-game tunnel walk. The Kansas City Chiefs used the song during kickoffs during the 1990s/Coach Marty Schottenheimer era. It was used by the New Orleans Saints as their entrance music for Super Bowl XLIV.
In Italy, Serie A team Sassuolo Calcio use the song when the team enters the pitch at the home games. In Australia the piece is used by the Melbourne Rebels rugby team when introducing their starting lineup. The song was played leading up to matches at UEFA Euro 2012, and France's tennis team used the song as their entrance theme for the 2014 Davis Cup final against Switzerland.
The song was used during finals at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. It was played while the gymnasts were introduced to the crowd at the beginning of the finals.
Film, television, and video games
"Sirius" is played during the climactic scene of the 1988 Godfrey Ho film American Commando 3: Savage Temptation.
"Sirius" is used as incidental music in the 1990 Mexican telenovela Cuando llega el amor. "Sirius" is played in the 8th-season episode of Frasier, "Hooping Cranes," during a sequence where Niles Crane shoots and scores from half-court at KeyArena. The music makes a brief appearance in the 2015 Simpsons episode "Friend With Benefit".
In recent years, the song has been used in the trailer for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, in the film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and was played in a Nissan Altima TV advertisement. It is featured on the soundtracks to NBA 2K11.