From time, great unique music compositions have always been a part of the spectacle that comes with FIFA World Cup and this year’s edition was not going to fall short of the usual expectation.
Apart from the glitz and glamour that during the opening ceremonies such as music performances and acrobatic choreography displays, what has become looked forward to in this modern era is what song gets picked as the official world cup song.
Songs picked are usually multilingual usually English, the official language of the organising country, as well as other world languages, most notably Spanish,
This tradition started from the 1962 edition in Chile and the song “El Rock del Mundial”, composed by Jorge Rojas Astorga and performed in Spanish by Los Ramblers. These days, artistes from different parts of the world either submit their songs or are selected by FIFA to record the song.
This year, American actor and rapper Will Smith, Puerto Rican reggaetón and hip-hop artist Nicky Jam and Kosovar Albanian singer Era Istrefi to came up with “Live It Up,” with the music video dropping June 8. The track was produced by American DJ Diplo.
Here are the official FIFA world cup songs from the 1994 World Cup which held in the United States till date.
1994 – ‘Gloryland’
Performers: Daryl Hall and Sounds of Blackness,
Composers: Charlie Skarbek and Rick Blaskey
1998 – “La Copa de la Vida (The Cup of Life)”
Performer: Ricky Martin
(Writer/composers): Desmond Child and Robi Rosa
2002 – Let’s Get Together Now
Performers: Voices of KOREA/JAPAN
2006 – ‘The Time of Our Lives’
Performer: Il Divo featuring Toni Braxton
Composers: Jörgen Elofsson & Steve Mac
2010 – ‘Waka Waka’
Performer: Shakira featuring Freshlyground
Composers: Shakira featuring Freshlyground
2014 – We Are One (Ole Ola):
Performers: Pitbull featuring Jennifer Lopez & Claudia Leitte
Composers: Jennifer Lopez, Claudia Leitte, Pitbull, Thomas Troelsen Danny Mercer, Sia Furler, Lukasz Gottwald, Henry Walter, Nadir Khayat
2018 – ‘Live it up’
Performers: Nicky Jam featuring Will Smith and Era Istrefi
Composers: Nicky Jam featuring Will Smith and Era Istrefi