Sirius (instrumental)

"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.

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.

In popular culture

Sports

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat used an abbreviated version of "Sirius" as his entrance music during his 1980s tenure in the World Wrestling Federation. To avoid paying royalties, however, the WWE edited out Steamboat's entrances with the track or overdubbed them with a homegrown theme from his 1991 run in the WWF.

"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 at both Chicago Stadium and the United Center^[1] during their run of six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998, and still currently serves as their introduction theme. "Sirius" was the opening number of the 2000 documentary Michael Jordan to the Max.^[1]

The piece has also been used by the NBA teams the Phoenix Suns and the 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.

Since the 1994 season, "Sirius" has played before the Nebraska Cornhuskers' home football games as part of the pre-game tunnel walk.^[2][3] The Kansas City Chiefs used the song during kickoffs during the Coach Marty Schottenheimer era (which lasted from 1989–1998). It was used by the New Orleans Saints in 2009 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 and NBA 2K18.

A sound a like version was used in The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius episode "Vanishing Act."

Covers

• "Sirius" is sampled in "The Saga Continues (Intro)," the opening track of P. Diddy and The Bad Boy Family's 2001 album The Saga Continues...

See also

• Rock and Roll (Gary Glitter song)

References

External links

• "Songfacts — Sirius" by The Alan Parsons Project