Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Gary Clark Jr., Paul Stanley and Billy Idol are featured in a very funny Super Bowl ad for software company Workday.
Per the ad’s description on YouTube, “Rock stars have worked hard to earn their titles. So when the business world starts calling execs ‘rock stars’ for crushing it with Workday, the legends have something to say.” The description concludes, “Join Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Clark Jr., Joan Jett, Billy Idol, and Paul Stanley as they send a message to the corporate world on footballâs biggest stage.”
Frankly, the teaser spots for this ad were funny but didn’t do it justice. This Workday spot is already in the running for best Super Bowl ad this year, in our humble opinion. Judge for yourself by watching below.
For those curious, AdAge reports a 30-second spot during this year’s Super Bowl costs around $7 million.
25 Best Sports Anthems, Ranked
Sports Anthems: It’s amazing how they can move thousands and thousands of people all at once. Without a doubt, at least some of these songs on this list will be played at some point during the “Big Game.”
From rock to hip hop to EDM to pop, here are the 25 best sports anthems, ranked.
25. Kesha - âBlowâ
Hereâs the beginning of a theme thatâs going to run through this entire list. A great sports anthem needs a killer hook thatâs going to pump up the crowd. Whether youâre a Kesha fan or not, the thumping chorus of âBlowâ never fails to get people going regardless of how much you might want to deny it.
24. DJ Khaled - âAll I Do Is Winâ
âAnd every time I step up in the building, everybody hands go up/And they stay there.â People love a victory song, and they also love to do synchronized movements together with hordes of other fans. This is why DJ Khaledâs âAll I Do Is Winâ is so perfect. Sure, heâs a selfish, greedy lover, but the dude knows how to put out bangers.
23. Naughty By Nature - âHip Hop Hoorayâ
Naughty By Natureâs âHip Hop Hoorayâ was seemingly tailor-made for sports arenas. A simple chorus will do that, not to mention everyone rocking and swaying during the chorus in the music video. Itâs been an arena classic since it first dropped in 1992. Plus, itâs funny seeing people trying to rap along with Treach and Vin Rock on the verses.
22. Europe - âThe Final Countdownâ
Synth riffs rule! If you say they donât, it must be exhausting kidding yourself so much. âThe Final Countdownâ has been a sports anthem for decades, especially in the United States. However, the Swedish band wasnât really aware of it until the 2000s. Europe singer and âThe Final Countdownâ songwriter Joey Tempest said in a 2005 interview, âI did an interview about a year ago with a newspaper from America and they talked about how much it’s been used in sports in America⌠which I didn’t know so much about. Apparently, it has been used a lot and it was nice to hear.â
21. Tag Team - âWhoomp (There It Is)â
Some acts are here for a fun time, not a long time. While Tag Team was a one-hit wonder with âWhoomp (There It Is),â that hit has massive staying power thanks to its use in a number of movies â from D2: The Mighty Ducks to Elf â and countless time outs at sports events. Can you dig it? We can dig it!
20. Ozzy Osbourne - âCrazy Trainâ
Just going to say what weâre all thinking: Randy Rhoadsâ classic guitar riff is so powerful and transcendent it could get a funeral hyped up. (Someone try it and report back!) Facetiousness aside, âCrazy Trainâ has been whipping sports fans into a frenzy for decades, and thereâs no stopping this locomotive beast any time soon.
19. The Rolling Stones - âStart Me Upâ
The only thing thatâs going to outlive Keith Richards is the way people pop as soon as they hear the iconic opening riff to âStart Me Up.â Itâs a jolt and the perfect song to play if an arena crowd has lost a bit of energy when their team is trailing.
18. Metallica - âEnter Sandmanâ
âEnter Sandmanâ is one of a few tunes on this list thatâs both a universal anthem and also uniquely associated with a specific team or athlete. In this case, itâs hard not to imagine legendary closer Mariano Rivera jogging from the bullpen to the mound when hearing âEnter Sandman.â Fun fact: The unanimously-elected Baseball Hall of Famer doesnât actually like Metallica. He told MLB Network in January 2019, âWith all due respect to the guys, Iâve never been to one [of their concerts]. As a Christian, with all due respect to Metallica, I donât listen to that kind of music.â
17. Ramones - âBlitzkrieg Bopâ
âHey! Ho! Letâs go!â It doesnât take a genius to realize why this Ramones classic is an outstanding sports anthem. Sure, Tommy and Dee Dee Ramone probably didnât have sports fans in mind when they wrote the song, but itâs another example of songs taking on different meanings after theyâre released.
16. Village People - âY.M.C.Aâ
Young man, are you listening to me? People love simple dances. If you can do the dance after a couple (or a lot) of overpriced beers, thatâs even better. Try and deny it all you want, but âY.M.C.A.â will live forever and will get people moving whether youâre at a sporting event, a wedding, a bar/bat mitzvah or whatever you feel.
15. Zombie Nation - âKernkraft 400â
It took a bit, but techno has finally made its way into this list. You may not recognize the artist or title of this song, but if youâve attended a sporting event in the past two decades, you most definitely have heard âKernkraft 400.â Jump to the 1:55 mark in the video below, and youâll likely say out loud, âOh! This song!â
14. Journey - âDon't Stop Believin'â
When Steve Perry, Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon wrote âDonât Stop Believinâ,â they probably had no idea how big of an impact the song would make in the sports world. Perry likely didnât think it would become a rallying song for the 2005 Chicago White Sox and would lead to him being invited to watch the team win the World Series, let alone get to party with them in the locker room and attend the championship parade. The track is also important to Perryâs hometown team, the San Francisco Giants, who play âDonât Stop Believinââ during the 8th inning of every home game. Lastly, Detroit Red Wings fans have screamed âborn and raised in south Detroitâ at home games for years when the song plays at the end of a winning home game. Sure, there is no âSouth Detroit,â and geographically speaking, south of Detroit is Windsor, Ontario, Canada, but itâs all in good fun.
Â
13. Eminem - âLose Yourselfâ
âIf you had one shot, or one opportunity/To seize everything you ever wanted/One moment/Would you capture it or just let it slip?â Itâs the kind of tension any athlete or sports fan has felt in a pivotal moment in an important game/match/bout/etc. Some songs just have the ability to connect with the masses on a magical level. âLose Yourselfâ is one of those songs. Itâs timeless and also mind-blowing to realize it came out in 2002.
12. Darude - âSandstormâ
Youâre about to enter a trance, and by âtrance,â we mean the EDM subgenre where âSandstormâ still reigns as one of its most popular hits. The Darude track is closely tied to Gamecocks football at the University of South Carolina. (ESPN.com has a fantastic deep dive about the songâs history with the schoolâs football program.) Even outside the SEC, âSandstormâ is still a go-to song to fire up fans the world over.
11. Neil Diamond - âSweet Carolineâ
Some Boston Red Sox fans love âSweet Carolineâ; others would seemingly rather drink their own urine than hear the song in the middle of the 8th inning at Fenway according to a 2017 Boston.com feature. Regardless, the song has wormed its way into the realm of sports likely due to its fun sing-along chorus and the âba ba baaaâ of it all. Depending on how much youâve had to drink, it could be really fun or really awful for nearby sober people. Either way, itâs here to stay.
Â
10. Steam - âNa Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbyeâ
Steam is one of many one-hit wonders in music history, but they certainly made that hit count with 1969âs âNa Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.â The track topped the Billboard 100 and is the universal theme song to sing when your team knocks an opposing team out of the playoffs. It can also emotionally wreck you if you happen to be revisiting the 2000 Disney film Remember the Titans.
9. Survivor - âEye of the Tigerâ
Without Queen, we may not have Survivorâs âEye of the Tiger.â Sylvester Stallone originally wanted to use âAnother One Bites the Dustâ as the theme to Rocky III, but Queen turned Sly down. In a piece for The Tennessean, Survivor keyboardist Jim Peterik said Stallone then reached out to him to see if he could write a song for the latest Rocky movie after hearing the Survivor song âPoor Manâs Son.â Peterik and guitarist Frankie Sullivan were then allowed to see a rough cut of the film, and the rest is history. So, thanks to Queen, who weâll see a bit later in the list.Â
8. 2 Unlimited - âGet Ready For Thisâ
Fact: â90s dance music just hit differently. 2 Unlimitedâs âGet Ready For Thisâ is a prime example of this. The songâs hook is insanely catchy and so energetic it could revive a corpse. Itâs not surprising itâs been a sports arena mainstay for decades. Naturally, some may hear the track and can only think of two words: âSpirit Fingers.â In response, we say this songâs the poo, so take a big whiff.
7. AC/DC - âThunderstruckâ
From Angus Youngâs opening riff to the repetitive group vocal of âah-ah ah ah ah-ah ah ah,â AC/DCâs âThunderstruckâ has been riling up crowds and teams since the band released the track in 1990. When hearing the song today, Itâs hard not to think about a very hungover West Canaan High School football team getting rocked on the field in 1999âs Varsity Blues. Itâs also hard not to think about the âThunderstruckâ drinking game.
6. Alan Parsons Project - âSiriusâ
âSweet Carolineâ is to the Boston Red Sox as âSiriusâ is to the Chicago Bulls. The Alan Parsons Project instrumental has been used by many other teams since and in a variety of ways, but itâll forever be tied to the Bulls. Its original version clocks in at under two minutes, but what a powerful, inspiring and sweeping two minutes it is.Â
5. Blur - âSong 2â
âWoo-hoo!â Thatâs it. What other explanation for âSong 2â do you need, really?
4. House of Pain - âJump Aroundâ
As we stated at the beginning of this list, hooks were going to be important, and there are monster hooks in âJump Around.â Itâs pretty clear why this hip-hop tune is here. (It came to get down, obviously.) Thanks to the likely drunk University of Wisconsin-Madison students in sections O & P at Camp Randall Stadium, the rowdiness of âJump Aroundâ will live forever.
3. Guns N' Roses - âWelcome to the Jungleâ
âYou know where you are?/Youâre in the jungle, baby/Youâre gonna die!â It may have been released in 1987, but âWelcome to the Jungleâ still sounds as fresh as ever. Its sentiment in relation to sports will endure forever. The fire, the hunger, the rage. âWelcome to the Jungleâ has all of that and then some.
2. The White Stripes - âSeven Nation Armyâ
The global impact âSeven Nation Armyâ has had on sports is almost too grand to express. That songâs minimalist riff has woven its way into so many sports leagues from the UEFA Champions League to the NFL to MLB to even the WWE at WrestleMania 38. In a 2014 appearance on Conan, Jack White said of the sports popularity of âSeven Nation Armyâ, âPeople come up to me all the time, and they think it makes me mad for some reason. As a songwriter, thatâs the greatest thing that could ever happen. It becomes folk music, because the people take it over. I donât know of many songs where theyâre not chanting words; theyâre chanting a melody.â
1. Queen - âWe Will Rock You/We Are the Championsâ
Plenty of people may argue about the order of this list, but itâs going to be pretty hard to argue against #1. And yes, they may be separate tracks, but âWe Will Rock Youâ and âWe Are the Championsâ truly belong as one cohesive opus. Weâve all done the *stomp, stomp, clap* too many times to count, both in and out of sports arenas. If youâve been lucky enough to see your favorite team clinch a championship, youâve likely sung âWe Are the Champions,â and there was no other glory quite like it. That euphoria is part of the draw to any sport. Fortunately, thereâs one hell of a soundtrack for it.