The Three Tenors
Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti perform by the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome on the eve of Italia ’90. It was The Three Tenors’ globe-shaking first concert and was marked to celebrate the start of the 14th World Cup. They thrilled spectators with hits such as O Sole Mio, Maria and Nessun Dorma, which became the global finals’ unofficial anthem. It staggeringly drew an international television viewership of over one billion people, and catapulted classical music into the mainstream. Pavarotti was an aspiring goalkeeper until his mother Adele persuaded him against pursuing football.
Diana Ross
‘The Queen of Motown’ performs I’m Coming Out during USA 1994’s opening ceremony at Soldier Field in Chicago. Ross had 12 hits top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart as the lead signer of The Supremes, and another six as a solo artist.
Whitney Houston
The Californian was accompanied on to the stage at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena by Brazil legend Pele. ‘The Voice’ then illuminated an extravagant 1994 closing ceremony with I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), How Will I Know, I Will Always Love You, I’m Every Woman, So Emotional and Greatest Love of All. Whitney was ranked second on Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest singers of all time, behind Aretha Franklin.
Ricky Martin
The Puerto Rican performs the official song for France 1998, La Copa de la Vida, at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis shortly before the final. The track, meaning ‘Cup of Life’ in English, reached number one in over 30 countries and was ranked as the best World Cup anthem ever by multiple publications.
Anastacia
The Chicagoan, fresh from enjoying major success with I’m Outta Love, performs in Busan before Korea/Japan 2002. Anastacia recorded the tournament’s official song, Boom.
Il Divo & Toni Braxton
The Simon Cowell-created classical crossover group and the R&B goddess perform The Time of Our Lives, the official song for Germany 2006, before its opening match between Germany and Costa Rica in Munich. The video for the track was shot on a football pitch at night, and features World Cup clips of, among others, Pele, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona and Paul Gascoigne.
Shakira & Wyclef Jean
The Colombian popstar and the Haitian rapper perform at the closing ceremony of Germany 2006. They gave a rousing rendition of her mega-hit Hips Don’t Lie at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Black Eyed Peas
apl.de.ap, will.i.am, Taboo and Fergie in action at the FIFA World Cup Kick-off Celebration Concert at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on the eve of South Africa 2010. They performed I Gotta Feeling, Boom Boom Pow, Meet Me Halfway, Pump It and Where Is The Love. The Black Eyed Peas have won six Grammy Awards and are one of the best-selling bands in history.
Shakira
The Colombian performs Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) during the closing ceremony of South Africa 2010 at Soccer City in Johannesburg. Featuring Cape Town Afro-fusion band Freshlyground, it reached number one on countless charts across the planet, and is in the Guinness World Records for being the most streamed World Cup song of all time on Spotify.
Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull & Claudia Leitte
The trio during a performance of the event’s official song, We Are One (Ole Ola), during Brazil 2014’s opening ceremony. They co-wrote it along with, among others, electropop superstar Sia. Curiously, the Brazilian Axé artist’s nickname during her adolescence was ‘Centre-back’, though it was because of her husky voice rather than football.
Carlos Santana, Alexandre Pires & Wyclef Jean
The Mexican-American guitarist, Brazilian pagode musician and Haitian hip-hop artist perform during the The 2014 edition’s closing ceremony at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. They impressed with Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way), which served as the official anthem for the tournament.
Robbie Williams
The English singer-songwriter performs during the opening ceremony of Russia 2018 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Williams belted out Let Me Entertain You, Feel and Rock DJ, and did a duet of Angels with Russian soprano Aida Garifullina.
Will Smith, Era Istrefi & Nicky Jam
The triumvirate wave to the crowd after performing during the closing ceremony of Russia 2018 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. They performed the official song for the tournament, Live It Up, prior to France’s 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final.
Jungkook
The BTS megastar performs Dreamers during the opening ceremony of Qatar 2022, which was narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. The track reached number one on the US Digital Song Sales chart.
