Olympic Countdown!

London is buzzing. We’re just hours away from the Olympics opening cermony, and while the athletes soak in the atmosphere and get their head in the game, some of music’s biggest names will take to the stage to beckon in the games with a three-hour extravaganza.

So, what better time to re-cap some Olympic performances from years gone by? Consistently epic, and more-often-than-not pretty weird, the eve of the games never fails to bring international talent to the international stage.

LIONEL RITCHIE // LOS ANGELES 1984

Smooth talking, chart topping Lionel Ritchie stole the show in ’84. He performed a 9 minute rendition of ‘All Night Long’ at the Los Angeles Olympics. Jump to the three-minute mark for some seriously retro, seriously awesome entertainment.

FREDDIE MERCURY // BARCELONA 1992

The legendary Freddie Mercury co-wrote the theme song for the ’92 games, but sadly passed away before the opening ceremony. This clip is from four years prior, in a celebration of the arrival of the Olympic Flag from Seoul. At the ’92 ceremony itself, Caballé sang it live, with Mercury’s part played on a screen.

INXS & JOHN STEVENS // SYDNEY 2000

The first olympics of the new millenium? Pretty big deal. INXS, a pretty big deal themselves, performed ‘What You Need’. If someone can explain the topless guys at 6:20, we’d really appreciate it.

BJORK // ATHENS 2004

The Olympics came full circle in 2004, returning to Greece where it all kicked off all those years ago. The ceremony opened with a team of engineers apparently making last minute repairs to the arena – a nice tongue-in-cheek dig at the delays and disorganisation of the weeks prior. Bjork stole the show, as you’d expect.

London’s opening ceremony starts tonight at 9pm GMT! Don’t miss out.