"Sirius" is an instrumental by British rock band the Alan Parsons Project, recorded for their sixth studio album, Eye in the Sky. Nearly two minutes long, it segues into "Eye in the Sky" on the original recording. From the 1990s onward, "Sirius" has become a staple of many 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 ConcertSirius was played as the introduction to "Breakaway", with Candy Dulfer on saxophone.
Usage in media
Sports
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 organisation edited out Steamboat's entrances with the track or overdubbed them with a homegrown theme from his 1991 run. "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 during their run of six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998, and still currently serves as their introduction theme. The song was chosen by public address announcer Tommy Edwards in the early 1980s, although Parsons's version was last used in 2004. "Sirius" was the opening number of the 2000 documentary Michael Jordan to the Max. 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. Since the 1994 season, "Sirius" has played before the Nebraska Cornhuskers' home football games as part of the pre-game tunnel walk. The Kansas City Chiefs used the song during kickoffs during the Coach Marty Schottenheimer era. It was used by the New Orleans Saints in 2009 as their entrance music for Super Bowl XLIV. It is also used by the World of Outlaws before the cars do the four-wide salute during parade laps before the A Main feature. In Italy, Serie A team Sassuolo use the song when the team enters the pitch at the home games. In Israel, IBPL team Maccabi Tel Aviv uses it to introduce the home team starting lineup before EuroLeague games. In Australia the piece is used by the Melbourne Rebels rugby team when introducing their starting lineup, as well as the Perth Wildcatsbasketball team. 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.
"Sirius" is played during the climactic scene of the 1988 Godfrey Ho film American Commando 3: Savage Temptation. It’s also played in John Hamburg’s 1998 debut movie Safe Men, as a stolen Stanley Cup rises out of the dance floor at Bernie Gale's Bar Mitzvah. "Sirius" is used as incidental music in the 1990 Mexican telenovelaCuando 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 , 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, which is used in the Michael Jordan intro, and a remixed version of the song is used in NBA 2K18. A sound a like version was used in The Adventures of Jimmy NeutronBoy Genius episode "Vanishing Act." It appears in 2017 TV commercials for Best Buy. The 2018 movie Blockers also plays the song. The track appears in series one of the 2018 YouTube Red production Cobra Kai when Johnny Lawrence tells Miguel Diaz "I'm gonna be your sensei." It was also played at the end of the first episode of "The Last Dance", a ten-part documentary series by ESPN and Netflix centering around the Chicago Bulls 1997-1998 season, when they won their sixth NBA Championship.
Track listing
Covers
"Sirius" is sampled in "The Saga Continues ", the opening track of P. Diddy and The Bad Boy Family's 2001 album The Saga Continues. The song is also sampled in "B.O.M.B.S." by Fabolous and "Miami Shit" by Pitbull.
