Forty years of epic Olympic Games performances, from Celine Dion to Sir Paul McCartney

Away from sporting triumphs, the world frequently tunes in to popular and eclectic artists at the opening and closing ceremonies

Celine Dion, who played at the 1996 Olympics, will mark her comeback show at the Paris opening ceremony. Reuters

Follow the latest news on the 2024 Paris Olympics

As we edge closer to the Paris Olympic Games, anticipation surrounding Friday’s opening ceremony nears crescendo.

Held outdoors on the Seine, a global audience not only awaits the floating procession of athletes but also the dynamic music programme, which often showcases the host country’s biggest stars and cultural heritage. With Celine Dion making her stage comeback as part of the proceedings, nearly two years after she was diagnosed with the debilitating stiff person syndrome, as well as pop star Lady Gaga and Djada singer Aya Nakamura, they join an esteemed list of artists who brought party and pathos in what is a gig of a lifetime.

Here are some of the artists who performed at the Summer Olympic Games ceremonies over 40 years.

1984: Lionel Richie

With the Olympics returning to the US for the first time since 1932, organisers enlisted an artist at the top of his game for the closing ceremony in Los Angeles. At the time there was arguably no pop star bigger than Lionel Richie, who was still riding high on the back of the worldwide hit All Night Long released the year before. More than being a popular anthem, the song matched the celebratory and eclectic nature of the Olympics with its Latin, Caribbean and African elements.

Performing on a stage in the middle of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Richie's nine-minute rendition had him darting in and out of a phalanx of acrobats and breakdancers. “I basically just re-enacted the entire All Night Long video and brought it to life on stage,” Richie told The Washington Post in 2020. “For the first time in my life they were saying don’t worry about the budget and just do the song. It was a brilliant moment.”

1992: Sarah Brightman and Jose Carreras

The Barcelona Games ended with operatic flair courtesy of an inspiring performance at the closing ceremony by English soprano Sarah Brightman and Spain's Jose Carreras.

Translated to Friends for Life and composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Amigos Para Siempre featured a full orchestra in a powerful rendition of a song celebrating camaraderie and community. As well as being a crossover hit on the US pop charts, the song went on to be a favourite of weddings and memorial ceremonies.

1996: Celine Dion

The Summer Olympics centenary anniversary was marked by a grand opening ceremony performance by Celine Dion in Atlanta. For the occasion, she played the ballad The Power of the Dream for the first time. It's written by fellow Canadian David Foster, who also accompanied her on piano.

Backed by dramatic lighting and visuals, the song's aspirational quality made it a favourite of the event's sporting montages. It also set the scene for Dion's superstardom when her song My Heart Will Go On appeared a year later in the blockbuster film Titanic.

2000: Olivia Newton-John and John Farnham

To mark the first Olympics held in Australia in 44 years, the ceremony paired two of the continent's biggest cultural names, the pop star and actress Olivia Newton-John and singer John Farnham.

While the song Dare to Dream encapsulated the universal theme of the Olympics, it was barely remembered after the competition.

2004: Bjork

Talk about a left turn. With the 2004 Summer Olympics marking the return of the competition to its historical birthplace in Athens, a song celebrating ancient and modern Greece's heritage was performed by experimental Icelandic singer Bjork.

But the esteemed artist was a revelation when performing the official song Oceania during the opening ceremony. More than its ethereal beauty and lyricism, the performance is remembered for Bjork's costume, which unfurled to become a massive world map enveloping the field of Athens’s Olympic Stadium.

2008: Lang Lang

Chinese pianist Lang Lang was already hailed as the next big star in the classical musical circle at 15 when he won first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians.

The world learnt of his talent 11 years later when he played at the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. Performing an instrumental piece composed for the event, his technique and virtuosity were savoured by a global audience and, as a result, international arenas beckoned.

2012: Sir Paul McCartney, Mike Oldfield and Arctic Monkeys

The Games met Glastonbury at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. Held at the Olympic Stadium, now known as the London Stadium, the event had the kind of musical headliners that would have been equally at home at the mammoth British music festival.

With the British electronic duo Underworld serving as musical directors for the gig, the programme included Mick Oldfield delivering the prog-rock staple Tubular Bells and Artic Monkeys delivering a fierce version of I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.

However, the moment belonged to Sir Paul McCartney who had the crowd in the palm of his hands with the Beatles classic Hey Jude.

2016: Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso

It’s only right that two giants of Brazilian music teamed up to help open the Olympics in Rio De Janeiro.

Both credited for crafting Brazil's Tropicalia music sound in the 1960s, Gil and Veloso paid tribute to another legend while performing Isto aqui o que e? by Joao Gilberto, the singer-songwriter acknowledged as the father of bossa nova music.