Decades before Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg, and Cindy Blackman Santana emerged with their 2023-2024 Monday Night Football theme song, a harder rendition of Phil Collins‘ 1981 “In the Air Tonight,” the NFL had a series of musical entries playing throughout the seasons.
From the first Monday Night Football broadcast in September 1970 through 2024, everything from outlaw country, hip-hop, electronic, and other compositions have made their way through the seasonal theme songs.
Here’s a look back at the core Monday Night Football theme songs spanning more than five decades from 1970 through 2024.
“Score” (1970-1975)
Composed by Charles Fox
On September 21, 1970, Monday Night Football aired for the first time on ABC, and Charles Fox’s “Score” played as the opening theme. The song was recorded by Bob Israel and his band, who also produced theme songs for Nightline, ABC World News Tonight, and more.
The funkier “Score” remained the Monday Night Football theme song until 1975.
“Heavy Action” (1976-Present)
Composed by Johnny Pearson
Before it became the theme song for Monday Night Football in the U.S., “Heavy Action” was used on the British sports show Superstars. Originally composed by Johnny Pearson in 1970, “Heavy Action” became one of the most iconic theme songs on television with its rushing dun dun dun duuuun.
It premiered on MNF in 1976 and has remained background music for Monday Night Football since then. In 1989, “Heavy Action” was updated by Edd Kalehoff before the network returned to the original Pearson version in 2018.
“All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night” (1989-2011; 2017-2019)
Written by Hank Williams Jr.
When Monday Night Football aired in 1989, it opened with Hank Williams Jr.‘s redo of his 1984 hit “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight,” which he renamed “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night.” The song earned Williams Jr. four Emmy Awards and remained the MNF theme song for nearly three decades, even after it moved back to ABC sister network ESPN in 2006.
“All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night” went to No. 1 on the Country chart and remained the MNF theme song through 2011 when ESPN dropped him after his political tirade on television. When the network reconnected with Williams Jr. in 2017, he revived his song for MNF, featuring Jason Derulo and Florida Georgia Line. It remained the theme song through 2019 before the network severed ties with the outlaw a second time.
[RELATED: Why ESPN Dropped Hank Williams Jr. From ‘Monday Night Football’ Twice in Less Than Ten Years]
“Rip it Up” (2020-2022)
Written by Robert Blackwell and John Marascalco
During the pandemic in 2020, ESPN moved away from Williams Jr.’s more outlaw “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night” to a reworking of Little Richard‘s “Rip it Up,” performed by the jazz quintet Butcher Brown.
The Richard classic, which went to No. 1 when it was originally released in 1956, remained the Monday Night Football theme song until 2022.
“Heavy Action” (Remix), DJ Marshmello (2022)
Composed by Christopher Comstock (Marshmello)
In 2022, DJ Marshmello put his spin on the classic four notes of the Monday Night Football theme song “Heavy Action,” which was played throughout the season but was switched out the following year.
“Working with ESPN is a dream come true as ‘Monday Night Football’ and the NFL have been a part of my life ever since I can remember,” said Marshmello. “Having the opportunity to put my own spin on an iconic song that NFL fans everywhere recognize was an amazing opportunity.”
“In the Air Tonight” (2023-Present)
Written by Phil Collins
A year after experimenting with an electronic version of “Heavy Action,” ESPN and NFL gravitated toward something more nostalgic, and invited Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg, and drummer Cindy Blackman Santana to take on Phil Collins‘ 1981 hit “In the Air Tonight” for the 2023-2024 season.
The song was picked by ESPN after focus-group research found that there was a deep nostalgia among Monday Night Football fans for the earlier eras of the broadcasts from the 1970s through the ’90s.
In the trio’s reimagining of “In the Air Tonight,” NFL announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman can be heard talking, while the original Collins version of the song echoes in the background. In the video, Snoop Dogg enters driving a lowrider and cuts in with his own rhymes—Rivals, us verses them / Survival, we must win / It’s trivial, my team like king—while Stapleton carries the heavier chorus: I can feel it comin’ in the air tonight, oh Lord / I’ve been waitin’ for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
[RELATED: The Evolution of Chris Stapleton and Snoop Dogg’s ‘Monday Night Football’ Anthem, Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight”]
Photo: Little Richard performs onstage circa 1980. (Lester Cohen/ Getty Images)
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