Olympic opening ceremony acts through the years from Arctic Monkeys to Bjork

The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games invites athletes and viewers from across the globe to discover the culture of the host country through music, song and dance.

At the 2024 Paris games Lady Gaga has been spotted rehersing ahead of the ceremony on Friday evening.

Across the years a number of high-profile music artists have played at the games including English rock band Arctic Monkeys and Icelandic singer Bjork.

Here we take a look at some of the musical acts who have played at the opening ceremonies of the summer games through the years:

2004

In 2004 the Olympics took place in Athens, Greece, the city where the first international summer games took place in 1896.

Icelandic singer Bjork performed her song Oceania wearing a blue dress with draping fabric that billowed around her.

The ceremony also saw DJ and producer Tiesto, who has collaborated with the likes of Charli XCX and Karol G, bring electronic music to the global stage.

2008

The Beijing Olympics famously included 2008 drummers playing bronze fou drums.

They all drummed to the same beat while quoting from The Analects Of Confucius: “Isn’t it delightful to have friends coming from afar?”.

English soprano singer Sarah Brightman was also involved and sang the Beijing Olympics’ theme song, You And Me.

2012

A number of high-profile British artists played at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics and there was also an appearance from actor Rowan Atkinson.

Performing as his comical alter-ego Mr Bean, Atkinson helped the London Symphony Orchestra with their performance of Chariots Of Fire.

The ceremony, which took viewers through the history of the UK, included performances from pop singer Emeli Sande , with her hit song Read All About It, (Pt III), and rapper Dizzee Rascal , with his chart-topping single Bonkers.

Elsewhere Arctic Monkeys performed I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor alongside a rendition of Come Together by The Beatles .

2016

Brazilian singer Anitta was among the music artists who performed at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

The 31-year-old performed alongside the politician and singer Gilberto Gil and singer Caetano Veloso.

2021

At the Tokyo Olympics the number of athletes who took part in the opening ceremony was vastly reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to the games being postponed in 2020.

The lighting of the torch took place in front of empty stands but there were still some performances as well as a video of US songwriter John Legend leading a lengthy rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine.

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