“Teardrop” by Massive Attack was used as House M.D.’s main title theme in the United States.
The song appears during the opening title sequence, accompanying imagery associated with medicine and the show’s central characters. It was released by the British trip-hop group Massive Attack in 1998 and became one of the group’s best-known tracks.
Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins provided the song’s vocals. The track’s distinctive harpsichord-like opening and atmospheric production gave the medical drama an immediately recognizable sonic identity. The title sequence and theme helped establish that House M.D. was a character-driven mystery as well as a conventional hospital show.
International versions did not always use exactly the same music. Some broadcasts substituted another piece because of licensing arrangements, so viewers in different countries may remember a different opening theme. “Teardrop” is therefore the canonical answer for the original United States presentation, not necessarily every international edit.