Who composed the UEFA Champions League Anthem?

Who composed the UEFA Champions League Anthem? Tony Britten composed the UEFA Champions League Anthem. UEFA commissioned the British composer in 1992 to create music for the newly branded competition.

Britten’s theme is an adaptation inspired by George Frideric Handel’s “Zadok the Priest,” the ceremonial anthem first performed for the coronation of King George II in 1727. Britten reshaped the grand choral style for football, adding new words based on the tournament’s official languages: English, French and German. The famous recording features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chorus.

The anthem has no separate official title beyond the UEFA Champions League Anthem or theme. It is played during the teams’ entrance ceremony and in the opening and closing sequences of Champions League broadcasts, making it one of the most recognizable sounds in sport.

John Williams, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Hans Zimmer are celebrated composers, but they did not create this theme. Handel wrote the musical work that inspired it; Britten composed the Champions League adaptation.