Whether watching a Cincinnati Bengals game or cheering on some other irrelevant team, viewers have been tuning in to Monday Night Football for over 50 years. The games first aired on ABC in 1970.
In 2006, the NFL moved to ABC’s sister network, ESPN, where the coveted Monday night slot has remained ever since.
But of course, no NFL broadcast is complete without a theme song.
Last September, the league caused a stir when it announced the program’s new theme song, performed by an unusual trio: Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg and Cindy Blackman Santana, who recorded a cover of the 1981 Phil Collins classic “In The Air Tonight.”
The new song received mixed reviews, with comments ranging from statements like “it could have been worse” to describing the collaboration as “wild but beautiful” and even comparing the debut to a “blow to the head.”
ESPN announced the song’s return ahead of the Week 1 clash between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers in a segment on X around noon on Monday.
But who sang the Monday Night Football theme song before the unlikely trio came on the scene? And what other songs did the network test out before landing on the Phil Collins cover?
Here you will find everything you need to know.
Who sings the theme song from Monday Night Football?
Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg and Cindy Blackman Santana open Monday Night Football with their cover of Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight.” The song premiered during the 2023-24 NFL season.
Who was the original singer of the Monday Night Football theme song?
Country rocker Hank Williams Jr. was the original singer of the Monday Night Football theme song. In 1989, ABC released a reworked version of his single “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” titled “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night.”
The tune earned Williams Jr. four Emmys and remained the opening theme for over two decades, even after the show was moved from ABC to ESPN.
What happened to the original Monday Night Football theme song?
In 2011, ESPN kicked Hank Williams Jr. and his theme song out of its Monday night time slot after the country singer made controversial comments about former President Barack Obama, comparing Obama to Hitler during the morning show “Fox & Friends” on Fox News Channel.
The network tried different versions of “Heavy Action,” a jingle synonymous with the Monday night spot, for a few years, but then brought back Williams Jr.’s song in 2017 and kept it as a fanfare until 2019.
Who else sang the Monday Night Football theme song?
In 2020, after more than three decades of “All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night,” ESPN changed things up and featured “Rip It Up” by rock legend Little Richard, performed by the Virginia-based band Butcher Brown.
Two years later, the theme song was again replaced by a remixed version of the classic “Heavy Action” tune, which had been part of the show’s music catalog since 1976.
In September 2023, the title song finally reached its current melody: “In The Air Tonight,” sung by Chris Stapleton, Snoop Dogg and Cindy Blackman Santana.
How to watch Monday Night Football
Due to the Hollywood strikes this summer, Monday Night Football will now air weeknights on ABC and ESPN starting at 8:15 p.m. ET. The game can also be streamed on Watch ESPN.
