Photo credit: venturebeat.com
Linkin Park to Perform Anthem for League of Legends World Championship
Riot Games has revealed that renowned music group Linkin Park will perform the official anthem for the upcoming League of Legends World Championship, scheduled for 2024.
The anthem, titled Heavy Is The Crown, exemplifies the growing synergy between the entertainment and gaming industries, showcasing how high-profile artists can heighten interest in esports events. This collaboration underscores Riot Games’ commitment to bringing top-tier performers into the gaming realm.
Fans will be able to watch the music video for Heavy Is The Crown on YouTube and stream the track across various platforms starting Tuesday, September 24, at 8 a.m. Pacific time. The premiere can be accessed here.
This new release follows Linkin Park’s recent chart-topping single, The Emptiness Machine, which marked the band’s first original music in seven years. The song garnered over 80 million streams and coincided with the commencement of a six-date arena tour. Excitement builds as the band’s eighth studio album, From Zero, is set to launch on November 15 through Warner Records.
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The partnership between Linkin Park and Riot Games for Heavy Is The Crown marks a significant milestone, particularly as the League of Legends World Championship, widely known as Worlds, is a premier event in the esports calendar, having attracted over six million concurrent viewers in the prior year.
Mike Shinoda, a member of Linkin Park, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration: “It’s been an amazing experience partnering with Riot to bring this anthem to the global League of Legends community. The song is a real highlight of this new era for us, harnessing our signature sound and infusing it with fresh energy. We’re so excited for players and fans to experience this!”
Maria Egan, the global head of music at Riot Games, also commented on the partnership, stating, “The Worlds anthem is the music moment that League players look forward to the most each year, and it has become a highly coveted fixture in music across the world. As the band embarks on this exciting new chapter, we’re honored to partner with them for the 2024 anthem. The lyrics for ‘Heavy Is The Crown’ perfectly capture the narrative for this year’s Worlds and they are a powerful companion to the themes of our music video.”
Billboard has lauded Linkin Park’s resurgence as “triumphant,” joining a prestigious lineup of previous Worlds Anthem performers, which includes Imagine Dragons, Lil Nas X, Zedd, and New Jeans. Collectively, these anthems have generated over 10 billion streams across digital service platforms.
In recent history, New Jeans’ 2023 anthem Gods set a record for the largest debut in anthem history, achieving nearly 270 million global streams and close to 100 million views on the League of Legends YouTube channel.
Source
venturebeat.com