Some of the most memorable TV theme songs were performed by renowned musicians, and they have the ability to stick with us long after the credits have rolled. These 30 theme songs, which feature pop icons and rock performers alike, demonstrate how well-known musicians have influenced television history.
1. King of the Hill
“Yahoos and Triangles,” the theme song for the animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, was composed and performed by the alt-rock band The Refreshments. Lead guitarist Brian Blush said getting the gig was a bit of a fluke, and he added “Fox Television put out a casting call to all the record labels.”
2. Mixed-ish
Mariah Carey performs the title song for this prequel offshoot of the sitcom “Black-ish.” The Grammy-winning singer, who has expressed her affection for both “black-ish” and “grown-ish,” wrote “In the Mix” to be the 2019 spinoff’s theme song.
3. Sanford and Son
The popular and catchy theme tune for the 1972 sitcom Norman Lear, which starred comedian Redd Foxx, was composed by music legend Quincy Jones. “The Streetbeater” was inspired by Foxx, Jones claims. “Sanford and Son” is based on the British sitcom “Steptoe and Son”.
4. The Affair
For the Showtime series’ theme tune “Container,” Grammy-winning recording artist Fiona Apple reworked an unreleased song when Sarah Treem, the creator of this show, asked the musician to perform the theme. After Apple gave his OK, the strange and disturbing song was created.
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Getting the theme music for the cult favorite TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” from the 1990s was one of the first significant events in the rock band Nerf Herder’s career. “We got the gig because they were running out of money and needed something cheap,” frontman Parry Gripp recounted in an interview with Time Magazine about the song’s creation.
6. Phenom
It was Carly Simon who wrote and sang “The Promise and the Prize,” which is the theme song from “Phenom.” Unfortunately, the comedy was cut after its first season, despite the songwriter’s outstanding contribution to the program.
7. The Drew Carey Show
The theme tune for “The Drew Carey Show,” “Moon Over Parma,” was written by Robert “Bob” “Mad Dog” McGuire as a lighthearted nod to the Cleveland region. The song was discovered by comedian Drew Carey while visiting the House of Swing, a local establishment in Cleveland. Unaware that it would be his big break more than ten years later, McGuire penned it in 1983 for a comedy show on Cleveland television.
8. Malcolm in the Middle
The band They Might Be Giants performed the sitcom’s theme song, “Boss of Me,” after Linwood Boomer, the show’s creator, contacted the group’s lyricist, John Flansburgh, with a very specific idea for the tune. A Grammy for “Best Tune Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media” was given to the theme tune in 2001.
9. The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius
Brian Causey composed the theme for “The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius,” and his surf rock group, Man or Astro-man? used and performed a condensed version of the song. In the 2001 movie “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius,” the theme song was played in its expanded form by the band Bowling for Soup and featured in the end credits and soundtrack.
10. Entourage
The alternative band Jane’s Addiction performed “Superhero,” which served as the show’s theme song. They took the song from their 2003 album “Strays.” At one minute and seventeen seconds, there was an especially lengthy opening sequence.
11. Dog the Bounty Hunter
This theme tune was written and performed by Ozzy Osbourne for “Dog the Bounty Hunter.” During his brief visit to the reality show “The Osbournes,” Duane Lee “Dog” Chapman even had a luau with the rock star and his family.
12. One Tree Hill
“I Don’t Want to Be” by singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw serves as the theme song for the soap opera teen drama “One Tree Hill.” The song was taken from the artist’s 2003 debut album, “Chariot.” The theme song was not used for a few seasons, but it was revived in the eighth season by a number of performers, including Aimee Mann and Matthew Ryan.
13. Freaks and Geeks
Despite only running for one season, Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” played throughout the opening credits of the show which has since become a cult classic. Boardwalk Records republished the album the next year, naming it after the now-iconic rebel record, which was first included on Jett’s self-released, self-titled solo album in 1980.
14. All That
The theme music for this iconic Nickelodeon program was performed by TLC. In its first season, they also appeared in a number of sketches and were musical guests. Known as the “Saturday Night Live” for children, “All That” was brought back to life and shown again in 2019 with the original theme tune and a new cast.
15. Smallville
The theme song for “Smallville,” “Save Me,” was performed by the Alabama alternative rock group Remy Zero. They included the song on their album “The Golden Hum.” In order for “Save Me” to be featured in the superhero series, it had to be condensed to just over 50 seconds.
16. That ’70s Show
The theme song for the long-running sitcom, “In the Street,” was first sung by the band Big Star in the 1970s and was included on their 1972 debut album “#1 Record.” Todd Griffin of the ’90s band Graveyard Train rewrote the song for the first season of the show.
17. One Day at a Time
Gloria Estefan performed a modernized rendition of “This Is It” during the 2017 revival of the well-liked sitcom Norman Lear, which aired from 1975 to 1984. To symbolize the Cuban American family occupying flat 402, she incorporated Latin rhythms into her rendition.
18. The Big Bang Theory
The theme song for this beloved sitcom is performed by the Canadian alternative band Barenaked Ladies. At first, lead singer Ed Robertson was hesitant since he didn’t want to waste his time and wasn’t sure if other singers and bands had been asked to write a theme song for the program as well. “The History of Everything” was born and became a hit.
19. A Different World
The initial plan was for Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor, who portrayed Denise Huxtable’s roommate on “A Different World,” to write and perform the theme song for the well-liked “The Cosby Show” spinoff. But for the song’s debut season, singer Phoebe Snow would take over.
20. Gilmore Girls
The popular sitcom about mother-daughter pair Lorelai and Rory Gilmore featured the song “Where You Lead,” which was originally recorded for Carole King’s 1971 album “Tapestry.” When the program was just a pilot, King was contacted by “Gilmore Girls” creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. The singer then called her daughter, Louise Goffin, and they rerecorded the song and revised the lyrics.
21. BoJack Horseman
Although the theme song for the program wasn’t composed just for “BoJack Horseman,” the rocker had an idea for the series after executive producer Noel Bright, a well-known Black Keys fan, contacted the band’s drummer, Patrick Carney. Bright enjoyed the song that Carney and his uncle Ralph Carney started working on together, and Netflix agreed to use it as the opening theme for the series.
22. The Proud Family
This song was performed by Destiny’s Child and Solange Knowles as the theme for the Disney Channel series “The Proud Family.” When Solange was a teenager beginning her career as an artist and shortly before the release of her first studio album, “Solo Star,” in 2003, she created the song especially for the show and sung lead.
23. Orange Is the New Black
The theme song “You’ve Got Time” was composed especially for the program by Regina Spektor, an artist who was born in Russia. Spektor had previously collaborated with Jenji Kohan, the show’s creator when she was asked to perform the theme song “Little Boxes” for Kohan’s show “Weeds” during the episode “Mile Deep and a Foot Wide.”
24. South Park
The theme song from the raunchy cartoon series was written and performed by the American metal band Primus. As stated in its genesis tale, Primus was inspired to write the song after seeing and appreciating Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s animated short “Spirit of Christmas.”
25. The Wire
The show’s theme tune, “Way Down in the Hole,” by Tom Waits, is actually taken from his 1987 album “Franks Wild Years.” According to Waits, the gospel song tells the tale of a “berserk evangelist” who tries to convert Frank. The album is narrated from the viewpoint of the titular Frank.
26. The O.C.
The American rock band Phantom Planet sings the theme song for the TV show The O.C., titled “California”. The song was released in 2002 on their album The Guest.
27. H2O: Just Add Water
“No Ordinary Girl” (also known as “Ordinary Girl”) is the main title song of the mermaid TV show “H2O: Just Add Water”. It is performed by Ellie Henderson in season 1, Kate Alexa in season 2, and Indiana Evans in season 3, at a lower pitch.
28. Get A Life
The opening credits depict Chris Peterson delivering newspapers on his bike to the show’s theme song, “Stand” by R.E.M.
29. Friends
“I’ll Be There for You” is a song by the American pop-rock duo the Rembrandts. The song was written by David Crane, Marta Kauffman, and Allee Willis as the main theme song to the NBC sitcom “Friends”, which was broadcast from 1994 to 2004.
30. Charmed
The opening theme song used during all broadcast seasons was Love Spit Love’s cover version of “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths
