by The AFL (and VFL) have had live acts appear on footy’s biggest stage for the past 50 years; here is, a history of music at the grand final.
Origins
In 1977, Australia adopted a new national anthem. At least, unofficially.
‘God Save the Queen’ had been the anthem since Federation, successive governments had wanted to update the song. In polling conducted by the Australian Electoral Office, ‘Advance Australia Fair’ had been the most popular choice as a replacement.
To allow people time to get used to the idea, God Save the Queen was not officially retired, until 1984.
One of the first events where the new anthem was used, was the 1977 Victorian Football League (VFL) grand final.
1977 was significant for the VFL in other ways as well.
Since World War II the league, the country’s largest, had grown considerably in popularity. Crowds had increased every year, which brought more money and a higher profile to the game.
One means of expansion was television.
The league had allowed the grand final to be televised since 1961, but had resisted making the broadcast live. It was feared live coverage would damage attendance, then the game’s biggest source of revenue.
Channel 7 continued to lobby for live coverage. Through the 1970s, as the grand final sold out and regularly featured attendances above 100 000, the VFL finally became comfortable with the idea.
The 1977 Grand Final, featuring Hawthorn and North Melbourne, would be the first shown live in Australia.
To mark the occasion, the league decided to add some pizzazz to the pre-game activities. To this point, grand final day had been relatively low key: speeches from league officials, and the singing of the national anthem.
For 1977, newly appointed league chairman Dr. Allen Aylett favoured additional live music. The performer selected would be Australian singer Barry Crocker.
Crocker had started as a variety performer on TV, before branching out into acting and recorded music. He had starred in a wildly successful 1972 movie, ‘The Adventures of Barry MacKenzie’, and his first solo album, released the following year, was also a hit, climbing into the national top ten.
A lifelong footy fan, Crocker readily agreed to appear.
The grand final was held on September 24. Crocker had been performing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and flew home for the event.
He appeared on field before the game, backed by a brass band drawn from the Australian Army and Navy.
Much effort had to go into making this production a reality. Additional sound equipment had to be flown in; Mr Crocker had to rearrange his Las Vegas itinerary; over one hundred people had to be recruited to inflate and distribute balloons; the Department of Transport re-routed air traffic to avoid heading into the balloons; two days of rehearsals were conducted and a complex communication system installed.
‘Grand Final Footy Record’, September 1977
Wearing a tan suit, Crocker sung ‘The Impossible Dream’, a hit from the musical ‘Man of La Mancha’. While not related to football, its rousing lyrics were thought suitable for the occasion.
Crocker then sung ‘Advance Australia Fair’, using cue cards he held in his hand to remember the lyrics.
The song was different to the version we know today.
‘Advance Australia Fair’ was a 19th century song, written by Scottish born Australian, Peter Dodds McCormick.
It initially had four verses, and different lyrics. Among the most notable changes is the opening line, which ran, ‘Australia’s sons, let us rejoice’.
This is the version sung by Crocker in 1977; hearing him use this lyric from the present day is undoubtedly jarring. The line was later changed to the familiar, ‘Australians all’, when the song was officially adopted in 1984.
To wrap up Crocker’s appearance, after ‘Advance Australia Fair’ the band played the first bars of ‘God Save the Queen’, as a sop to traditionalists.
The 1977 Grand Final proved to be a thriller. With both teams kicking inaccurately, the game ended in a draw at 76 apiece (North would win the replay, the following week).
The live broadcast was a great success, drawing more than 2 million viewers nationwide.
Channel 7 and the league quickly settled on it as an annual event. For the following year they sought to replicate the presentation, including another musical performer.
This time it was Keith Michell, a South Australian actor who had made his name in the theatre. Less well known than Crocker, Michell was selected due to his experience with musicals; he would again sing ‘The Impossible Dream’, followed by Advance Australia Fair.
Music at the grand final had become an established part of the day.
The 80s
Through the 1980s, a kind of template was established for the pre-game entertainment.
The performers were all well-known local identities. Names included: Jon Farnham (1979 and 1989), Rolf Harris (1982), Slim Dusty (1984), and Olivia Netwon-John (1986).
In 1987, Daryl Somers, a TV host not known for his singing, appeared, providing an unusual highlight.
Performers through most of these years sung ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and the national anthem, and usually nothing else. In 1983, singer Glenn Shorrock performed these two songs while wearing an ‘America’s Cup’ team shirt: Australia would win the cup in America two days later, the first foreign team to do so.
One notable variant was the appearance of Peter Allen, in 1980. Allen was a song writer and performer who had become a huge star on Broadway. For the Grand Final he appeared in a red-white-and-blue jumpsuit, and sang his recent hit, ‘I Still Call Australia Home’.
The 90s
Come the 1990s, football was changing again.
The league had become national, expanding into Sydney (1982), Perth and Brisbane (1987) and Adelaide (1991). This lead to a re-naming of the competition, to the Australian Football League (AFL).
Grand final entertainment would change as well.
In 1991, the MCG was unavailable for finals due to refurbishment. The grand final, between Hawthorn and West Coast, would be held at the league’s other major venue: Waverley Park, in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.
Pre-game was much the same as earlier years. Daryl Braithwaite, former member of the rock band ‘Sherbert’ now into a successful solo career, started proceedings by singing the traditional Waltzing Matilda / national anthem duo.
The league then had a new innovation: half time entertainment.
In 1991, Sydney was deep into their bid to win the 2000 Olympics. With grand final day providing a large platform, the organisers used the occasion to spruik their efforts.
During the half time break (Hawthorn up by 10), a parade was held, sponsored by the Olympic bid. The theme was, ‘Heroes of Australian Sport’.
A cavalcade of cars came onto the ground, carrying well known Australian sporting identities. Members of the upcoming 1992 Olympics squad featured, along with Brownlow Medallist Jim Stynes, golfer Ian Baker-Finch, cricketer Geoff Marsh, boxer Jeff Fenech, and a young Cathy Freeman.
The event carried a slightly odd tone: clearly manufactured, and not serving any real purpose.
It climaxed with rock singer Angry Anderson, appearing in an elaborate vehicle derisively dubbed ‘The Batmobile’. Anderson climbed out of the car in the middle of the ground, and gave a rendition of his song, ‘Bound for Glory’.
It did not go well.
The car, Anderson’s squeaky vocals, and the embarrassed hilarity shown by some of the athletes, created a new grand final tradition: the music act fiasco.
The league’s expanding entertainment offering would also land at times, as occurred in 1993. The United Nations had declared it, ‘International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ and the AFL used that theme for the event.
The game was held on September 25, between Essendon and Carlton, now back at the revamped MCG.
The day kicked off with Indigenous soprano Maroochy Barambah, who sang Waltzing Matilda and the national anthem.
The half time show began with a didgeridoo performance from the top of the scoreboard, the musician strikingly backgrounded by a clear blue sky. Then the focus shifted to the ground, where six large cloth circles, representing campfires, had been laid out.
These were decorated with indigenous art, and surrounded by rings of tribal dancers.
In the centre were Youthu Yindi, the country’s most successful Indigenous band. Accompanied by Archie Roach, they performed a short set of their best known songs, including ‘Djapana’ and ‘Treaty’.
The upbeat performance received a rousing response. In the game itself, it seemed appropriate that Indigenous player Michael Long would star, winning the Norm Smith medal as Essendon won the flag.
For the remainder of the 90s, and into the Oughts, the league continued with veteran Australian performers. These included: The Seekers and Debbie Byrne (1994), John Paul Young (1995), Human Nature (1999), Men at Work and INXS (2001).
In 1996 they varied the format to celebrate the league’s centenary.
The pre-game kicked off with an elaborate opening ceremony, styled after the Olympics, with scores of dancers and performers filling the ground. This was followed by a showcase of singers who had appeared in earlier years: Barry Crocker, John Farnham, Slim Dusty and yes, Daryl Somers all returned.
This period also saw the establishment of two songs that would become synonymous with the grand final: ‘Up There Cazaly’ and ‘Holy Grail’.
‘Up There Cazaly’ and ‘Holy Grail’
‘Up There Cazaly’ had first appeared at the Grand Final in 1979. A nostalgic tune celebrating former St Kilda and South Melbourne star Roy Cazaly, it was written and performed by Mike Brady.
Brady was employed by Channel 7, the song was intended to accompany the network’s football coverage. Similar to the Channel 9 cricket theme, ‘C’mon Aussie C’mon’, it then exploded beyond its initial conception: released as a single, it sold more than 250 000 copies.
It never really went away again. In 2002, the AFL had Brady return and perform it live; it was so well received it became an annual grand final fixture.
The song itself belongs to the ceremony and sentimentality of the game. It’s loved. It doesn’t age. It captures a game of physical drudgery flecked with occasional acts of brilliance.
Mike Brady
2002 also saw the grand final return of ‘Holy Grail’, performed by Mark Seymour from Hunters and Collectors. The song had first been performed in 1998, as Channel 10 used it as the theme for their footy coverage.
Inspired by the novel ‘Passion’, the song was actually about Napoleon’s ill-fated invasion of Russia in 1812.
But the theme of striving for something difficult to attain resonated with footy fans, and ‘Holy Grail’ also attached itself to the sport. While not played every year like ‘Cazaly’, the track has still featured many times since 1998.
International Acts
In 2005, the league broke a thirty year convention by having an international artist perform. The first was an unlikely seeming choice: Michael Bublé, a smooth lounge singer in the style of Frank Sinatra.
Bublé was on tour in Australia, and appeared briefly, singing one song: his then hit, ‘Feeling Good’. He had taken some convincing to perform, feeling his music was not well suited to such a large event.
Reviews were mixed.
There was also controversy that year, when Melbourne singer Silvie Paladino was bumped from national anthem duties at the last minute. The league replaced her two days before the game with the much better known Delta Goodrem; Goodrem, a Swans fan, had contacted the AFL and asked to perform when her team made the final.
A disappointed Paladino went to the press, and accused the league of ‘dishonesty’.
The AFL had their first international headliner the follwing year. In 2006, pop singer Irene Cara performed her uplifting banger ‘Flashdance (What a Feeling)’.
Cara appeared at half time on a temporary stage erected on the ground, flanked by pink clad dancers and a light show. She delivered a lively, fun performance, noticeably more elaborate than what had been presented in years prior.
She also drew criticism: that the league had booked a fading star, past their prime. Some commentators also did not approve of the ‘Americanisation’ of the local code.
These criticisms would resurface with extreme prejudice, when Meat Loaf appeared in 2011.
Meat Loaf
Born Marvin Lee Aday, Meat Loaf became a huge star in the 1970s.
His 1972 debut album, ‘Bat Out of Hell’, is one of the most commercially successful records of all time. Selling 14 million copies in the US alone, and millions more worldwide, its mix of rock, soul, and campy theatrics proved enduringly popular.
While Meat Loaf would never top its success, he remained a well-known singer and pop culture figure through the next three decades.
But by 2011, his star was fading. While his classic hits were still popular, his audience was aging, and the singer’s health and voice were in decline.
Nevertheless, the AFL retained him to appear on Grand Final day, and promoted it as a coup: one of the biggest names that had performed to date.
What followed was a disaster.
The 2011 Grand Final, between Geelong and Collingwood, was held on October 1.
Meat Loaf performed before the game, and unlike most acts, appeared on a small stage in the stands, rather than on the ground. An issue immediately presented: the singer was difficult to see, and the show seemed diminished in stature.
Another problem was the singer’s voice. While clearly trying hard, he struggled to hit the high notes required in his operatic songs, and sounded belaboured at all times.
Meat doesn’t so much sing as bark. At his best, he’s flat and out of breath. At his worst, he howls like a wounded seal. It’s not pleasant. It’s not comfortable viewing.
Louder.com, review of the Grand Final
The set was mercifully short, clocking in at 12 minutes. Afterwards, Channel 10 commentator Stephen Quartermaine dryly summed it up with one word: ‘extraordinary’.
It is usually cited as the worst ever grand final performance.
Later, further information would come to light. That Meat Loaf had been battling a number of health issues, and had even had a heart attack in the months leading up to the event.
While this generated some sympathy, the legacy of the performance endures. Subsequently the AFL would largely avoid older performers (although KISS did appear in 2023).
What they have done instead, is turn to the best contemporary international stars they can get, including The Killers (2017), Robbie Williams (2022), Katy Perry (2024) and Snoop Dogg (2025).
These have been broadly well received. Richmond fans fondly remember Jack Riewoldt joining The Killers on stage, after their drought breaking Premiership win.
For the 2026 grand final, the event has its biggest name to date: Kylie Minogue. Long sought after by the AFL, the appearance of Australia’s pop princess appears certain to be a huge success.
This author lined up at the ‘Team Kylie’ merch tent today, to buy a few t-shirts. The queue was long, the excitement palpable.
One fan behind me said, ‘I wonder how many people will just leave, when she finishes her set?’
