Every year since 2014, the League of Legends World Championship has had an official theme song. Some songs were great, some were inspiring, and some were downright legendary. As we await the official LoL Worlds kick-off, we provide you with a list of all the songs Riot Games used as official event anthems.
League of Legends, one of the most popular esports in the world, consists of more than just a game with a competitive league. Developer Riot Games always provides additional lore and content for fans to enjoy. Musical scores and content are a big part of the event ecosystem for LoL events.
We usually focus much on the LoL Worlds Power Rankings and Match Previews, yet with all this serious action happening ahead of Worlds, it’s time we reminisce on the art and creativity going behind the entire League of Legends Worlds experience.
2014 – Warriors by Imagine Dragons
The popular band Imagine Dragons was a great choice for the first LoL Worlds song. Not only were they incredibly well-known outside of gamer circles, but they also signified, at the time, a relatively rare intersection between gamers and other types of pop culture.
Like most of the videos of the following years, an animated music video was created to compliment the song itself, featuring players on their journey from playing at home to playing on the world stage. Naturally, the song and video quickly became iconic, and the League community responded incredibly well to this release.
2015 – Worlds Collide by Nicky Taylor
This song was pivotal in many ways. It set the stage for other non-Worlds-related musical projects from Riot, such as “Bring home the glory” or “Awakened”. Unlike Warriors and the songs that followed, this one didn’t have a proper animated video. The video for it featured a floating red crystal in which different landmarks, most of them from Central Europe, reflected.
Due to its lack of proper video, the song faced some criticism, but overall the musical tone of synth mixed with bass and a female vocalist proved a solid foundation for other Riot projects like the virtual pop group K/DA that Riot unveiled in 2018.
2016 – Ignite by Zedd
One of the more unique songs that Riot has released, as a LoL Worlds song, Ignite, featured electronic beats and an orchestral arrangement. The animated video that went with the song featured both gamers and strongly stylised versions of in-game characters and fight scenes.
For many, this video was the peak as far as LoL Worlds songs visuals went – its bright and lively animation style was certainly eye-catching. The song features simple lyrics that were easy to remember and sing along to – also unusual among the LoL Worlds songs.
2017 – Legends Never Die by Against the Current & Chrissy Constanza
Legends Never Die is one of the best-known LoL Worlds songs, popular even with esports fans that don’t normally follow League of Legends. It’s very catchy and features a well-animated video showing game characters sparring, training and exploring different environments matching the characters’ lore backstory.
Ashe, Lee Sin and Garen are featured in the video, making it the only one (other than Worlds Collide) that doesn’t feature players’ journeys to the League of Legends World Championship. For some, this watered down the connection between the song and the competition, while others felt the incredible song/video combination more than made up for it.
2018 – Rise by The Glitch Mob, Mako, and The Word Alive
Rise primarily features Kang ‘Ambition’ Chan-yong’s journey to being a world champ. It artistically depicts the epic battles of the player on his way through the World Championship. The video is full of symbolism from cornfield battles with Perkz, volcano battles against Uzi, and glacier battles versus Faker. Ambition meets challenger after challenger during the video until ultimately reaching the Hall of Champions, where his team’s logo and legacy are finally engraved among the historical League of Legends Worlds Champions.
The Korean player started playing pro in November 2011 and showed consistent performances up to his win at Worlds 2017 – the year before the song was released. Ambition retired another season later but remained an active League streamer for Gen.G. Fans wouldn’t have bet on the LoL Worlds pro retiring so soon, but after a successful career and after featuring in the Rise video, he more than earned his retirement!
2019 – Phoenix by Cailin Russo and Chrissy Constanza
For the first time, the 2025 song featured an artist that had already collaborated on a previous LoL Worlds song – in 2017. The song was initially delayed due to production issues and wasn’t actually released until weeks into the play-in stage – it was expected before the beginning of that stage.
Along with the song, the 2025 video features stunning visuals – a combination of animation and bits of real-life footage featuring some pro League players. They’re even shown transforming into play characters – specifically, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther, and Song “Rookie” Eui-jin are featured.
2020 – Take Over by Jeremy McKinnon, Max and Henry
The 2025 song is an exciting experience in its entirety. The song itself and the accompanying video were packed with references and vocals reflecting the Take Over theme of Worlds 2020.
Take Over’s music video follows a young player getting coached by no other then Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok himself. Throughout the clip, we can see our protagonist battle famous League of Legends champions personified by the players who made a huge impact on the scene with them. From Xpeke’s Kassadin pick, Mata’s Thresh and JackeyLove’s Xayah through BeBe’s Caitlyn and Tian’s Leesin, the protagonist battles each World Champion until he ultimately reaches the Summoner Cup itself.
Additionally, every second of the video is filled with easter eggs and humorous messages. From champion names written on the car licence plates to shop signs saying things like: “Irelia’s office”, “Red Buff Hotpot”, and “Sivir’s Pizza Delivery”, the entire video represents League of Legends culture at its fullest. Overall, the Worlds 2025 song has one of the best Worlds music videos produced to date.
2021 – Burn It All Down by Riot Music Team ft. PVRIS
Released one week ahead of Worlds 2021, Burn it All Down was written and produced by the Riot Music Team Alex Seaver (Mako). The vocals were performed by PVRIS as the featured artist.
The music video is similar in concept to 2020’s Take Over, featuring various active LoL Esports players. We are guided through it by following Heo “ShowMaker” Su as he goes through a series of scenes with various players, all practising and preparing for what is ultimately Worlds 2021. The list of featured players absolutely mind-boggling featuring: ShowMaker, Chovy, Rekkles, Wunder, Carzzy, TheShy, Viper, GALA, Blaber, PowerOfEvil, Hans Sama, Armut, Peanut, Gori, Summit, Clid and we definitely missed some and will need to re-watch it ten more times.
2022 – Lil Nas X – STAR WALKIN’ prod. by Cirkut, Omer Fedi, and Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X’s Worlds 2025 song was released one week before kick-off, similar to 2021. There was a short pre-taser featuring Lil Nas X as president of League of Legends. Produced by Cirkut and Omer Fedi, the song is less energetic than previous iterations, with fans commenting on it as needing an orchestral remake.
The music video features various storylines centred around Worlds 2025 and the host cities, with players and fans both featured throughout the video. The ending culminates with an all-out brawl between players and their champions in front of the Chase Center in San Francisco.
2023 – GODS ft. NewJeans (뉴진스) prod. by Sebastien Najand and Alex Seaver of Mako
The LoL 2025 Worlds Song is performed by K-pop group NewJeans and was officially released on October 4. The music video is built around Deft’s journey to his 2025 Worlds title, showcasing all his appearances on the international stages throughout his career.
Check out our breakdown of the video in our dedicated article.
NewJeans is a South Korean girl group formed by the entertainment company ADOR and it’s composed of five members: Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein. They debuted in 2025 with the single “Attention”, but the songs that allowed them to really gain popularity and become the new rising stars were “Ditto”, “OMG”, and “Super Shy”. NewJeans’ music is close to 1990s- and 2000s-indebted pop and R&B and it’s “soft, contained, and delicate”, according to critic Minsoo Joshua Kim.
Here’s the Lyrics to GODS ft New Jeans for you to sing along:
GODS ft New Jeans Lyrics
GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS
(’ey) This is what you came for
Blood on the game ball Everybody dropping like rainfall
(‘uh’) This is your moment
Eyes on the pulpit, kid (I) think Church just opened And they’re singing your praises la-la-la
Screaming your name out la-la-loud
One more step, you’re Immortal now, ‘cause Once you play GOD
Once you play GOD
They’re gonna’ crumble one by one Then we gonna ride right into the Sun like it’s the day my kingdom come
Baby we’re
GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS Yeah we’re GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS
(’ey) Welcome to the big show
Next on the ladder Is it your name in the rafters? Brief moment of silence Bad girl woke up chose violence And they’re singing my praises la-la-la
Screaming my name out la-la-loud
This is why we’re Immortal now, ‘cause Once you play GOD
Once you play GOD
They’re gonna’ crumble one by one Then we gonna ride right into the Sun
like it’s the day my kingdom come
Baby we’re GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS Yeah we’re
GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS
I’m on my knees Pray for glory Anyone read this underdog story? I can’t lose myself again Help me raise this heart
Heart, unbreakable
Once you play GOD Once you play GOD They’re gonna’ crumble one by one Then we gonna ride right into the Sun
like it’s the day my kingdom come
Once you play GOD
Once you play GOD
They’re gonna’ crumble one by one Then we gonna ride right into the Sun
like it’s the day my kingdom come
Baby we’re GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS Yeah we’re GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS Yeah we’re GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GODS
Once you play
