Relive the moment Stevie Wonder performed a stirring cover of 'Imagine' at the Olympics

Publish Date
Saturday, 18 September 2021, 4:16PM

Now that the Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games have officially come to a close, we're throwing it back to when Stevie Wonder moved the world to tears with his stirring cover of 'Imagine' at the 1996 Atlanta closing ceremony.

Paying a beautiful tribute to his friend John Lennon, the soul legend ended the ceremony with a truly magical rendition of the 1971 peace anthem.

Backed by a choir and orchestra, Stevie had the entire 85,000-strong crowd in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Stadium swaying and singing together, arm in arm.

The song boasts a long history with the Olympics.

Following Stevie, it was performed again by Peter Gabriel at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, by the British children's choir at the London 2012 closing ceremony and by four of Korea's most well-known artists at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

'Imagine' was performed again at the Tokyo opening ceremony this year.

Incredible!

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