The story of the most internationally successful pop hit from Austria to date began on September 2, 1984. During the recording for the live LP, on the occasion of Opus' eleventh anniversary at the Inform Stadium in Oberwart, the multitrack tape broke down during the first performance of the new title track "Live Is Life". The necessary repetition of the song as an encore resulted in the birth of a global hit and a great moment for Opus - the song climbed to the top of the charts around the world in 1985 and 1986, and was certified gold and platinum over 25 times.
The incredible thing is that even after 40 years, the popularity of "Live Is Life" is still unbroken; the most streamed version of the song currently has over 245 million hits on Spotify, while the most popular "Live Is Life" videos are played up to 3 million times a day on YouTube. Almost 700,000 videos with the three most popular versions are stored on the Tik Tok platform, and an average of 700 radio plays per day are also recorded worldwide.
During the major sporting events this summer, "Live Is Life" was once again a popular catalyst during the broadcasts and for the audience on site, such as at the European Championship opening match between the German national team and Scotlandor Argentina's games during the Copa America and in volleyball at the Summer Olympics in Paris. In March at the Ice Hockey World Championships, Live Is Live was already the goal song for the Canadian team.
The most recent live version of the song, recorded by the Schick Sisters together with the Opus Band, is also the official anthem of this year 's European Women's Handball Championship "Womens EHF EURO 2024" in November and December in Austria, Switzerland and Hungary, and will be presented on September 21 at the "Starnacht in der Wachau" at 20h15 on ORF 2.
There are now hundreds of cover interpretations of "Live Is Life", the opus original of which, unlike most pop songs, was not recorded in a studio; a current interpretation by Willy William from France has been playing on 400 radio stations worldwide every day for weeks. It will probably not be the last.
After all, hardly a day goes by without a new request for our hit, be it a cover version, a TV or cinema film, an advertisement or a live performance. We are very grateful that, with the hundreds of compositions and productions we have created, we have succeeded in creating such an evergreen that brings joy to so many people!
The next live dates - Schick Sisters & OPUS Band:
06.09. Fehring, Most & Jazz-Openair am Hauptplatz
21.09. ORF 2, 20h15 "Starnacht aus der Wachau"
15.10. Vienna, Globe "One Night Only" concert & video reading show with Rudi Dolezal - "My Friend Freddie" - a special Queen evening!
23.10. Graz, Orpheum
24.10. Berndorf, Stadttheater
15.12. Vienna, Stadthalle, women's handball European Championship final, gala performance
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