Sep 117 min read

10 Times Musicians Wrote Theme Songs for TV Shows

TV show themes and end-credit songs serve an important purpose. Not only does it set the tone of the TV show you’re watching, but if they’re catchy enough, people may seek the songs out beyond the show. To help create a formula that works like this, networks often turn to musicians to help create these songs. It’s even better when a song is written specifically for the TV show, not just used with permission from the artist. Here are 10 songs created by popular artists specifically for TV shows.

One Republic, “Nobody” for Kaiju No. 8

When it comes to opening and closing tracks for Japanese anime, they’re often understandably written and sung in Japanese. There are a few exceptions of course, and more are popping up in anime in the last 10 years. Kaiju No. 8 is a 2024 anime adaptation of the manga series that began serialization in 2020 and is seen as one of the most anticipated new anime to come out of the spring 2024 season. Having not only One Republic creating the ending track but Yungblud creating the opening, both non-Japanese artists is very uncommon, but has been very well received by fans. “Nobody” was written by One Republic specifically for Kaiju No. 8. Vocalist of the group, Ryan Tedder, describes in the video below that he was approached by the Kaiju No. 8 team while they were on tour in Japan. After being shown some of the early work done, Tedder agreed to write a closing track for the anime that would encapsulate the characters and their messaging. The main message of “Nobody” is to be there for people who rely on you, which fits the characters of the show very well. You can check out Tedder’s interview and the song below.

Wendy & Lisa, Theme for Heroes

The NBC superhero drama TV series Heroes has a theme song beloved by fans. Its use of comic book-style storytelling made for fascinating story arcs to follow each season. The TV theme along with a handful of other songs in the series’ score were written by the group Wendy & Lisa, a music duo consisting of Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman. The duo got their start in the industry working with Prince as part of his band the Revolution, before branching out on their own and releasing their studio album. For the first season, they recorded the score in real-time, creating about 30 minutes of score for each episode. At the time of working on the score, they had a lot of creative freedom because of their personal connection to the Heroes executive producer Allan Arkush. When they were brought in for the job, the duo bonded with Arkush instantly after Wendy discovered Arkush’s brother had directed Get Crazy, a film that her brother Jonathan was in.

Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo, Theme for Rugrats

This one may come as a surprise, but yes, the singer of the new wave band DEVO wrote the iconic theme song for the Nickelodeon show Rugrats. Outside of his work with DEVO, Mark Mothersbaugh has worked on several films and TV scores. Beyond Rugrats, Mothersbaugh has worked on Wes Anderson films, The Last Supper, Happy Gilmore, and Clifford the Big Red Dog. The job working on Rugrats started with a call from the show creator Gabor Csupo who had found Mothersbaugh’s work with Japanese art bands and was interested in using songs from his solo record Muzic for Insomniacs. Instead of that idea, he suggested making something original in that musical style.

Mothersbaugh describes the process as a quick one where he was given some pictures to look at and then wrote the theme in a few days. He scored every episode over the show’s impressive nine-season run. Not to mention the live shows, commercials, and other ancillaries that followed. To this day, Mothersbaugh looks back on his time working on Rugrats fondly, and he uses the Rugrats theme as his hold music.

Quincy Jones, Theme for Ironside

There’s something so funky and fun about the psychedelic theme song for Ironside, and we have Quincy Jones to thank for its existence. While there isn’t much about Ironside that’s mind-bending or psychedelic, it does make for a catchy theme. Ironside is a 1960s police drama that follows a tough San Francisco police inspector who is paralyzed in a shooting incident and cannot work as he once did but soon finds himself in a new position as a "special department consultant” to help solve mysteries. Jones’ work on the show expanded beyond the theme to the entire score for the first eight episodes too. While there isn’t much info on how he came to get the job, at the time of the show’s creation, Jones was doing a lot of freelance work and commissions for writing and arranging music, and he continued to do so for years. Jones (now 91) has an impressive career with a record 79 Grammy nominations, 27 of which he won. As for the theme, it still holds a lot of influence in the scene. The track has been sampled over 100 times including by the artists Drake, The Weeknd, Dr. Dre, Beyonce, and 2Pac.

Barenaked Ladies, “The History of Everything” for The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory has such a catchy theme that anyone who used to watch it, or even has had it on in the background can identify it. This great theme is thanks to the writing and recording from The Barenaked Ladies. The Big Bang Theory is a comedy show that follows four scientists and their attractive neighbor as their worlds collide and they become friends. The theme fits the science vibe of the show with lyrics summarizing everything that’s happened on the planet since the Big Bang.

How were they chosen? Well, it started with the show creators Chuck Lorre and Ed Prady seeing the band in concert. The musical style appealed to the creators and at the show they attended, the singer made up a little song about cosmological theory between other songs. Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies was reluctant at first as they had put effort into creating songs for TV and movies in the past and discovered they were one of around 60 bands being asked to create a song. But the Big Bang creators told them they were the only ones they approached, so they agreed to write it. As the show continued, the band remained friends with the creators and crew, even visiting the set and playing at a few of their parties.

This article has a video interview with the band of what led to them writing the song, which is very interesting.

They Might Be Giants, “Boss of Me” for Malcolm in the Middle

“Boss of Me,” is another theme that perfectly encapsulates the tone and humor of its show. Malcolm in the Middle follows a dysfunctional family as they try to get through life’s daily challenges, and the theme song is sung from a child’s perspective. They Might Be Giants wrote the song after the show’s creator Linwood Boomer called the group’s songwriter, John Flansburgh, with a very set vision for the song. The song was written specifically for the show and it shows, given how in line the lyrics are with the TV show. The theme song won a Grammy for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media in 2001. The experimental, whimsical style of music they do fit the show well, so it was a good move by the creator Boomer to recruit them for the theme.

Ozzy Osbourne, Theme for Dog the Bounty Hunter

It isn’t too hard to believe that Duane “Dog” Chapman and Ozzy Osbourne could get along. So naturally, when Osbourne was approached to write the theme song for Chapman’s new reality show Dog the Bounty Hunter, he agreed and understood the assignment, creating a song that captures the show’s vibe and purpose perfectly. While there isn’t much information of how the writing process was for Ozzy, it’s cool to learn that he wrote a theme song for a reality TV show (that isn’t his own). The two even remained in contact, with Dog appearing on Ozzy’s reality show The Osbournes.

Bob James, “Angela” Theme for Taxi

Originally, James’ song Touchdown was the theme, but after the song “Angela” was featured in the third episode of the first season, the showrunners decided to change the theme to "Angela." The song was written and named after the character appearing in that episode. Beyond the theme song, James provided all the music for Taxi. The sitcom follows the lives of a group of cabbies in New York working for the Sunshine Cab Company. The song written by James captures that vibe well and is quite the earworm. While “Angela” was written specifically for the theme of the TV show Taxi, it lives on as a jazz standard.

Al Jarreau, Theme for Moonlighting

The groovy, disco-fusion theme for Moonlighting was written by Al Jarreau along with Lee Holdridge. The lyrics and performance come from Jarreau, but the music was written by Holdridge. Moonlighting is a comedy crime drama that aired on ABC in the 80s about a model who finds she was scammed out of assets by her manager, but one she still has is a detective agency she is convinced to keep by the snarky employee David Addison. Jarreau recorded two complete recordings of the song, and both were used for the series. The song is about night owls who unexpectedly find love, almost by fate. The Moonlighting theme was a great career move for Jarreau as it helped him reach a wider audience, with the song making the contemporary charts when his previous hit was R&B.

Solange Knowles, Theme for The Proud Family

The now-iconic theme song for The Proud Family was written by Solange Knowles, Beyonce’s sister, when she was only sixteen. The song was written by Solange specifically for the TV show but to add an extra layer of harmonization, she brought her sister’s then-group Destiny’s Child in for the recording. The Proud Family was a Disney show following 14-year-old Penny as she deals with the trials of growing up along with the chaos of her big, family. The lyrics describe the family that will “push your buttons then make you wanna hug ‘em.” It’s interesting to learn that Solange Knowles wrote the lyrics and sang lead on this song before even releasing her own solo album.

There are a lot of artists out there who have been recruited to write songs for TV shows, but these are a few of the more interesting ones to highlight. Which artist were you surprised to see has written a TV theme? Which artist did we leave out? Let us know in the comments! Thanks as always for reading.