Footballers who made music

Football and music have long been linked. Both pursuits have their roots in the working classes and it is hard to imagine one without the other.

Players pump themselves up with pre-match music in the dressing room. Supporters sing songs in the stands, recreating famous tunes with their own lyrics dedicated to their favourite stars. And on television, musical montages are used to get viewers in the mood ahead of a game.

Many notable musicians are also football fans and in turn, famous players are often fascinated by music. Over the years, there have been albums and songs named after famous footballers (The Wedding Present's George Best and Thiago Silva by Dave and AJ Tracey are examples) and numerous references to the beautiful game.

Often, musicians form friendships with footballers and sometimes, the two passions are combined. Here, a look at some of the famous footballers who have turned their hands to making music, with varying degrees of success...

32. Paolo De Ceglie

Paolo De Ceglie made over 100 appearances for Juventus and had spells out on loan from the Bianconeri at Genoa, Parma and Marseille in the 2010s.

The former left-back, who represented Italy at Under-21 level and also in the Olympic Games in 2008, released a dance track entitled Moving On in 2013.

31. Djibril Cisse

Djibril Cisse played for Auxerre, Liverpool, Lazio, Marseille and more in an impressive career, winning the Champions League with the Reds and earning 41 caps for France.

Since retirement, Cisse has launched a clothing range and appeared in a film. But his biggest passion outside football is music and he has been DJ'ing since his youth. The former striker even got to spin for pop icon Mariah Carey in 2017.

30. Alisson Becker

As well as being one of the world's best goalkeepers, Alisson Becker is an accomplished guitarist and singer.

Alisson belted out Oasis' Don't Look Back in Anger during his initiation at Liverpool and later picked up the guitar to play Reds anthem Allez, Allez, Allez with local musician Jamie Webster at an LFC kit launch.

29. Leighton Baines

While most footballers these days seem to be into hip-hop, former Everton left-back Leighton Baines is very much an indie fan.

Baines would take his guitar with him on England duty and once revealed how Gary Neville walked into his room to find out what all the noise was about. He is friends with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner and The Rascals' Miles Kane and wrote a music blog during his time at Everton.

28. Petr Cech

One of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, former Chelsea and Arsenal shot-stopper Petr Cech is also an accomplished drummer.

Cech has his own YouTube channel where he showcases his percussion skills on famous tracks, ranging from The Stereophonics to Rihanna. The Czech also featured in an Arsenal Christmas fundraising video playing the drums, along with Alexis Sanchez on keyboard and Nacho Monreal with a shaker.

27. Christian Vieri

Christian Vieri is one of Italy's best-ever strikers and a legend with Inter, where he scored over 100 goals in six seasons between 1999 and 2005.

The Australia-born forward retired in 2009 and a decade later, he released a house music track with DJ Luca Cassani and singer Lara Caprotti.

26. Terry Venables

Terry Venables was a fine footballer who played for Chelsea, Tottenham and England in the 1960s and the midfielder would later go on to become an even better manager.

An accomplished singer, Venables once performed a Frank Sinatra song live on Spanish television during his time at Barcelona. In 2002, he provided the vocals on a World Cup song entitled England Crazy and in 2010, he received acclaim for an impressive version of Elvis Presley's track If I can dream.

25. Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona's legendary exploits with Argentina and Napoli inspired many songs in the 1980s and the famous number 10 was known for his love of music.

Maradona once joined Argentine artist Rodrigo for an impromptu performance of his hit La mano de Dios (Hand of God), which features in Emir Kusturica's 2008 documentary. El Diego also performed with local musicians in India in 2012, sang the Brazilian national anthem for a television commercial, serenaded his ex-wife Claudia Villafañe with a version of Voy a olvidarme de mí and gave numerous renditions of the track El sueño del pibe – another song written in his honour – over the years.

24. Tam Nsaliwa

Born in Malawi, Tam Nsaliwa represented Canada at international level and won 13 caps in a career which saw him play mostly in Germany and Greece.

SInce his retirement from football, he has made music under the name of WazZzaY. One track, Sklira, was made in honour of former club AEK Athens' new stadium and was popular with fans on YouTube. In his Spotify profile, WazZzaY is described as "an unorthodox rap star."

23. Royston Drenthe

Royston Drenthe's career failed to live up to its early promise and after a difficult spell at Real Madrid, the left-sided former Dutch international had short stints for clubs across Europe before announcing his retirement in November 2023.

Drenthe briefly quit football years before that to launch a rap career under the alias Roya2Faces after he was unable to find a new club and released several tracks on different musical platforms, but returned to the game in 2018.

22. Franz Beckenbauer

A World Cup winner as a player and a manager and one of the greatest footballers of all time, Franz Beckenbauer also briefly dabbled in music.

Accompanied by hand-clapping from his West Germany team-mates, Beckenbauer sang lead vocals on the track Gute Freunde kann niemand trennen (Nobody can split good friends) in 1966.

21. Sergio Ramos

Sergio Ramos married a television personality, the Spanish actress, presenter and model Pilar Rubio, and the former Real Madrid and Spain captain has always been drawn to the world of entertainment.

In a documentary for Prime Video, he is seen playing guitar and singing. And in 2016, he took lead vocals on a song entitled La Roja Baila, which became Spain's official single ahead of Euro 2016.

20. Daniel Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge played for Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City among others and won 26 caps for England between 2011 and 2017, scoring eight goals.

While still a player, Sturridge launched his own record label Dudley Road Records to offer a platform for emerging talent in the music industry. In 2018, Proposition by The.WAV featuring Masterkraft was released on the label.

19. Glenn Hoddle & Chris Waddle 

Tottenham team-mates Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle were crowd favourites at White Hart Lane in the 1980s and both went on to play successfully in France.

But the England's pair's foray into pop music was less impressive. In 1987, Glenn & Chris released Diamond Lights and even appeared on music show Top of the Pops in a performance which has been ridiculed since. The track reached number 12 in the singles charts. They later released a follow-up entitled It's Goodbye, which only got to number 92.

18. Jesé

Jesé was seen as the next big thing when he came through the youth system at Real Madrid in the early 2010s, but his career stalled due to injury and he has had spells in France, Italy, England, Turkey, back in Spain and even Brazil since 2016.

Off the pitch, the winger formed a Spanish reggaeton band called Big Flow with his friend DJ Nuno in March 2014. After two singles, he opted to pursue solo career in 2015 under the name Jey M and released a party track entitled Pakata in 2019.

17. Dion Dublin

Dion Dublin was one of the Premier League's best strikers in lengthy spells with Coventry City and Aston Villa in the 1990s and also won four caps for England.

Since retirement, Dublin has carved out a career as a television personality. A keen drummer, he also invented his own percussion instrument called The Dube. Dublin plays the saxophone and the drums and once joined indie band Ocean Colour Scene on stage.

16. Memphis Depay

Memphis Depay has played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe – including Manchester United and Barcelona.

Off the pitch, the Dutch international forward has released a number of rap and hip-hop tracks. During his time at Lyon, he was criticised due to the flashy nature of his music videos, which featured fast cars, a private jet and lots of bling. He also took a swipe at United owners the Glazers in one of his songs. "I've been planning to make some big statements. I need money like the Glazers," he sang in the track Big Fish. 

15. Jackson Martinez

Jackson Martinez won 40 caps for Colombia, appeared at two World Cups, and was impressive in three seasons at Porto between 2012 and 2015.

In recent years, Martinez has embarked on a musical career. He put out an EP in 2018 and has released two albums since his retirement from football in 2020. The music is religious hip-hop, with song titles such as Dios me satisface (God satisfies me) and En Cristo estoy (I am in Christ).

14. José Pinto

José Pinto was Barcelona's back-up goalkeeper for six years between 2008 and 2014, winning a series of trophies in a glorious era for the Catalan club.

Off the pitch, Pinto began working as a musician and a record producer. He releases music under his alter-ego, Pinto Wahin, and his official website describes his style as "urban music". Pinto Wahin provided some of the sounds for the Cirque du Soleil production Messi10, on the rise of his friend Lionel Messi.

13. Andy Cole

Andy Cole picked up 15 caps for England between 1995 and 2001 and was part of Manchester United's treble-winning team under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999.

That same year, Cole released a pop rap single entitled Outstanding. Needless to say, it wasn't, although it did reach number 68 in the UK charts.

12. Germán Burgos

Germán Burgos won 35 caps for Argentina and played for Atletico Madrid between 2001 and 2004, later returning to the Spanish side as assistant to Diego Simeone.

Away from football, Burgos has fronted the hard rock band The Garb, previously known as Burgos Simpatía. The group's first few albums were released towards the end of his playing career.

11. Alexi Lalas

Former USA defender Alexi Lalas looks more like a hard rock musician than a footballer and in his spare time, that's exactly what he is.

Lalas has released a number of solo albums and as well as guitar and vocals, he has also experimented with music production and sound engineering. His college band The Gypsies also once opened at a gig for Hootie & the Blowfish.

10. Pele

After winning three World Cups with Brazil and scoring over 1,000 career goals, Pele finally retired from football after a spell at New York Cosmos in 1977.

That same year, the legendary forward released an album with famous musician Sérgio Mendes. Entitled Pelé, the collection of bossa nova and Brazilian popular music songs earned decent reviews. Accompanied by Gracinha Leporace, Pelé sings on two tracks: Meu Mundo É uma Bola ("My World Is a Ball") and Cidade Grande ("Big City"). Pelé also sang to Diego Maradona on the Argentine's chat show, La Noche del 10, in 2005.

9. Slaven Bilic

Former Croatia and West Ham defender Slaven Bilic went into a career in coaching after retirement, but also dedicates much of his time to music.

A rhythm guitarist for hard rock band Rawbau. Bilic's band recorded a song for Croatia ahead of Euro 2008 entitled Vatreno Iudilo ("Fiery Madness"). He was later invited to perform with Iron Maiden by bassist Steve Harris, a big Hammers fan who had met the Croat in his playing days.

8. Nolberto Solano

Nolberto Solano played as a midfielder for Newcastle United between 1998 and 2004 and again from 2005 to 2007. He also played the trumpet.

The former Peru international told FourFourTwo in 2005 that he had once played his trumpet down the phone to manager Sir Bobby Robson and revealed he would also sometimes play a few bars for his team-mates in training.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 450 goals in nine seasons at Real Madrid and won the Champions League four times with Los Blancos.

Less known is that early in his career with the Spanish side, Ronaldo recorded a song. The Portuguese provided his vocals for a version of the track Amor Mío, originally by Frank Sark, in an advertisement for a Portuguese bank.

6. John Barnes

John Barnes was not only one of the best English footballers of the 1980s and 1990s, but a decent rapper too.

After enjoying chart success with Liverpool on The Anfield Rap in 1988, Barnes feautured as a rapper again on England's 1990 World Cup song World in Motion, with New Order. "Catch me if you can, cause I'm the England man. And what you're looking at is the master plan," Barnes raps. The former England winger sang it again with fans on the London Underground in 2018 and also performed the rap during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show the following year.

5. Alvaro Benito

Alvaro Benito was a talented midfielder who came through the youth system at REal Madrid in the late 1990s, but his career was curtailed after he suffered a serious injury in an appearance with Spain's Under-21 team.

After undergoing three operations and playing for Tenerife and Getafe, he retired in 2003 and has featured as vocalist and guitarist in rock band Pignoise since then, as well as working as a football pundit on Spanish television and radio.

4. Gaizka Mendieta

Gaizka Mendieta scored some wonder goals for Valencia in the late 1990s and early 2000s and one of those is mentioned in a song by Spanish indie-rock band Los Planetas.

"I put the TV on and there's a game and Mendieta has scored a really incredible goal," the group sings in the track Un buen día. And at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim (FIB) in 2015, Mendieta got up on stage and played guitar with Los Planetas on that very song.

3. Paul Gascoigne

After Paul Gascoigne's brilliant performances for England – and his tears in the semi-final defeat against West Germany – at the 1990 World Cup, Gazzamania gripped the nation.

Geordie group Lindisfarne saw an opportunity and reworked their hit "Fog on the Tyne" with Gazza providing a rap. "Sittin' in a sleazy snack-bar stuffin' sickly sausage rolls..." it begins. The song got to number 2 in the UK singles chart. Gascoigne followed that up with Geordie Boys (Gazza Rap), an ode to his home town and drinking. "Newcastle Town, there’s Geordie Brown [Ale], Cheers to the lads who sup it down," he sings. It's not good.

2. Ruud Gullit

Ruud Gullit is one of the best-ever players to represent the Netherlands and the former AC Milan and Chelsea star had other talents, too.

During his time at Feyenoord, Gullit had a hit in his homeland with a song called Not the Dancing Kind. And in 1988, he teamed up with the band Revelation Time for an anti-apartheid anthem called South Africa, playing bass guitar and providing backing vocals on the track.

1. Julio Iglesias

In a legendary musical career which began in the late 1960s, Julio Iglesias became a superstar in Spain and one of the world's most famous singers.

But before all that, he was a goalkeeper for Real Madrid's youth team in Spain's Segunda División. After a car crash left him with severe injuries, Iglesias was forced to give up football and during his recovery, he discovered his talent for music.