All Star was released in 1999 by American rock band Smash Mouth as the lead single from their album Astro Lounge. It became a major radio hit, but its lasting cultural life came two years later when it opened the 2001 animated film Shrek over the title sequence. That pairing turned the song into shorthand for Shrek and early internet humour. Through the 2010s it was remixed, mashed up and quoted constantly in memes, which kept the opening seconds familiar even to listeners who never heard the full track.
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The iconic opening riff and vocals from Smash Mouth's All Star, the late 90s pop rock hit made famous by Shrek and now used for meme intros and edits.
This clip captures the instantly recognisable start of All Star by Smash Mouth, with its bright guitar riff and the opening line about someone once telling the singer the world was going to roll him. The tone is upbeat, cheeky and relentlessly catchy, which is why it lands as both nostalgic and funny. Listeners who grew up with early 2000s radio and animated films recognise it in a second, and that shared memory makes it work as an instant joke setup or a confident, slightly goofy entrance for any character on screen.
