If you have never watched PDC darts on TV, the first walk-on can be a shock: nobody has thrown a dart yet, and thousands of people are already on their feet singing along to a player's darts walk-on song. Here is where walk-on culture came from, which songs the big names use, the moments that turned Alexandra Palace into a concert, and one question for you at the end: if it were your turn, what would you walk out to?
What is a darts walk-on song? The minute before the first dart
Before a pro match starts, each player walks from backstage to the stage to their own song, high-fiving fans on the way while the MC roars out their full name and nickname. That is the walk-on, and the track is the player's walk-on song.
It does the same job as entrance music in boxing or pro wrestling. Fans know who is coming from the first few notes, and the player gets their energy up before stepping to the oche. Use a song long enough and it becomes part of the player, as hard to separate as the nickname (the nickname stories have their own post: where darts player nicknames come from).
Where walk-ons started: Bobby George and the TV era
Darts generally credits English veteran Bobby George as the father of the walk-on. His signature entrance was a crown, a sequined cape and a candelabra, to Queen's "We Are the Champions". He has said the idea came from an Elvis impersonator in a sparkly suit he saw while playing in Spain, and he later claimed "I was the first to have walk-on music", because matches back then were "a bit dull, too quiet".
The organisation that made walk-ons standard was the PDC, which split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) in the early 1990s. Working with Sky Sports, the PDC put walk-on music, pyro and lighting on TV, and darts went from a pub game to a show. Since 2008 the PDC World Championship has been held every December and January at London's Alexandra Palace, better known as Ally Pally. It is the biggest darts party in the world.
Famous darts walk-on songs: 14 players
Players do change songs. The table below lists the version each has used for a long stretch in recent years, with changes noted.
| Player (nickname) | Walk-on song | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phil Taylor (The Power) | "The Power", Snap! | Nickname and song share a name; retired |
| Michael van Gerwen (Mighty Mike) | "Seven Nation Army", The White Stripes | Long-time choice |
| Luke Littler (The Nuke) | "Greenlight", Pitbull feat. Flo Rida & LunchMoney Lewis | Since his debut |
| Luke Humphries (Cool Hand Luke) | "I Predict a Riot", Kaiser Chiefs | Since April 2024; before that "Cake by the Ocean" |
| Peter Wright (Snakebite) | "Don't Stop the Party", Pitbull feat. TJR | Long-time choice |
| Gerwyn Price (The Iceman) | "Ice Ice Baby", Vanilla Ice | Briefly switched in recent years |
| Michael Smith (Bully Boy) | "Shut Up and Dance", Walk the Moon | Long-time choice |
| Gary Anderson (The Flying Scotsman) | "Jump Around", House of Pain | Long-time choice |
| Nathan Aspinall (The Asp) | "Mr. Brightside", The Killers | Since 2019 |
| Stephen Bunting (The Bullet) | "Titanium", David Guetta feat. Sia | Previously "Surfin' Bird" |
| Daryl Gurney (Superchin) | "Sweet Caroline", Neil Diamond | Long-time choice |
| Rob Cross (Voltage) | "Hot Hot Hot", Arrow | Long-time choice |
| Paul Lim (The Singapore Slinger) | "Walk of Life", Dire Straits | Singapore legend |
| Seigo Asada (The Ninja) | "The Beginning", ONE OK ROCK | Japanese soft-tip star |
For fuller stories on several of these players, see Europe's steel-tip stars and darts players from Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The whole crowd sings: classic Ally Pally singalongs
What makes live darts feel like a concert is that the crowd sings, all of it, together. A few you will hear again and again:
- "Chase the Sun", Planet Funk: not any one player's walk-on but the anthem of the whole PDC. Sky Sports uses it on its coverage and it plays at breaks and after matches. The crowd roars along to the intro, and when you hear it you know another set is done.
- "Mr. Brightside": Nathan Aspinall's walk-on. The crowd starts singing on the first notes and often keeps going after he reaches the stage.
- "Sweet Caroline": wherever Daryl Gurney goes, the crowd sings it. He once grabbed the mic after a World Championship win and led the whole room through a verse.
- "Titanium": Stephen Bunting's walk-on. Ally Pally reacted so loudly that Sky Sports titled the clip "Bunting Mental".
The atmosphere has a downside. Aspinall has said that with "five thousand people screaming at you and singing this song, you're going to sing along", and the adrenaline gets so high it takes him several minutes to calm down. He often drops the first leg or two that way. He also says he will not change the song, because of how much popularity and support it brings him.
The stories behind the songs
- Luke Littler: at 10 he went to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, sang along to "Greenlight" in the arena, and later made it his walk-on.
- Michael van Gerwen: picked "Seven Nation Army" because Manchester United fans sang "Oh, Robin van Persie" to the same riff.
- Luke Humphries: swapped "Cake by the Ocean" for "I Predict a Riot" in 2024. He supports Leeds United, and Kaiser Chiefs are a Leeds band.
- Jonny Clayton: wanted "Mr. Brightside", got vetoed by his wife, and went with "Johnny B. Goode", a song with his name in it.
- Rob Cross: did not pick "Hot Hot Hot" himself. It came out of talks with the PDC and his sponsor.
- Gary Anderson: asked where "Jump Around" came from, he said he does not really know; he just got used to it.
Japanese players: from ONE OK ROCK to anime songs
Japanese players often walk on to Japanese songs, which makes them easy to spot in a night of British pop. Seigo Asada uses ONE OK ROCK's "The Beginning". The one that blew up was Motomu Sakai: on his World Championship debut in the 2026 edition, he danced all the way to the stage to "Ojamajo Carnival!!", the theme from the anime Ojamajo Doremi. Ally Pally went wild, and he beat Thibault Tricole 3-0 in the first round. Afterwards he said: "The more I dance, the better my darts fly."
For more Japanese players, see Japan's top darts players. Sakai's full story is in who is Motomu Sakai.
If it were you, what would your walk-on song be?
Picking a walk-on song really answers one question: what mood do you want the room in when you arrive? A big singalong everyone knows, a song that rhymes with your name, your football club's anthem, or, like Sakai, a song nobody else would dare to play.
Next time you are at AI DARTS, try that question on your friends before you step up to the Phoenix boards. Whether we show big tournaments in the bar is announced on LINE, and if you want to watch and play with a group, read how to plan a darts watch party first. Hungry? The menu is here.