A Wigan Athletic suppporters’ chant which has taken football by storm is now making its mark on the music charts.
The song – Will Grigg’s on Fire – adapted from Gala’s 90s hit Freed from Desire by Latics supporter Sean Kennedy in honour of his team’s leading-scorer, who is a reported transfer target of Celtic, is closing in on the iTunes top 10 after being released by London-based band Blonde.
Here it is! @ZakAbel smashing the vocals! #WillGriggsOnFire @LaticsOfficial @SkySports pic.twitter.com/jh3HkO0XaS
— Blonde (@Blondesound) May 26, 2016
Proceeds from the song will go to Joseph’s Goal, a Wigan-based charity named after seven-year-old Latics supporter Joseph Kendrick who suffers from the rare genetic disorder Non-Ketotic Hyperglycinemia.
Kennedy, 26, is delighted that the song, which was 11th in the chart yesterday – not far behind Beyonce and Rihanna – is helping a good cause.
“It’s brilliant, people are singing it all over the place and we’re getting really positive feedback from it as well,” he said.
“I’m just happy it’s something I’ve done to help. I was just sat doing a daft video, I’ve done plenty before, and it’s caught on with everybody.”
Blonde members Jacob Manson and Adam Englefield, who worked with vocalist Zak Abel to produce the track, released it under the name DJ Kenno in recognition of Kennedy’s contribution.
Manson said: “We saw it was going round on social media and thought it was fun. We’d already done a mix for Freed from Desire for our set.
“We were contacted by the chairman and other representatives from Wigan talking about releasing for charity. It’s for a really good cause.
“We feel like the chant belongs to the charity and the club, not us, but we’re really happy to see it doing well.”
Grigg was at the weekend named in the Northern Ireland squad for Euro 2016, with his chant now an internet favourite.
It has since been dubbed over the top of clips from several mainstream television programmes such as The Inbetweeners and The Simpsons, giving the impression the characters are singing the song themselves.
Hull City’s players were also filmed singing it in the wake of their 1-0 Championship play-off final triumph against Sheffield Wednesday at Wembley on Saturday.
The version of the song is not the first time a former chart hit has had a renaissance.
Sales of The Human League’s 1981 hit Don’t You Want Me Baby soared following Aberdeen’s League Cup triumph 2014 after Dons supporters had changed the lyrics of the song in tribute to midfielder Peter Pawlett.
The surge of sales took the song up to number four on the iTunes chart.
We feel like the chant belongs to the charity and the club, not us – but we’re happy