“Live Is Life” is a song originally recorded in 1984 by Austrian band Opus. It was a European#1 hit in the summer of 1985. The single also reached #1 in Canada and was a top 40 hit in the US in 1986. It has been covered by many artists.
After having released several singles “Live Is Life” achieved huge success in 1985, topping the charts of many countries, including Austria, Germany, France and Sweden. In France, the song is the 149th best-selling single of all time with about 857,000 units sold.
The song was created during a concert in Oberwart, on 2 September 1984, while the group celebrated its eleventh anniversary. It was recorded in a live version with the audience singing along in the verses. In the lyrics, the song expresses “the enthusiastic attachment of the group to the stage”. The song was performed during the 1985 charity campaign, “Austria für Afrika”.
On 19 April 1989, during the warming up in Munich before the UEFA Cup semi-final return between FC Bayern Munich and S.S.C. Napoli, Diego Maradona did a keepie uppie exhibition, to the rhythm of the song, while the song was heard on the stadium’s loudspeakers.
There were 70,000 people in the stadium and Maradona went on the field. We’re on the other side of the field, warming up like Germans: seriously, focused. There’s music playing, the song “Live is Life”, and to the rhythm of the song Maradona started juggling the ball. So we stopped our warm-up. What’s this guy doing? He’s juggling off his shoulders. And we couldn’t warm up anymore because we had to watch this guy.
