Song went around the world

“Live is life”: Opus’ global hit turns 40

Opus during the recording of the live world hit

(Bild: Ladislaus Lonyai)

From Rio to Tokyo and from Sydney to Graz, everyone can sing along to this song. With "Live is life", the Austropop giants from Opus have landed a real global hit. September 2nd marks the 40th anniversary of the live recording of the song.

It all began with a mishap: when Opus played the new song "Live is Life" for the first time at a concert to mark the band's 11th anniversary on September 2, 1984 in Oberwart, Burgenland, it was actually intended to be recorded for the planned live album. "I had written the song on Ibiza especially for this occasion," recalls Ewald Pfleger. But the tape ran out and the recording failed. So they had to improvise: As an encore, the band played the song again without further ado: it was the birth of a worldwide hit, which will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Monday.

Pfleger: "We succeeded in creating an evergreen"
In the months that followed, this live recording went around the world - reaching number one in the charts in Austria, Germany, Sweden and France and going gold in the UK and the USA. "We played 14 times in Moscow and toured the USA and Latin America. Those are unforgettable memories," recalls Ewald Pfleger.

"The Austrian highlight was definitely the 1985 show in Liebenau, which was completely sold out with 25,000 fans. There were so many great guests who played their hits with us there."

Millions of clicks to date
And even if Opus is considered more of a one-hit wonder on the international pop stage today, the record of this hit is still impressive: The most streamed version of the song currently has over 245 million hits on Spotify, while on YouTube the most popular versions of the song are played up to 3 million times a day in total. Almost 700,000 videos with the three most popular versions are stored on the TikTok platform, and an average of 700 radio plays per day are also recorded worldwide

Opus has not performed together since 2022

(Bild: www.christianjungwirth.com)

"Hardly a day goes by without a new request for our hit, be it a cover version, a TV or cinema film, an advertisement or a live performance. We are very grateful that, with the hundreds of compositions and productions we have created, we have succeeded in creating such an evergreen that brings joy to so many people," says Pfleger happily.

And even though Opus has not been performing with the original line-up since 2022, you can still hear songs like "Flyin' High", "Whiteland" and the legendary "Live is Life" live. Pfleger and Co. have found new stage partners in the Schick Sisters: On September 6, they can be seen at Most&Jazz in Fehring, and on October 23, they will be guests at the Orpheum in Graz.