London 2012 – the music highlights

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London 2012 was enriched no end by music. Highlights? Well, the Spice Girls reunited for the first time since 2007 to play ‘Wannabe’ and ‘Spice Up Your Life’ at the closing ceremony. Click through for our gallery celebrating the sound of London 2012.

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Mo Farah – The double gold-winning runner says rapper Tupac is his favourite artist. Find out more about Team GB athletes’ music tastes here.

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Muse – The Teignmouth three brought pyrotechnic majesty to the closing ceremony, but were cut from the US broadcast.

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Queen/Jessie J – Making her second appearance at the closing ceremony, Jessie J filled in for Freddie Mercury on Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’.

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Beady Eye – Liam’s band controversially performed Oasis’s ‘Wonderwall’ at the closing ceremony, leading Noel to call them “Stratford’s finest Oasis tribute band”.

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Liam, Muse, Spice Girls – This early morning snap from the after-party marks the end of a long-running feud between Liam Gallagher and The Spice Girls. It dates back to 1997, when Liam said he’d better not attend The Brits as he’d “probably chin the Spice Girls.”

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Bradley Wiggins – The gold medal-winning cyclist was spotted at the secret Stone Roses gig on 6 August. A self-described mod, he also listens to The Jam, Paul Weller, The Who and Ocean Colour Scene.

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Arctic Monkeys – The Sheffield band played ‘I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor’ and a cover of ‘Come Together’ by The Beatles at the opening ceremony.

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Fatboy Slim – Why was the Brighton DJ inside an inflatable octopus at the closing ceremony? No one seems to know, but at least it kept Jessie J off the stage for a while.

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Paul McCartney – Macca sang ‘Hey Jude’ to bring the opening ceremony to a close. He’s also available for Jubilees, charidee gigs and impromptu velodrome singalongs.

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Jessie J, Tinie Tempah, Taio Cruz – Here’s Jessie J again, this time performing the Bee Gee’s track ‘You Should Be Dancing’ with Tinie and Taio. She Tweeted that she was “blown away” by the night.

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Take That – The UK’s favourite man band sand ‘Rule The World’ at the closing ceremony. Robbie probably bottled it when he heard Liam was going to be there.

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Elbow – Having composed the BBC’s Olympics coverage theme, ‘First Steps’, the Bury boys performed ‘One Day Like This’ at the closing ceremony. The combined effect has been a 1000 percent sales increase.

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Pet Shop Boys – The long-running British duo injected a bit of British eccentricity into the closing ceremony. Bradley Wiggins’s place on Team GB is still secure.

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Victoria Pendleton – Retiring from competitive cycling this year, the former fastest woman on two wheels likes to listen to The Prodigy and Foo Fighters. Wonder if she’s off to Reading…?

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The Who – Bradley Wiggins’s favourite band closed the closing ceremony. Frontman Roger Daltrey says the cyclist is welcome backstage at any of their concerts.

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George Michael – His Georgeness held an after-party at his house following the closing ceremony. Liam Gallagher tweeted: “Bumped into the biggest cock last night at George Michael’s party, “behave” it was RKID ha ha LG”.

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Emeli Sande – The sales boost following this appearance at the closing ceremony puts Sande’s debut album just 39,000 copies behind Adele’s mega-selling ’21’ this year.

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Alex Gregory – The gold medal-winning rower is a nu-folk fan. He listens to Mumford And Sons and Monsters Of Folk.

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Ray Davies – The Kinks singer performed that band’s classic ‘Waterloo Sunset’ by a recreation of the Waterloo bridge at the closing ceremony.

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One Direction – The fab five performed debut single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ at the closing ceremony.

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Ed Clancy – The gold medal-winning cyclist likes Dizzee Rascal, Foo Fighters and The Prodigy.

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Madness – Having already performed on the roof of Buckingham Palace this year, the nutty boys joined the closing ceremony celebrations too.

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Katherine Copeland – The gold medal-winning rower likes Kings Of Leon, Coldplay and Beyoncé.

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Ricky Wilson – The Kaiser Chiefs singer performed a cover of The Who’s Pinball Wizard while scooting around the arena. He described the experience as “terrifying”.

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Ed Sheeran – The hoody-wearing singer Tweeted he’d be performing with Pink Floyd. It was just drummer Nick Mason. Pink Floyd Fail.

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Frank Turner – Accompanied by his Sleeping Souls, Frank Turner opened Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony from atop a grassy knoll.

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Chris Hoy – Chris Hoy and his fellow Team GB cyclists Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny listened to Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ to psych themselves up before competing in races.

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