Survivor + Jimi Hendrix + The Whispers = The funkiest version of Eye Of The Tiger you'll ever hear

Funk Survivor — (Image credit: Bill McClintock YouTube)

When Queen turned down Sylvester Stallone's request to use Another One Bites The Dust as the theme tune for Rocky lll, the actor/director approached Chicago rock band Survivor and asked if they could write a punchy song which would complement the story and feel of the second sequel to his hugely successful, Oscar-winning 1976 film Rocky.

The result, premiered when Rocky lll opened in US cinemas on May 28, 1982, was Eye Of The Tiger, which, when released as a single, went on to top the US charts for six weeks, later topping the UK charts for four weeks.

So how do how improve one of the greatest and most iconic hard rock songs ever written? Simple: you turn it over to the internet's favourite mash-up maestro, Bill McClintock, and let him have his wicked way with it.

And so, we present, Rocking The Eye Of The Tiger, which takes the Survivor classic and blends it with The Whispers' Rock Steady and Jimi Hendrix's version of Bob Dylan's All Along The Watchtower, and then chucks in a George Lynch riff from Dokken's Mr Scary just for shits and giggles.

And the result? Nothing less than the funkiest version of Eye Of The Tiger you'll ever hear.

And if that's put you in the mood for more McClintock magic, why not check out Van Halen, Quiet Riot and Free, or Slipknot vs The Spice Girls, or Motley Crue vs Motown or perhaps, Metallica vs Huey Lewis.

The man is a genius.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.