League of Legends’ ‘Legends Never Die’ By Against The Current Goes Gold

Against The Current's hit collaboration with League of Legends, 'Legends Never Die', has been certified Gold in the United States. The song was released in 2017 and was recorded as the anthem for the League of Legends World Championship. Against The Current performed the song live in Beijing during the opening ceremony of Worlds 2017. The Gold certification for Legends Never Die was awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Lead vocalist of Against The Current wrote on Twitter, “I’ve said it so many times but wow am I so grateful for video games. My mom put me in front of a PC at 3 years old and my life is what it is because of it. My first gold record being because of my favorite game in the world is more than I could have even dreamed up myself.”

This is not the first time a song associated with League of Legends has achieved this feat. In 2021, Riot Games announced that POP/STARS by League of Legends’ virtual K-pop band K/DA hit gold certification.

Recalling Legends Never Die

The 3-minute long song was the anthem for Worlds 2017 and features League of Legends champions Ashe, Lee Sin, and Garen. The visuals of the song portray the whips and pangs that these heroes endure to emerge victorious by vanquishing enemies. Legends Never Die’s description on Youtube perfectly summarizes the theme, “The pursuit of mastery is an endless journey, but those who persevere etch their names in history.”

The music video begins with a player waiting to walk out onto the stage and he takes a brief pause and listens to the crowd chant at the stadium. To tie things up perfectly, towards the end of the song, the player walks out, sporting his team’s hoodie, to play in League of Legends’ World Championship at the iconic Bird’s Nest in Beijing.

One of the producers of the song, Alex Seaver of Mako, had said that Legends Never Die has a tone of vulnerability in the beginning and transcends into a note showing powerfulness and strength.

League of Legends’ Worlds 2017 live performance

The 2017 Worlds Opening Ceremony has been regarded as one of the most iconic productions put forth by Riot Games. Against The Current performed Legends Never Die live at the Bird’s Nest ahead of the finals between Samsung Galaxy and SK Telecom T1. Midway through the performance, a virtual dragon made an appearance. The augmented reality model of the Elder Dragon soared around the arena while a giant model of the Summoner's Cup also arose from the grounds of the stadium at the same time, catching the audience and fans by surprise.

Music, songs, and iconic performances are synonymous with League of Legends and Riot Games. Brushing aside all the memes about “Riot Games being an indie music studio” , the company does a great job of capturing strong emotions. Time and again, the Worlds’ anthems have been exhilarating releases and Legends Never Die is one such that will stand the test of time.

What is a Gold certification for a song?

According to the certification threshold set by the RIAA, a Gold award is presented when a song or an album has sold a specific number of units. The number of units required for these awards is different in different countries. Units represent a sale or a shipment of a given medium and this is used as a yardstick by the RIAA to distribute awards. A Gold certification in the United States, requires a song or an album to have sold 500K units.

In 2013, the Recording Industry Association of America announced it has incorporated on-demand streams towards its calculations for certifying the prestigious awards.

Therefore streaming of songs also counts towards the certification of singles. A total of 150 streams becomes the equivalent of 1 unit sold.