Cody Simpson To Take On AFL Grand Final National Anthem

Australian singer, swimmer, and all-around entertainer Cody Simpson has revealed that he’ll perform the National Anthem at the MCG for this weekend’s AFL Grand Final (Saturday, 28 September).

Sharing the news on social media on Friday (20 September), Simpson wrote, “I’m stoked to have been asked to sing the biggest National Anthem of the year at the @afl Grand Final.

“It’s a special and timely opportunity for me to step back on stage after my sporting career. As an Australian, it’s one of the greatest honours and I hope I can deliver something that everyone can sing along to and share in the pride to be a member of this beautiful country.”

Earlier this year, Simpson said he’d return to his singing career after unfortunately failing to qualify for this year’s Olympic Games. His singing career was on hold as he pursued his sporting dreams.

In 2022, he sang the National Anthem at the Melbourne Cup with the Melbourne Gospel Choir. Following his performance, Simpson revealed that music remained a “massive” part of his life.

“I train full time, but everybody needs something to help balance them out, and music for me is just that,” he said. “I still play guitar pretty much every single day to relax, and I certainly will be jumping around back to music once I'm done with the pool.”

In the early days of his music career, Simpson, who started singing when he was young and was transformed into a teen icon, shared YouTube covers, including I'm Yours by Jason Mraz, Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake, Jackson 5's I Want You Back, and his original tracks One and Perfect.

Simpson will join AFL Grand Final Pre-Game Entertainment headliner Katy Perry at this weekend’s music-meets-sport spectacle.

After rumours surfaced of the AFL being in “advanced talks” with Perry’s team in July, the news was shared via social media, a post reading: “The MCG is set to ‘Roar’ with pop superstar Katy Perry headlining the @Telstra Entertainment at the 2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final.”

Perry, who just released her new album 143, said of the announcement (via the AFL website), “I’m so excited to be back in Australia and back at the mighty MCG to perform in front of 100,000 of the best and loudest fans in the world at this year’s Toyota AFL Grand Final. See you in September Oi Oi Oi!”