The story behind Ted Lasso’s Emmy-nominated track, “A Beautiful Game,” is a tale of collaboration and unexpected success. It all began with music supervisor Tony Von Pervieux’s dream of working with pop music maestro Max Martin for an original song for the hit Apple TV+ comedy. Little did he know that this dream would lead to a tearjerker moment in the show’s season three finale.
When Von Pervieux received the go-ahead from Ted Lasso producers to pursue a song by Max Martin, he knew he had to pitch the idea to the five-time Grammy-winning producer. Martin has launched 25 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is known for his golden touch. Luckily for Von Pervieux, Martin was already a fan of Ted Lasso. With the producer on board, the team set their sights on finding the right artist to collaborate with.
Ed Sheeran’s name came up as a potential collaborator, and it turned out that Sheeran was a huge fan of the show. With their dream team in place, Von Pervieux and the songwriting trio of Martin, Sheeran, and Foy Vance set out to create an anthem that would start small and build into an epic climax, similar to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Despite the initial lofty goals, the songwriting process took a more typical approach. They simply picked up their guitars and started writing. Surprisingly, most of the song was written within the first 20 to 25 minutes of their collaboration. The result was not the Queen-type song they initially envisioned but a beautiful, emotional ballad that exceeded their expectations.
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Now that the song was complete, the question remained: where would it land in the series? Jason Sudeikis, the show’s star and co-creator, loved the song so much that he wrote a scene specifically for it in the season three finale. Sudeikis even had a suggestion for a subtle lyric change, asking the team to change “The Beautiful Game” to “A Beautiful Game.” This change added a touch of humility and deference to the sport, which aligned with the show’s overall tone.
The final result was a powerful and emotional moment that helped bring the third season of Ted Lasso to a close. Music played a crucial role in the success of the show, with several songs from Primary Wave Music’s catalog making their way into various episodes. The use of music and pop culture references in the show added an extra layer of depth and relatability for viewers.
Von Pervieux had initially planned to create only one original song for Ted Lasso but ended up with two. The second song, “Lost & Found,” was crafted by English songwriter Jamie Hartman and played in the penultimate episode of the season. Both “A Beautiful Game” and “Lost & Found” are now Emmy-nominated for outstanding original music and lyrics.
The journey from Von Pervieux’s dream of working with Max Martin to the creation of two Emmy-nominated songs has been an inspiring one. The success of these songs speaks to the power of collaboration, the magic of unexpected creative moments, and the importance of music in storytelling. As Von Pervieux reflects on this journey, he is excited to see these songs get their well-deserved recognition on the Emmy stage.
