It’s the cherry on top of the March Madness sundae.
When either Gonzaga or North Carolina emerges victorious tonight, "One Shining Moment" will play to close March Madness.
The Wall Street Journal calls it "the most famous song in sports." It's closed March Madness since 1987.
Michigander David Barrett wrote the song at his piano in Haslett, Michigan. Barrett is a singer, songwriter, and Emmy-winning composer.
In 1986, Barrett sat in a bar watching Larry Bird play basketball. As he tried to explain the poetry of being “in the zone” to a waitress, he wrote down the phrase, “one shining moment” on a napkin.
The next day, as he waited for a friend at breakfast, he wrote down all the lyrics on another napkin. When he got back home to his piano, Barrett wrote the whole song in twenty minutes.
He told his friend, a writer at Sports Illustrated, about his basketball song and sent him a recording. Unknown to Barrett, his friend took it to CBS.
“To see how much this means to all these players, from Utah to Brooklyn, to Florida to New Mexico, who dream of getting to that moment... I would say it's very, very gratifying,” Barrett said.
Listen to the full interview above.
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