Planet Funk is an Italian

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

band. The group is composed of Marco Baroni,

Alex Neri Alex Neri (born on 16 June 1970) is an Italian DJ, producer and songwriter. Biography A founding member of Planet Funk, having formed the band in the late 90s, Alex Neri also pursued a solo career and established an independent record label nam ...

Dan Black Daniel Edward Black (born 16 November 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of alternative rock band the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group Planet Funk. Afte ...

, and formerly Sergio Della Monica and Domenico "Gigi" Canu. In addition a number of guest vocalists joined the group, including: Auli Kokko, Sally Doherty, Raiz, John Graham,

Giuliano Sangiorgi Giuliano Sangiorgi (born 24 January 1979) is an Italian singer, songwriter and composer, forming part of the rock band Negramaro. Career Solo career Giuliano is not only the writer and singer for Negramaro, but he is also a songwriter and c ...

and

Alex Uhlmann Alexander Uhlmann (born 26 February 1981), also known as Alex Uhlmann, is a Luxembourgish singer-songwriter and guitarist, who has been the lead vocalist of the band Planet Funk since 2010. While working with Planet Funk, Uhlmann started a care ...

History

Their first single, " Chase the Sun", reached number five on the UK Singles Chart in 2001. The melody is borrowed from

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

's tune "Alla Luce Del Giorno", off the score of the 1969 film ''

Metti, una sera a cena ''Metti, una sera a cena'' (a.k.a. "Love Circle", literally "Let's Say, an Evening for Dinner") is a 1969 Italian drama film directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi. It was entered into the 1969 Cannes Film Festival. The film was described as "a bou ...

''. The song has enjoyed a rise in popularity ever since

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

began using it during its coverage of the Professional Darts Corporation's major tournaments. The crowds in the venues are encouraged to chant and rave to the song during the advert breaks of matches, and the song has a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

following amongst darts fans. The song is also known to be chanted by supporters at the games of Australian football clubs

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

and

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

, as well as being the second half opening theme for the English Football League Championship team,

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. English Championship Football team

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

also use the song after they score a goal. Conference side

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

play this song at the end of a game, which results in a "Heed Heed Heed" chant along to the beat. English

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

team

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

are known to use the song following a successful drop-kick. The Melbourne spring racing carnival used the song during promotional TV advertisements during the mid- to late 2000s.

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

also used the chant for their now former striker

Brett Pitman Brett Douglas Pitman (born 31 January 1988) is a Jèrriais footballer who plays as a forward for Dorchester Town. After starting his career on his native island, he moved to Bournemouth as a 16-year-old and went on to become a regular in their ...

. Their second single, "Inside All the People", reached no. 9 in the Italian singles chart, but did better on the European dance charts. Their third single was "Who Said (Stuck In The UK)" which also gained significant commercial success. Their 2007 single release, "Static", appeared on ''

FIFA 08 ''FIFA 08'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 08'' in North America) is a Association football, football Simulation video game, simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on all po ...

''. They are also

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ers, with their highest-profile work to date being

New Order New Order may refer to: Politics * ''L'Ordine Nuovo'' (''The New Order''), a socialist newspaper edited by Antonio Gramsci in the early 1920s * ''New Order in East Asia'', propaganda term for Japanese-dominated East Asia announced by Japanese ...

's "

Waiting for the Sirens' Call ''Waiting for the Sirens' Call'' is the eighth studio album by English rock band New Order, released on 28 March 2005 by London Records. The album was preceded by the single " Krafty". Two additional singles from the album were released: "Jets ...

". In May 2006 they became the first musical group to release a single exclusively as a mobile phone download, with the release of "Stop Me" on the mobile network 3.Gibson, Owen
Planet Funk - the first band to release a single by phone
(10 April 2006). ''

Guardian Unlimited ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Accessed 10 April 2006. In 2009 they released the single "Lemonade", which is featured on their album ''

Planet Funk Planet Funk is an Italian electronic music, electronic band. The group is composed of Marco Baroni, Alex Neri, Dan Black, and formerly Sergio Della Monica and Domenico "Gigi" Canu. In addition a number of guest vocalists joined the group, includ ...

''. The single "Weightless" was released in 2010, a collaboration between Planet Funk and Swedish artist Emilia de Poret. Their album '' The Great Shake'', featuring the vocalist and guitarist

, was released in September 2011; in the same month they opened the F1 Rocks concert at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

during the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix () is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, motor racing Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been held since 1921 ...

. The first single, "Another Sunrise" was released in Italy in May 2011. In October 2015, they released the single "We-People", a song that supported the global campaign of

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

, to fight infant mortality. "Chase the Sun" was chosen as the goal song of the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. The Avalanche compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Con ...

for the 2017–18 NHL season. In February 2020, the band released the compilation album ''20:20'', followed by the remix album ''20:20 Remixes'' in April 2020. The latter was published by Just Entertainment on YouTube and contains a list of remixes made by the band including remixes of unreleased songs "Any Given Day", "Catch the Break" and "I Can Change". Bass guitarist Sergio Della Monica died on 18 February 2018, at the age of 58. Guitarist Domenico "Gigi" Canu died on 26 May 2025, at the age of 66.

History

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links