"Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)" is an instrumental by Brazilian musician Eumir Deodato, from his 1973 album Prelude. It is a heavily jazz-funk styled rendition of the introduction from the 1896 Richard Strauss composition Also sprach Zarathustra. The "(2001)" mentioned is a reference to the soundtrack for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Released as the album's first single in early 1973, his rendition peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart on 31 March 1973 (behind Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song"), number 3 in Canada, and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. It won the 16th Annual Grammy Awards Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.
The track has appeared on many compilation and re-issue albums since 1973.
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In popular culture
The track was used in the 1979 film Being There starring Peter Sellers, as his character leaves home for the very first time.
Retired professional wrestler and pop culture personality Ric Flair used several versions of the opening fanfare as his entrance theme for the majority of his in-ring career.
The band Phish has played a cover of this song over 200 times across their various live shows.