Sophie Ellis-Bextor sang the song “Murder on the Dancefloor” after paying tribute to the 90 victims who died during a 2015 coordinated terrorist attack in Paris, France.
“It didn’t feel right to me to just waltz into a song called ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ without noting and paying tribute to the history,” the singer, 44, said about the attack at Bataclan, the theater where she was performing, per SkyNews.
Ellis-Bextor explained that her 2001 song, which had a major resurgence in popularity after being featured in November 2023’s Saltburn, has no “evil in its heart.”
“The whole intention of that song, like this venue, is to bring joy and music onto the dancefloor,” she continued. “So in tribute to that spirit — and in tribute to everybody who has ever danced right here at the Bataclan — this is ‘Murder on the Dancefloor.’”
Ellis-Bextor’s tour stop included a performance at the famous Paris venue, which is now remembered as the spot where 90 people were killed during a mass shooting in November 2015, in part of a series of attacks on the city that night. The terrorist group fired upon the venue and took hostages during an Eagles of Death Metal concert attended by 1,500 people, leading to a stand-off with police.
“Murder on the Dancefloor” has become Ellis-Bextor’s biggest international hit, despite being more than 20 years old. The track was featured on her 2001 debut solo album, Read My Lips, and it has taken TikTok by storm after being a key part in Barry Keoghan’s nude dance sequence to close out Saltburn.
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While excited to see her track featured in the film, she admitted it turned out “different” than she imagined.
“Seeing it written down as a premise is different … I mean, Barry really went for it. And it’s, like, the whole song!” she said to People in December 2023. “I didn’t really know exactly how it would play in terms of the role it was in the movie until I saw it at the screening, but I absolutely loved. I think it’s such a clever, funny, smart film. I really enjoyed it.”
Ellis-Bextor is fully embracing the resurgence of “Murder on the Dancefloor” and called the experience of performing it again and again “magical.”
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“I’ve never had a complicated relationship with the song. I’ve been singing it really happily for 20-odd years, so it feels quite magical and celebratory,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald in February. “When I first wrote my first album, it was the one my friends picked out as a single, so it’s always reminded me of my friends, and we love to dance to it.”
