USC Trojan Marching Band

USC Trojan Marching Band
SchoolUniversity of Southern California
LocationLos Angeles, California
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DirectorJacob Vogel
Associate DirectorDontay Douglas
Members330
Fight song"Fight On"
Uniform
Websiteuscband.usc.edu
The drum major of the Spirit of Troy wears a more elaborate uniform and conducts the band with a sword.
The Spirit of Troy drum line at Navy Pier in Chicago, October 14, 2005
The Spirit of Troy giving a traditional post-game concert, this time celebrating the defeat of the University of Arkansas in Razorback Stadium (2006)
The Spirit of Troy take the field at Stanford Stadium (2006)
The Spirit of Troy's Tunnel Run

The USC Trojan Marching Band, also known as the Spirit of Troy and nicknamed The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe, Ever (TGMBITHOTUE), represents the University of Southern California (USC) at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.

The Spirit of Troy is the only collegiate band to have two platinum records.[1][2] The group has performed with numerous celebrities including John Williams, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Radiohead, Beyoncé, Doc Severinsen, George Clinton, Fleetwood Mac, The Three Tenors, John Dolmayan, Shavo Odadjian, Odesza, and The Offspring.[3] In addition, the band has performed for five U.S. presidents, at the Summer Olympics, and on the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and the season 7 finale of American Idol.[4]

A contingent of the band has performed at every USC football game, home and away, since 1987. It also makes an international trip at least every other year.

The Trojan Shrine, the symbol of USC and popularly known as "Tommy Trojan", was originally supposed to be named "The Spirit of Troy".[3]

  1. ^ Ashley Christensen, Not your average marching band Archived 2007-08-28 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Trojan, August 18, 2004.
  2. ^ Press Pack -- Spring 2009 Archived 2009-05-26 at the Wayback Machine, TMB SpiritNotes, Accessed May 11, 2009.
  3. ^ a b The History of the Spirit of Troy Archived 2007-12-18 at the Wayback Machine, USC Trojan Marching Band, USC.edu.
  4. ^ Lynne Heffley, In 'Tchaikovsky Spectacular,' L.A. Phil is with the band, latimes.com, August 27, 2007