David Baddiel has reacted to Harry Styles covering ‘Three Lions’ at his residency shows at Wembley Stadium.
Styles is over halfway through his huge residency at the London venue now, having announced an impressive 12-night run – making him the longest single-artist residency in Wembley Stadium history.
Dates kicked off on June 12, and so far he has played seven of the 12 dates there, breaking out hits like ‘Aperture’, ‘As It Was’, ‘Watermelon Sugar’ and ‘Music for a Sushi Restaurant’.
At each show, Styles has also been playing a medley of Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ with the classic football anthem ‘Three Lions’ by Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds, which is fitting as the shows take place at the same time as the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
After footage from the gigs started circulating online, showing Styles encouraging fans to sing along to the chorus, comedian, presenter and author David Baddiel (who was behind the original song) has chimed in.
Sharing footage of the cover online, Baddiel have the rendition his seal of approval, and quipped: “Happy to waive the royalties for Harry Styles”.
Happy to waive the royalties for @Harry_Styles pic.twitter.com/gJ7teeDkOx
— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) June 30, 2026
As well as covering ‘Three Lions’ and ‘Underworld’ at his shows, Styles has also been including snippets of songs including Talking Heads’ ‘This Must Be The Place’, Happy Mondays’ ‘Step On’, and Gorillaz’s ‘Clint Eastwood’.
At one of his shows, he paid tribute to the late David Hockney and reflected on his One Direction days, and amid the extreme heatwave in the UK last week, Wembley Stadium confirmed a rule change for the shows.
The singer will continue the shows today (Wednesday July 1), followed by a show on Friday (July 3). Doors open at 5pm, with Shania Twain due on stage at 6.55pm. Styles is expected to begin his set at 8.15pm, with curfew set for 10.30pm.
@depresserry LOVE THIS!!!! #harrystyles #wembley #togethertogether #london #fyp
♬ original sound – 🛋️🪩🧞♀️
As for ‘Three Lions’, it was confirmed recently that Baddiel, Skinner & Lightning Seeds were dropping a 30th anniversary re-release of the song as England headed into another World Cup this summer.
The original arrived when comedy duo David Baddiel and Frank Skinner joined forces with indie rockers The Lightning Seeds to write the track in celebration of England hosting the Euro 96 tournament.
It went on to become the only song to ever reach UK Number One on four separate occasions with the same artist. It topped the charts twice in 1996, climbed back to the peak position for three consecutive weeks during the 1998 World Cup, and again in 2018.
So far in the 2026 World Cup, England have progressed to the knockout stages as group winners – having already played against Croatia, Ghana and Panama – the Three Lions will face DR Congo today (Wednesday July 1) at 5pm BST.
