Bangladeshi-American DJ and electronic music producer Sanjoy Deb made history on Saturday as the first person of Bangladeshi origin to perform at an official FIFA World Cup opening ceremony, taking the stage at Toronto Stadium alongside Bollywood star Nora Fatehi and French hip-hop artist Vevedream ahead of Canada’s opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The trio performed their newly released FIFA official track ‘Sir Sir’, which broke a world record within 24 hours of release, surpassing 20 million views on YouTube. The achievement eclipsed the previous record set by Shakira’s official FIFA theme song, which had garnered 8.2 million views on its first day.
The ceremony, held 90 minutes before kick-off, opened with a tribute to Canada’s Indigenous peoples, with William Prince, a Canadian singer of Indigenous descent, delivering an emotionally charged performance blending traditional music and dance. Sanjoy then joined Fatehi and Vevedream on stage, lifting the atmosphere with high-energy melodies, driving drum beats and modern electronic sounds that had the crowd on its feet.
Sanjoy was born in Sreemangal, known as the tea capital of Bangladesh, before spending much of his childhood in Chittagong. He later emigrated with his family to California and is now based in Los Angeles, where he has built an international reputation by fusing electronic music with Bengali musical influences.
The Canada leg of the ceremony also featured performances from singer Alessia Cara, Michael Buble and Iliana, rounding off a spectacular welcome to the World Cup’s second co-host city after Mexico City had staged its own opening celebrations.
