Yesterday we got the official track listing for the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and among the classic pop hits, one odd name stood out, David Hasselhoff. How exactly did the man behind Baywatch become part of Guardians of the Galaxy? The actor and German pop icon sings an original song on the soundtrack that was actually written by director James Gunn. According to The Hoff, Gunn was a big Knight Rider fan back in the day and thus was able to sweet talk Hasselhoff into becoming part of the new movie. Hasselhoff says...
James Gunn, when he was eight years old, watched a show called Knight Rider. And because of that show, he kinda wooed into singing the main title song, which I've already cut, and it's really fun, and he wrote that. And I got to know him and his parents and the whole Marvel gang. And what I'm allowed to tell you is that it was a really great experience.
The name of the song is "Guardians Inferno" according to the tracklist that was released yesterday. At this point, that, and the fact that David Hasselhoff sings it, are the only things we know. It's not clear if the song is even in the movie. It could be the sort of music that gets played over the film's closing credits.
David Hasselhoff is actually a great choice for a singer though. Since Peter Quill left earth in the 1980s as a boy he's in the prime demographic to have been a big David Hasselhoff fans, just as James Gunn apparently was. As corny as Knight Rider was in retrospect, if you were a kid at the time it was just about the coolest thing you could imagine, so what could be cooler than having the star sing your theme song?
In the interview with Marvel prior to the world premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, David Hasselhoff also teases some involvement with the film so it's possible that he might actually end up on screen as well as in the music, though it's hard to imagine how the story would pull that off. We are expecting to see Hasselhoff on screen in another project related to his previous TV work, the big screen adaptation of Baywatch.
We're looking forward to hearing "Guardians Inferno" in the new film as it truly sounds like it may be the most 80s thing to ever happen since the actual 80s. The retro style in a science fiction film is one of the things that made the original Guardians of the Galaxy so much fun, and based on early reviews, the sequel will have even more of what we love. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is set for release on May 5.
