Ronnie O’Sullivan explains heartwarming reason behind snooker walk-on song and says he used to play it on repeat
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has explained the heartwarming reason behind his snooker walk-on song.
The Rocket revealed he used to play the track on repeat before making it his intro music.
He even got the chance to meet the artist behind the song after admitting how much he loved it.
O’Sullivan makes his way out to the table to Drops of Jupiter by American rock band Train.
The song is the lead single from the group’s second studio album, which they released in 2001.
Meanwhile, the seven-time world champion became obsessed with it whilst doing the school run when his kids were younger.
He told the story behind his decision to make the song his walk-on music during an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.
O’Sullivan explained: “I’d pick my kids up from school on a Wednesday and they never liked any of my music.
“They were like ‘oh can you put this on dad, put this on’. So I put it on.
“Then one day I said: ‘Listen to this song,’ and they listened to it and went ‘naa, naa,’ but then they both really liked it.
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“So I thought ‘cool, I’ve got a song here’. I used to put it on repeat and they would play it and play it and play it.
“Once we were doing a cooking show and they said: ‘Oh we’ve got Train here, Drops of Jupiter playing’. I was like ‘really? That’s my favourite song.’
“I got to meet Pat and that, he was a lovely guy and now it’s my walk-on song as well so it’s sort of like kids meeting him, lovely guy, love the song, good song for me.”
The world number five also revealed he believes he has three more years at the top before retiring from snooker.
He is hopeful he can win a record eighth world title in that time after being disappointed by his exit earlier this year.
O’Sullivan was beaten in the quarter-finals by Stuart Bingham back in May, two years on from his most recent Crucible crown.
Meanwhile, he added he is keen to follow in Bear Grylls’ footsteps by testing his survival skills in the future.
It comes after he admitted he would love to become a running coach once he hangs up his cue.