How The Big Bang Theory Gave A Chart-Topping Rock Band Their Most Lucrative Hit (By A Lot)

The "Big Bang Theory" gang may seem like a bunch of nerds, but they helped give a cool rock band their biggest payday ever.

The CBS comedy starring Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco ran for 12 seasons, garnering huge ratings and a healthy afterlife in syndication and streaming that continues to this day. That's good news for Ed Robertson, who wrote the catchy "Big Bang" theme song. Robertson is the frontman of Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies, who had a number of platinum-selling albums and a Billboard #1 hit with 1997's "One Week." But Robertson says none of that compares to the "Big Bang" theme song in terms of financial revenue.

"'The Big Bang Theory' absolutely changed everything for me," Robertson tells Rolling Stone. "It's been like having a number one hit multiple times a year, every year for the past decade. It's the gift that keeps on giving." 

Robertson doesn't want to specify how much he's made in royalties from the "Big Bang" theme song over the years, but he does hint: "It's not seven digits, and it's not 10 digits, but it's in between those somewhere. I don't want to be gauche and specific about it either, but it's been life-changing." He adds that, financially speaking, the "Big Bang" theme "dwarfed 'One Week' and made it look like an insignificant thing."

The show's success has allowed Robertson and his band the freedom to do whatever they want artistically, he says: "It's reached a point where it doesn't even matter what happens in the future with more song royalties anymore, and that's part of why I've been able to enjoy touring over the last many years. We make records we like that are interesting to us. We've got no one to impress anymore but ourselves. That's the most fortunate part of this whole situation. The 'Big Bang Theory' theme has made our band perpetually self-sustaining, and that's a lot of fun."

Back in 2005, when series co-creator Chuck Lorre was still developing the idea for "The Big Bang Theory," he went to a Barenaked Ladies concert in Los Angeles. At that concert, lead singer Ed Robertson improvised a freestyle rap about the origins of the universe. Lorre was impressed and contacted Robertson, asking if he would write a theme song for "Big Bang." Robertson wrote the song — a rapid-fire rundown of the history of the universe, from the Big Bang to today ("We built the pyramids!") — in 15 minutes while taking a shower. And the rest, as they say, is TV history.

"Big Bang" premiered on CBS in September 2007, and a full-length version of the theme song — 1 minute and 45 seconds long — was released a month later. The song was included on Barenaked Ladies' 2011 greatest hits album, "Hits From Yesterday & The Day Before," and a music video was included on the "Big Bang" Season 4 DVD set.

Robertson even returned for the 2019 "Big Bang" series finale to perform a bittersweet acoustic version of the theme song: