England fans shocked after finding out how much David Baddiel and Frank Skinner make from 'Three Lions'

The much-loved song Three Lions by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and The Lightning Seeds is still hugely popular on its 30th anniversary, but the royalties they earn from it may shock you.

It is an anthem that's stood the test of time. Released ahead of Euro 1996, the lyrics represented hope that England would finally end their international tournament drought. Spoiler: we are still waiting.

Despite the 30 years (now 60) of hurt, Three Lions and the equally popular World in Motion are now the de facto England anthems for every international tournament, including this year's World Cup in North America.

Given that the song is still being downloaded in huge numbers today, Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightning Seeds still receive royalties, but the amount they earn is nowhere near what you might think.

Unsurprisingly, that is largely down to the rise in popularity of streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube.

Speaking to the Mirror in 2024, Baddiel explained: "It brought me, Frank and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds a fair wedge [at the time]. But not since Spotify took over has it brought us much money.

"In fact, when England played Colombia in the 2018 World Cup, it was downloaded four million times - for which Frank, Ian and I received £1,200 from Spotify."

The report from the Mirror adds that, each time the song is downloaded, the trio earn just 0.003p.

The comedian and Chelsea fan has previously clarified that, in the pre-Spotify era, the song itself was released as a platinum hit, which boosted the trio's bank balance significantly.

But speaking to Chris Moyles in 2020, he said: "Whenever England do well and the song suddenly rises up and people love it, I always get a slightly cynical strand of men who start going on about royalties.

"I want to say to them, 'Do you know how much you get from Spotify?'

"I saw a newspaper article which said it had been downloaded at England versus Colombia something like 16 million times, which works out between me, Frank and Ian Broudie at something like 900 quid between us."

Three Lions song had lyric removed after backlash

Before its official release in 1996, concerns were raised over the "Butcher at war" lyric that was initially included in the song.

It is said the FA were opposed to the lyric, a reference to England defender Terry Butcher, as they believed it would encourage hooliganism. The lyrics were eventually changed to "that tackle by Moore".

Back in 2022, the FA released a statement amid reports the song would be axed.

It read: "The FA still plays Three Lions at major Wembley matches and has never had any intention of doing otherwise. The song belongs to the fans and is about the hope of following the England team."