Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (soundtrack)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album for the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 . Featuring the songs present on Peter Quill's Zune in the film, the album was released by Hollywood Records on May 3, 2023. A separate film score album, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Original Score), composed by John Murphy, was also released by Hollywood Records on the same date.

Background

In October 2021, James Gunn confirmed that Tyler Bates, the composer of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), would not be returning to compose the film's score and that he would be replaced by John Murphy, after composing the soundtrack for the film The Suicide Squad (2021) and the television special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), both also directed by Gunn. ^{[1] [2]} Despite having a different composer, some of the themes that were previously written by Bates in the previous films were referenced for the score. ^[2] While Gunn was filming, Murphy revealed that he already wrote some tracks for his score and ready to be played during the production of the film. ^{[3] [4]}

In April 2017, Gunn considered that the music for the film would be different from the songs that were used for the first two films' soundtracks, Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 . ^[5] The following month, he added that he was "panicking" about the soundtrack and had to make some "pretty specific choices" shortly due to the wider range of available music for the story. ^[6] By early July 2017, Gunn had narrowed down his choices for potential songs to 181, but noted that this list could grow again. ^[7] All of the songs for the film had been selected by the following month; the songs are not modern and come from Quill's Zune that he received at the end of Vol. 2, ^[8] although Gunn added that the soundtrack was not limited to 1970s pop songs compared to the first two films, ^[9] instead spanning multiple decades. ^[10] Gunn was unable to use a song he wanted for Vol. 3 due to a legal battle over its ownership. ^[11] He later revealed that the song in question was "Russian Roulette" by the Lords of the New Church. ^[12] The film opens with an acoustic version of "Creep" by Radiohead, which provided "a much different tone from the beginning than the other two films". ^[10] Gunn stated that his second choice for the opening sequence was "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. ^[13]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by various artists
Released	May 3, 2023
Length	65:13
Label	Hollywood Marvel Music
Producer	various
Marvel Cinematic Universe soundtrack chronology
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2023) Secret Invasion (2023)

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Creep" (Acoustic Version)	Radiohead Albert Hammond Mike Hazlewood	Radiohead	4:19
2.	"Crazy on You"	Ann Wilson Nancy Wilson	Heart	4:53
3.	"Since You Been Gone"	Russ Ballard	Rainbow	3:17
4.	"In the Meantime"	Royston Langdon	Spacehog	5:00
5.	"Reasons"	Philip Bailey Charles Stepney Maurice White	Earth, Wind & Fire	4:59
6.	"Do You Realize??"	Wayne Coyne Steven Drozd Michael Ivins Dave Fridmann	The Flaming Lips	3:33
7.	"We Care a Lot"	Charles Mosley Rodney Christopher Bottum	Faith No More	4:04
8.	"Koinu no Carnival" (From "Minute Waltz")	Frédéric Chopin	EHAMIC	3:10
9.	"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows"	Harry Carroll (music) Joseph McCarthy (lyrics)	Alice Cooper	2:08
10.	"San Francisco"	Michael Vincze, Colin Dieden	The Mowgli's	2:53
11.	"Poor Girl"	John Doe Exene Cervenka	X	2:54
12.	"This Is the Day"	Matt Johnson	The The	4:57
13.	"No Sleep till Brooklyn"	Rick Rubin Michael Diamond Adam Horovitz Adam Yauch	Beastie Boys	4:07
14.	"Dog Days Are Over"	Florence Welch Isabella Summers	Florence and the Machine	4:12
15.	"Badlands"	Bruce Springsteen	Bruce Springsteen	4:02
16.	"I Will Dare"	Paul Westerberg	The Replacements	3:17
17.	"Come and Get Your Love"	Lolly Vegas	Redbone	5:00
Total length:				65:13

All the songs included on the soundtrack are featured in the film. ^[14] Gunn also revealed that he intended to use the song "Russian Roulette" by the Lords of the New Church for Vol. 3, but he was unable to include it because the song was in a legal battle over who owned it. Years later while on The Peacemaker Podcast Gunn revealed what song replaced "Russian Roulette" that being "This Is the Day" by The The. ^{[15] [16] [17]}

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Chart (2023)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [18]	9
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [19]	9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [20]	51
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [21]	17
French Albums (SNEP) [22]	5
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [23]	9
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [24]	22
Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon) [25]	3
Japanese Hot Albums ( Billboard Japan ) [26]	10
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [27]	14
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [28]	46
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29]	7
United Kingdom Compilation Chart [30]	1
US Billboard 200 [31]	15

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Chart	Year	Position
French Albums (SNEP) [32]	2023	96
French Albums (SNEP) [33]	2024	128

Certifications

Certifications for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
France (SNEP) [34]	Gold	50,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Original Score)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Original Score)
Film score by John Murphy
Released	May 3, 2023 (2023-05-03)
Studio	Abbey Road
Genre	Film score
Length	63:02
Label	Hollywood Marvel Music
John Murphy chronology
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Original Score) (2023) Superman (2025)
Marvel Cinematic Universe soundtrack chronology
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) Secret Invasion (2023)

Track listing

All music composed by John Murphy. ^[35]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Kits"	1:36
2.	"Warlock vs. Guardians"	3:47
3.	"That Hurts"	1:36
4.	"Batch 89"	1:47
5.	"Orgoscope"	1:43
6.	"Mo Ergaste Forn"	2:31
7.	"Orgoscope Elevator"	1:26
8.	"Naming"	2:25
9.	"Dido's Lament"	3:57
10.	"Hooray Time Forever!"	2:22
11.	"It Really Is Good to Have Friends"	2:27
12.	"Exploding Planet"	1:23
13.	"Face Off"	2:39
14.	"Into the Light"	4:30
15.	"Guardians vs. Hell Spawn" (includes Guardians of the Galaxy theme by Tyler Bates)	3:38
16.	"Mantis and the Abelisk [ sic ]"	1:11
17.	"Use Your Heart Boy"	0:54
18.	"The High Evolutionary"	2:56
19.	"Domo! Domo!"	3:48
20.	"Who We Are"	2:21
21.	"Stampede"	1:54
22.	"Did That Look Cool?"	2:44
23.	"On the Spaceport"	1:47
24.	"I Love You Guys"	2:15
25.	"Mo Ergaste Forn (Full Version)"	3:23
26.	"All Life Has Meaning"	2:02
Total length:		63:02

Charts

Chart (2023)	Peak position
UK Official Soundtracks Album Chart [36]	33

References

1. Mathai, Jeremy (October 13, 2021). "Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Is Getting A Score From The Suicide Squad Composer". /Film . Retrieved May 7, 2023.
2. "John Murphy to Score James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad'". Film Music Reporter. May 7, 2020. Archived from the original on May 8, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
3. Utley, Riley (April 22, 2023). "Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Has Finally Screened, See What People Are Saying About James Gunn's Trilogy Capper". CinemaBlend . Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
4. Anderson, Jenna (October 16, 2021). "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: James Gunn Teases The Suicide Squad Composer's "Incredible" Score". ComicBook.com . Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
5. Romano, Nick (April 20, 2017). "James Gunn Says 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Trilogy Works as 'One Story'". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved May 7, 2023.
6. Rottenberg, Josh (May 4, 2017). "Director James Gunn talks mom rock and why Led Zeppelin missed the cut for his 'Guardians 2' mix" . Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
7. Gunn, James [@JamesGunn] (July 1, 2017). "I have it down to 181 songs. That list could get longer" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 3, 2017. Retrieved July 3, 2017– via Twitter.
8. Burton, Byron (August 5, 2017). "James Gunn on 'Guardians 3' and Marvel's Cosmic Plans". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
9. Coggan, Devan (December 15, 2022). "James Gunn wants to break the threequel curse with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
10. Hiatt, Brian (April 3, 2023). "Rocket's Origin and Radiohead: Inside 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'" . Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
11. White, Peter (September 23, 2020). "'The Suicide Squad' TV Spinoff 'Peacemaker' Starring John Cena From James Gunn Ordered By HBO Max". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
12. @JamesGunn (May 6, 2023). "Over 3 movies I've gotten every song I've written into a script, sometimes after much blood & toil to acquire the rights. However for the 1st time on Vol 3 we didn't get the rights to a song I wanted because it was tied up in legal battles. The song is "Russian Roulette" by Lords of the New Church. https://open.spotify.com/track/0fPkGITjiVE0haQfCcBVAg?si=G9oa7CVNQqOTresLo_Tmqg" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
13. @JamesGunn (May 6, 2023). ""Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd was my 2nd choice" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. Hiatt, Brian (April 3, 2023). "Rocket's Origin and Radiohead: Inside 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved May 7, 2023.
15. Eclarinal, Aeron Mer (April 23, 2022). "James Gunn Failed to Get One Song In Guardians of the Galaxy 3". The Direct. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
16. Gunn, James (May 6, 2023). "Over 3 movies I've gotten every song I've written into a script, sometimes after much blood & toil to acquire the rights..." Twitter . Retrieved May 9, 2023.
17. DC (September 11, 2025). Peacemaker: The Official Podcast with James Gunn – Season 2, Ep. 4 . Retrieved September 12, 2025– via YouTube.
18. "ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
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20. "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Awesome Mix Vol. 3" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
21. "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Awesome Mix Vol. 3" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
22. "Top Albums (Week 19, 2023)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
23. "Offiziellecharts.de – Soundtrack – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Awesome Mix Vol. 3" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
24. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-05-15/p/3" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
25. "Oricon Top 50 Digital Albums: May 15, 2023" (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved May 10, 2023.
26. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of May 10, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved May 10, 2023.
27. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. May 29, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
28. "OLiS - oficjalna lista sprzedaży - albumy" (in Polish). OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Note: Change the date to 05.05.2023–11.05.2023 under "zmień zakres od–do:". Retrieved May 18, 2023.
29. "Swisscharts.com – Soundtrack – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Awesome Mix Vol. 3". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
30. "Official Compilations Chart Top 100, 12-18 May 2023". Official Charts . May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
31. @billboardcharts (May 15, 2023). "Debuts on this week's #Billboard200..." (Tweet). Retrieved May 16, 2023– via Twitter.
32. "2023: La dynamique de la production et de la consommation musicales en France" (in French). SNEP. January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
33. "Tops de l'année – Top Albums 2024" (in French). SNEP . Retrieved January 11, 2025.
34. "French album certifications – Multi Interprètes – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved April 20, 2024.
35. "'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' Score Album Details". Film Music Reporter. May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
36. "Top 50 Official Soundtrack Albums Chart; 12 May 2023 - 18 May 2023". Official Charts Company. May 12, 2023.