Spice Girls & More Highlight Performances at Olympics Closing Ceremony

Facebook.com/VivaForeverThe MusicaThe closing ceremony of the London Olympics Sunday night brought together several of the host country's most well-known artists from the past five-plus decades, highlighted by a Spice Girls reunion and a performance by rock legends The Who.

Here's a rundown of the musical highlights:

-- Though The Who was the last act seen during NBC's coverage of the closing ceremony, their rendition of "Baba O'Riley" didn't air until around midnight on the East Coast. That's because the network snuck in a preview of its new comedy Animal Practice at 11 p.m. ET.

The Who also performed "My Generation" and "See Me, Feel Me" at the ceremony.

-- A children's choir, aided by footage of a singing John Lennon, sang a stirring version of his song "Imagine." A sculpture of Lennon's face was also displayed by performers on the stadium floor.

-- Similarly, Freddie Mercury was remembered with a clip of the late Queen frontman exciting the crowd during a 1986 show at Wembley Stadium.  Queen guitarist Brian May was joined by British pop star Jessie J on his band's classic "We Will Rock You."

-- Another British pop star, Ed Sheeran, teamed up with members of Pink Floyd and Genesis for Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," complete with a tightrope exhibition that called to mind the man-on-fire Wish You Were Here album cover.

-- Jessie J, rapper Tinie Tempah and R&B/pop singer Taio Cruz delivered their most notable solo hits -- "Price Tag," "Written in the Stars," and "Dynamite," respectively -- before joining forces on The Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing."

-- All five Spice Girls added a dash of girl power to the proceedings by singing "Wannabe" and "Spice Up Your Life."

-- A couple of popular UK boy bands took center stage: One Direction sang their hit "What Makes You Beautiful," and Take That did "Rule The World."

-- Muse played the official Olympic theme, "Survival."

-- Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye "covered" his Oasis hit "Wonderwall." There was no sign of his former Oasis bandmate and estranged brother, Noel Gallagher.  

-- Ray Davies sang "Waterloo Sunset" by his band, The Kinks.

-- George Michael performed "Freedom."

-- Annie Lennox did "Little Bird."

-- David Bowie was not present, but a medley of his hits provided the soundtrack to a salute to UK fashion featuring supermodels Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell.

-- An early segment of the show was devoted to the UK's 1980s music scene. Madness delivered a rendition of their hit "Our House," and Pet Shop Boys did "West End Girls."

-- British rock group Kaiser Chiefs covered The Who's "Pinball Wizard."

-- Fatboy Slim controlled a turntable and played his hits from inside an inflatable octopus.

-- Monty Python star Eric Idle sang "Always Look at the Bright Side of Life."

-- Russell Brand presumably lip-synched his way through "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as well as The Beatles' "I Am the Walrus."

-- Twenty-five-year-old Scottish artist Emeli Sande sang her hit, "Read All About It."

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