Taijiquan in music: a growing list of songs and music videos

Taijiquan (aka Tai Chi) does not only show up in movies and TV series. It also appears in music. There are music videos, songs, even entire albums inspired by Taijiquan. So I decided to make a list of Taijiquan in music. I will keep adding to it as I find more examples:

Taijiquan in music: the list

Rolling Stones “Neighbours” (1981)

From my research, this song was inspired by Keith Richards’ real-life conflict with his neighbours in New York City. Richards was playing guitar too loudly and was eventually evicted from his apartment. The video is set in an apartment building, shot from the outside looking into different windows. In one of those windows, a man is practising Taijiquan.

Given that the video is from 1981, and that New York City had a thriving Taijiquan community by that time, showing a neighbour doing Taijiquan feels very fitting.

Lou Reed

One of the people who did Taijiquan in New York City was actually Lou Reed. He started practising in the 1980s and continued until the very end of his life. He died in 2013 and it’s said that he practised until the end.

In 2008 he released Hudson River Wind Meditations*, an album of music he created specifically for Taijiquan practice.

There are many videos of Lou Reed. I like the one where he practises on a New York City rooftop (which is funny because of the neighbour in the Rolling Stones video).

The second video, filmed at the Sydney Opera House in 2012, features his teacher Master Ren GuangYi performing Taijiquan.

Jim Lauderdale “Listen” (2019)

Jim Lauderdale is a two-time Grammy winning Americana and country songwriter who is also a dedicated Taijiquan practitioner. He started many decades ago after a chance encounter with a Tai Chi magazine. In the video for his song “Listen,” he practises Taijiquan. He once said about his practice: “It’s really calmed me down, and helps in the day to day anxieties and pressures of life.”

One more fun detail: Jim Lauderdale studied with Master George Xu, whom I also met for a couple of workshops in Frankfurt, Germany. It is a lovely reminder of how connected the international Taijiquan world really is.

Latroit ft. Charlz “Don’t Give Up” (2020)

This is a cover of the 1986 Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush classic, a song about resilience and not giving up. The entire music video is built around the Taijiquan practice of Master Zi, who teaches in California at the Dharma Health Institute.

The music producer Jason Bentley said this about the music: “As I considered ways to represent that point of view through a video, I thought of the martial art tai chi, In the way that we all go through our daily routines, striving for a balance of physical and mental health, I saw a parallel between the practice of this ancient tradition and the enduring message of the song. I visualized a central figure in the video, moving through the gestures and postures of the practice, resonating with the natural world.” (Source)

Sasha Keable “Tai Chi” (2025)

This one is a bit different from the other entries. R&B singer Sasha Keable released a song called “Tai Chi” in December 2025, but there is no actual Taijiquan in the video. Instead, she uses Taijiquan as a metaphor for fluid body movement. I think it’s interesting that she uses Taijiquan as a reference point that her audience is expected to understand without any explanation. You can read the lyrics here.

Know a Taijiquan song or music video I missed?

Now I have shown you all the Taijiquan references in music I have found so far. This list is a work in progress and I will keep adding to it. If you know of a song or music video that features Taijiquan and is not on this list, I would love to hear from you. Just send me an email and I will add it.

If you would like to go deeper into Taijiquan and pop culture, have a look at:

• Taijiquan in movies and TV series
• Celebrities who practise Taijiquan
• Taijiquan in documentaries

Happy Qi!
Angelika