Songfacts®:

• The iconic "right here, right now" phrase in the song is voiced by Academy Award-nominated actress Angela Bassett. This line is sampled from the 1995 science fiction thriller film Strange Days, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, with a screenplay by James Cameron and Jay Cocks. In the film, Bassett's character, Lornette "Mace" Mason, delivers the line while pinning Lenny Nero (played by Ralph Fiennes) against a wall, emphasizing: "This is your life. Right here, right now. It's real." The quote occurs at approximately 1:43:21 in the film.
• The haunting strings in "Right Here, Right Now" are sampled from "Ashes the Rain and I," a track by American rock band James Gang, led by Joe Walsh. Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, inspired by the emotive power of the strings in Massive Attack's "Unfinished Sympathy," sought to create a similar impact. Reflecting on his choice, Cook said: "I read a poll in a magazine about what was the greatest dance record of all time, and it was 'Unfinished Sympathy' by Massive Attack. I had a listen to it, and I thought, 'It's the strings.' The strings are a very emotive instrument, so I just wanted to do a string track."
• The music video, directed by Hammer & Tongs, chronicles the entire process of human evolution in four minutes. It starts "350 billion years ago" with a single-celled organism in the ocean and ends with the obese man from the You've Come a Long Way, Baby album cover. The music video backdrop consists of still photos taken by Hammer's sister during various vacations. Fatboy Slim also makes a cameo, appearing as a fast-food worker in the form of a photograph.
• "Right Here, Right Now" was released on April 19, 1999, as the fourth single from Fatboy Slim's second album, You've Come a Long Way, Baby. The track climbed to #2 on the UK chart and was later voted by Mixmag readers as the 10th greatest dance record of all time.
• In 2019, during a concert in Gateshead, England, Fatboy Slim debuted a powerful mashup of "Right Here, Right Now" with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg's impassioned speech to the United Nations. This version emerged after a remix by The Kiffness went viral on social media quoting Thunberg's speech: "We will not let you get away with this. Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not."
  
  Fatboy Slim later revealed that playing this version brought him close to tears due to its emotive power and defiant stance against climate change denial.
• "Right Here, Right Now" appears in the 1999 sports drama film Any Given Sunday, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Al Pacino. It was also used as the theme song for the pilot episode of American crime drama series Third Watch, although this was later replaced with "Keep Hope Alive" by The Crystal Method. Additionally, the song has featured in several sports ads, including a notable 1999 Adidas commercial directed by 20th Century Women's Mike Mills.
• On August 12, 2012, Fatboy Slim performed "Right Here, Right Now" alongside "The Rockafeller Skank" at the Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London. The performance was memorable in part because Fatboy Slim performed atop a bus that gradually transformed into a huge neon octopus.
• In 2004, British Prime Minister Tony Blair used "Right Here, Right Now" during a Labour Party conference without seeking Fatboy Slim's permission. This occurred a year after the start of the Iraq War. Fatboy Slim openly opposed this usage, clarifying to The Sunday Times: "The use of the song implies that I support Blair. Nothing could be further from the truth."
• The song lent its name to a documentary about Fatboy Slim's infamous hometown concert, Big Beach Boutique II, held in Brighton, England, on July 13, 2002. The free concert, intended for 60,000 attendees, drew over 250,000 people, far exceeding expectations. The overwhelming crowd led to severe safety issues, including two deaths, over 170 injuries, and six arrests. Right Here, Right Now captures the chaos and aftermath of this unprecedented event.