In remembrance of Spongebob Squarepants creator Stephen Hillenburg on the one-year anniversary of his passing, a brand new, free special version of the anthem “Sweet Victory” will be available as a tribute to his memory.

Penned by Grammy Award-winning producer / guitarist Bob Kulick (KISS, Motörhead, Meat Loaf) and celebrated hard rock singer David Glen Eisley (Giuffria, Dirty White Boy), the song, originally featured in the 2001 episode “Band Geeks”, is presented as a new remixed version.

Upon hearing “Sweet Victory”, Hillenburg was inspired to write the entire episode around this epic song. Eisley’s passionate vocals were sung by Spongebob himself, in a football stadium performance at the Bubble Bowl, starring all the Bikini Bottom characters. The scene has become hailed as one of the most memorable moments from the series.

“The episode exemplified Stephen Hillenburg’s talents,” says Kulick, “so we, the ‘Sweet Victory’ creators, along with Doug Katsaros (orchestration and background vocals), Katie Katsaros (background vocals), and Mike Gillies (mixer) humbly present to you this new abbreviated version (1:54) in tribute to Stephen Hillenburg.”

Debuted almost 20 years ago, “Sweet Victory” continues to resonate with listeners. In November 2018, a petition was created via Change.org urging fans to rally behind a Super Bowl performance of the song in Hillenburg’s memory. Although Maroon 5 did not perform the song during their halftime set, streams of “Sweet Victory” jumped 566% after the band included a Spongebob teaser in a halftime show promo clip on their Twitter feed.

“May you ALL have a happy Holiday season,” concludes Eisley. “May the new decade find you all celebrating your own ‘Victories’ in your lives, your hearts & your souls.”