right|thumb|The drum major of the Spirit of Troy wears a more elaborate uniform and conducts the band with a sword.

right|thumb|The Spirit of Troy drum line at [[Navy Pier in Chicago, October 14, 2005]]

right|thumb|The Spirit of Troy giving a traditional post-game concert, this time celebrating the defeat of the [[2006 Arkansas Razorbacks football team|University of Arkansas in Razorback Stadium (2006)]]

right|thumb|The Spirit of Troy take the field at [[Stanford Stadium (2006)]]

right|thumb|The Spirit of Troy's Tunnel Run

The USC Trojan Marching Band, nicknamed The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe (TGMBITHOTU), represents the University of Southern California (USC) at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.

The Trojan Marching Band is the only collegiate band to have two platinum records. The group has performed with numerous celebrities including AJR, John Williams, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Radiohead, Beyoncé, Doc Severinsen, George Clinton, Fleetwood Mac, The Three Tenors, John Dolmayan, Shavo Odadjian, Odesza, and The Offspring. In addition, the band has performed for five U.S. presidents, at the Summer Olympics, and on the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and the season 7 finale of American Idol.

A contingent of the band has performed at every USC football game, home and away, since 1987. It also makes an international trip at least every other year.

The Trojan Shrine, the symbol of USC and popularly known as "Tommy Trojan", was originally supposed to be named "The Spirit of Troy". Additionally, the band later played on another multi-platinum Fleetwood Mac album, The Dance (1997).

During the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Bartner directed an 800-member All American College Marching Band, 125 of whom were members of the TMB. The year 1987 featured several significant moments for the band: the TMB trumpets performed the fanfare for Pope John Paul II in his visit to Los Angeles, the band performed during Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena, and the band began its current streak of attending all USC home and away football games. In 1988, the TMB performed again at Super Bowl XXII in San Diego, and at the Expo '88 World's Fair held in Brisbane, Australia, during that nation's bicentennial In 2016 the band became the first American performing group invited to participate in Macau's Chinese new year parade.

At the end of the 2016 season, the TMB appeared in the 103rd Rose Bowl. This marked the 34th time USC has played in the "Granddaddy of Them All".

In 2014, the Spirit of Troy was declared the best marching band in college football by USA Today's "College Football Fan Index."

The Spirit of Troy also appeared at Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy to perform as part of the American Pavilion's Fourth of July celebration. This was the band's fifth appearance at a World Expo.

In 2019, the Spirit of Troy elected its first female drum major.

Bartner retired from the director role following the 2020 season following a tenure of more than 50 years. Jacob Vogel was named the director of the Trojan Marching Band on December 15, 2020.

In November 2024, the university reorganized the Trojan Marching Band, USC Spirit Leaders, USC Song Leaders (formerly the Song Girls), the Tommy Trojan basketball mascot, and Traveler, USC's live mascot, under the single moniker of the Spirit of Troy. Prior to this, the Spirit of Troy had been used colloquially as the nickname for the band.

Ties to the entertainment industry

The Spirit of Troy has appeared in several movies and television shows, including:

  • Amazon Women on the Moon, in the "Titan Man" segment
  • America's Funniest Home Videos, for the $100,000 grand prize in Season 2
  • America's Got Talent
  • The Croods
  • Doogie Howser, M.D., in the episode "Dances With Wanda"
  • Fame
  • Forrest Gump, as the Alabama Band
  • Glee
  • Grease 2, as the Rydell High School Band
  • Hello, Dolly!
  • How I Met Your Mother
  • The Last Boy Scout
  • The Gong Show Movie
  • The Leeza Gibbons Show
  • The Little Rascals
  • The Masked Singer Season 8, served as musical accompaniment for Hedgehog's performance in the season premiere.
  • The Music Man
  • The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
  • Scrubs, in the episode "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby and My Baby's Baby"
  • Sgt. Bilko
  • That's Entertainment II
  • The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien
  • The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
  • Two-Minute Warning
  • When Billie Beat Bobby
  • Win, Lose or Draw, College Week 1988, starring NYU, SMU, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Northwestern & Washington
  • You Don't Know Jack, one episode
  • The Late Late Show with James Corden, one episode

The band also appeared in the Academy Award shows of 1976 and 2000 as well as at the 2004 Grammy Awards with OutKast. The band appeared with Beyoncé Knowles and Hugh Jackman on the 81st Academy Awards in 2009. The Spirit of Troy was used for the opening broadcast of ESPN's West Coast SportsCenter from Los Angeles. The television drama House used a section of the Spirit of Troy to play an April Fools' Day prank on its cast during taping. In 2009, the band played on the show Dancing with the Stars. The USC drum line performed with Tommy Lee at the 2009 Guitar Center Drum Off. On April 17, 2010, the band performed "Welcome Home" with Coheed and Cambria at the Coachella Music Festival. In fall 2010, the band was used to film the promo video for the return of the television show Hawaii Five-0. The band returned to Coachella in 2024, performing "Tokyo Calling" with the J-Pop group Atarashii Gakko!

The band has played at the Hollywood Bowl's "Tchaikovsky Spectacular" for over 20 years, helping supplement the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 1812 Overture finale.