In the Air Tonight is a 1981 single by Phil Collins, released from his debut solo album Face Value. It reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 1 in West Germany, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, and No. 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Its signature moment is a drum break near the end, which critics have called one of the most dramatic in pop history. The song also spawned an urban legend that Collins watched someone drown without helping, and that he later singled out the guilty party at concerts. Versions of the story grew more embellished over time, but no evidence supports it.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.