According to a 2017 interview, songwriter Greg Camp was interested in exploring several layers of meaning with the stripped-down song: the social battle cry, the sports anthem, the fan-base affirmation, the poetic lyricism, the sweeping melody, the inclusion, the artistic music videos, and more.
The song was used in two different movies: first as soundtrack in Mystery Men (1999) (hence the main cast of the movie appear in the music video), and second in Shrek (2001), which proved to be so much more popular than the Kinka Usher's movie, making that it was used to promote the rest of the franchise. This incredible success of Shrek caused that the association of Mystery Men with the song were dropped and forgot by the audience with the years.
In Mystery Men (1999), "All Star" is played during a scene in which the titular superhero team holds auditions to recruit new members. Exactly the opening of the music video.
It was released on May 4, 1999, as the second single from band's album Astro Lounge.
It is one of the group's most successful songs, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.