Were you concerned the band would think you were nuts? When you’re at a show you can hardly move, but you can stomp your feet and chant and clap and lead us. I thought, “How interesting - if I wrote something, the audience could participate it to the point that they could lead the band?” I went to sleep and woke up with “We Will Rock You” in my head. This was an invitation to sing along.Ī light went off and I thought, “We shouldn’t fight this, we should embrace it!” People didn’t do that at the time at rock concerts. You went to see Led Zeppelin and The Who, you’d bang your head but you didn’t sing along, that wasn’t cool. One I’ve spoken about a lot, which was at Bingley Hall where the audience sang every song and then we went off stage and they carried on singing and then they sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” It was a transitional time in rock. I reckoned I could meet more girls being in a band than playing soccer.īrian May: There were two occasions that inspired it. It’s one of delights of… I’ve spent my life being in a band, so it sidelined all sports.

But we never really envisioned that it would be taken up by sports. It was designed as a sort of song for the audience, a joining-in song. Roger Taylor: It only has one instrument apart from the voice: There’s no bass, no real drums - just feet and handclaps and only that guitar at the very end. How a Strange Idea Turned Into an Indelible Rock TreasureĬan we talk about the fact that “We Will Rock You” is essentially an a cappella song except for Brian’s solo? That was a really weird choice for a rock single. ( Billboard just ranked “We Will Rock You” at the very top of its 100 Greatest Jock Jams of All Time list.)įor a group that already had one of rock’s most iconic hit singles in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the one-two punch of “Rock You” and “Champions” has proven to be just as large a part of Queen’s enduring legacy, fittingly serving as their closing numbers at every live show they now play.īillboard spoke to founding members May and drummer Roger Taylor, as well as current singer Adam Lambert and a sports writer from the band’s era, about the origins of the songs, what makes them such an indelible part of rock history and how a band whose lead singer favored boas over baseball have become the kings of Jock Jam Nation. Rami Malek Transforms Into Freddie Mercury in First Look at 'Bohemian Rhapsody' FilmĪnd yet, here we are, four decades on and both songs are not just a permanent part of the rock lexicon, but pump-up anthems that are still played on an almost-daily basis on radio and at just about every major sporting event on the planet - transcending time, fashion and their own seeming obstacles to popularity.

We are the champions video