Queen’s 1977 anthem “We Will Rock You” is one of the band’s biggest hits and a staple at sporting events across the world.
Sometimes you’ll hear it on classic rock radio stations played back-to-back with Queen’s other jock jam, “We are the Champions” for a perfect one-two punch of ’70s rock pomposity.
It’s no mistake that “We Will Rock You” is so popular with sports fans. It was written by guitarist Brian May after a crowd sang the English football anthem, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” at a Queen concert at Bingley Hall in 1977.
“We were just completely knocked out and taken aback – it was quite an emotional experience really, and I think these chant things are in some way connected with that,” May told Radio 1.
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In an attempt to write songs that have the same feel as football chants, May wrote “We Will Rock You” and vocalist Freddie Mercury wrote “We are the Champions. Mercury’s song was an ode to “My Way” made popular by Frank Sinatra.
The song’s signature stomp-stomp-clap beat was written by May to encourage crowd participation.
Take a look and see how many you can name.
Here’s Queen performing “We Will Rock You” and “We are the Champions” live in 1982.
