We Will Rock You

"We Will Rock You"
One of the French single picture sleeves
Single by Queen
from the album News of the World
A-side"We Are the Champions"
Released7 October 1977[1]
StudioWessex Sound, London
GenreArena rock[2]
Length2:02
Label
Songwriter(s)Brian May
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Long Away"
(1977)
"We Are the Champions" / "We Will Rock You"
(1977)
"Spread Your Wings"
(1978)
Music video
"We Will Rock You" on YouTube

"We Will Rock You" is a song by the British rock band Queen from their 1977 album News of the World, written by guitarist Brian May.[3] Rolling Stone ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004,[4] and it placed at number 146 on the Songs of the Century list in 2001. In 2009, "We Will Rock You" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[5][6]

Other than the last 30 seconds, which contains a guitar solo by May, the song is generally set in a cappella form, using only stomping and clapping as a rhythmic body percussion beat. In 1977, "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" were issued together as a worldwide top 10 single.[7] Soon after the album was released, many radio stations played the songs consecutively, without interruption.[8]

Since its release, "We Will Rock You" has been covered, remixed, sampled, parodied, referred to, and used by multiple recording artists, TV shows, films and other media worldwide.[9][10] It has also become a popular stadium anthem at sports events around the world, mostly due to its simple rhythm.[11][12] On 7 October 2017, Queen released a Raw Sessions version of the track to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of News of the World. It features a radically different approach to the guitar solo and includes May's count-in immediately prior to the recording.[13]

  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 58.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Arena was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Queen – News of the World". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
  4. ^ "We Will Rock You". Rolling Stone. 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 28 April 2007.
  5. ^ "GRAMMY Hall Of Fame – w". Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Queen enter Grammy Hall of Fame". BBC News. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference liv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "12-Inch Single Joins 2 Queen Hits". Billboard. Vol. 89, no. 50. 17 December 1977. p. 72. ISSN 0006-2510.
  9. ^ ""We Will Rock You" Still Most Popular Sporting Event Anthem". FMQB. 24 February 2011. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Greatest Rock Songs". Mystic Madness. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Was there ever a time when We Will Rock You did not exist?". The Guardian. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  12. ^ "'We Will Rock You' Is Most-Played Song at Pro Sports Games for '08/'09 Season". Broadcast Music, Inc. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  13. ^ "We Are the Champions & We Will Rock You – The Unheard 'Raw Sessions'". Queen Online. Retrieved 27 October 2017.

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