"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. Rolling Stone ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) placed it at number 146 on its list of Songs of the Century. In 2009, "We Will Rock You" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Other than the last 30 seconds containing 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. Soon after the album was released, many radio stations began playing the songs consecutively and without interruption.
Since its release, "We Will Rock You" has been covered, remixed, sampled, parodied, referenced and used by multiple recording artists, TV shows, films and other media worldwide. Since its release, the song has become a cliche at sports events around the world as a stadium anthem, mostly due to its simple rhythm.
Both "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" were written in response to an event that occurred during their 1977 British Tour. The band had played a gig at Birmingham's Bingley Hall, and, according to Brian May:
We did an encore and then went off, and instead of just keeping clapping, they sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" to us, and 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.
One version was used as the opening track on their 1977 album News of the World. This version consists of a stomp-stomp-clap-pause beat, and a power chorus, being somewhat of an anthem. The stamping effects were created by the band overdubbing the sounds of themselves stomping and clapping many times and adding delay effects to create a sound like many people were participating. The durations of the delays were in the ratios of prime numbers, a technique now known as non-harmonic reverberation. A tape loop is used to repeat the last phrase of the guitar solo three times as opposed to Brian May playing it three separate times on the recording. The "stomp, stomp, clap" sounds were later used in the Queen + Paul Rodgers song "Still Burnin'".
When performed live, the song is usually followed by "We Are the Champions", as they were designed to run together. The songs are often paired on the radio and at sporting events, where they are frequently played. They were the last two songs Queen performed at Live Aid in 1985.
Queen also performed an alternate version "We Will Rock You" known as the "fast version", featuring a faster-feeling tempo and a full band arrangement. The band would frequently use this version to open their live sets in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as heard on the albums Live Killers (1979), Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl (2004), Queen Rock Montreal (2007), and the expanded edition of News of the World (2011). A studio recording of this version is also known to exist, recorded for John Peel's show on BBC Radio 1 in 1977. It is part of a longer cut that starts with the original version. In 2002, the fast version was officially released on a promo single distributed by the tabloid The Sun. The "fast" BBC studio version can also be found on The Best of King Biscuit Live Volume 4. Between the two versions, there is a brief cut of a woman discussing Brahmanism, used in a BBC Radio documentary. The fast version is also used as the curtain call music for the musical of the same title, after the finale, which is a pairing of the original "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions."
Since its release, the song has become a staple at sporting events around the world as a stadium anthem, mostly due to its simple rhythm. It was the most played song during the 2008 and 2009 seasons of National Football League, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.
Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
Brian May – electric guitar, backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
Roger Taylor – backing vocals, handclaps, footstomps
John Deacon – handclaps, footstomps
In 2000, English boy band Five released a cover of "We Will Rock You". It was released from their second studio album, Invincible (1999). Released on 17 July 2000, the song features two members of Queen: Brian May on guitar and Roger Taylor on drums; however, they do not sing any vocals on the track. Freddie Mercury had died in November 1991, nearly a decade before this version's release, and John Deacon had retired from public life in 1997, three years before the release of the Five cover.
The song charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, making it Five's second number-one single, and their ninth consecutive top-ten hit.
UK CD1
- "We Will Rock You" (Radio Edit) – 3:08
- "Keep on Movin'" (The Five-A-Side Mix) – 3:32
- "We Will Rock You" (Video) – 3:08
UK CD2
- "We Will Rock You" (Radio Edit) – 3:08
- "Invincible Megamix" (Including "We Will Rock You") – 4:19
- "Invincible Megamix" (Video) – 4:19
UK Cassette single
- "We Will Rock You" (Radio Edit) – 3:08
- "Keep on Movin'" (The Five-A-Side Mix) – 3:32
- "Invincible Megamix" (Including "We Will Rock You") – 4:19
European CD single
- "We Will Rock You" (Radio Edit) – 3:08
- "Invincible Megamix" (Without "We Will Rock You") – 3:43
- "We Will Rock You" (Video) – 3:08
1990s
1992: American glam metal band Warrant covered the song for the film Gladiator.
1992: Brazilian band Viper covered the fast version of the song in their third album Evolution, and later in a 1993 live album Maniacs in Japan.
1996: American recording artist Linda Ronstadt performed a soft lullaby version for her album Dedicated to the One I Love.
2000s
2000: American hip hop producer DJ Hurricane and vocalist Scott Weiland collaborated on a cover of the song for the album Don't Sleep.
2000: Actress Kimberly Williams performs an alternate version of the song for the television miniseries The 10th Kingdom.
2001: German singer Max Raabe covered the song with the Palast Orchester in a 1920–1930s band style.
2003: John Farnham performed a rendition for his One Voice: Greatest Hits, featuring samples from the original recording.
2003: A remix by KCPK, sung by a chorus of children, was released in a series of animated Evian adverts which aired in France, Germany and Belgium. The remix was later released as a single and entered the local charts.
2004: American pop singers Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Pink used this song in an international commercial Pepsi campaign and the song was released on Pepsi Music 2004: (Dare For More) CD.
2005: Canadian rock band Nickelback covered the song as a bonus track, through a promotion with Walmart, for their album All the Right Reasons. It was also included on the album's lead single "Photograph" as a B-Side.
2006: American singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton covered the song as Part One of the 52nd and final Thing a Week, together with We Are the Champions released on 29 September 2006.
2009: Australian Idol winner of season 7 Stan Walker did a cover on the show and recorded a version on his debut album Introducing Stan Walker (2010).
2012: German classical violinist David Garrett covered the song on his 2012 studio album Music.
2013: American musical TV series Glee covered the song in the twentieth episode of their fourth season, "Lights Out".
1990s
1992: Guns N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose performed the song with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.
1992: U2 used the song as a set list opener before they performed on stage during the Zoo TV Tour.
1993: Nirvana performed it in São Paulo, Brazil, changing the lyrics to "we will fuck you".
1996: Alanis Morissette and her band ended the first encore of her "Can't Not" Tour (following the song, "You Learn") with a cover of the song, with Alanis playing the "stomp-stomp-clap" rhythm on drums.
2000s
2002: Erreway and other actors from Rebelde Way sang it during all their tours. It was released on every live album of the group.
2003: Anastacia performed a version with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor at the 46664 Mandela concert.
2003: English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams performed the song live at Knebworth.
2003: Russian pop rock band Korni performed a piano version of the song.
2007: Prince's performance at the Super Bowl XLI started with a rendition of the song.
2007, 2010: Japanese pop singer Kumi Koda covered this in her a-nation '07 performance, and three years later in a medley at her 10th anniversary concert at the Tokyo Dome.
2008: Finnish band Sonata Arctica played "We Will Rock You" in concerts of their 2008 tour, using the crowd as a human drum kit.
2008: Korn plays "We Will Rock You" as medley with their "Coming Undone" at their live concerts.
2008: Canadian singer Celine Dion performed a Queen medley with "We Will Rock You" and "The Show Must Go On" in her Taking Chances World Tour.
2008: Stone Temple Pilots who recently reunited have played the song at many of their shows.
2008: New Kids on the Block interpolated this song with "Hangin' Tough" in live performances on their tour in support of their comeback album.
2009: American guitarist Joe Perry from Aerosmith and singer Katy Perry covered the song at the MTV's Video Music Awards 2009.
2009/2010: Polish singers Dorota Rabczewska and Maryla Rodowicz both covered the song during New Year's Eve in Łódź (TVP2).
2010s
2011: American rock band My Chemical Romance performed the song with Queen guitarist Brian May at the Reading Festival.
2011: Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton covered the song on The Voice (U.S.).
2012: Canadian punk rock band Sum 41 covered the song live during their Asian tour in April.
2012: English pop singer Jessie J performed the song live with Brian May and Roger Taylor at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London on 12 August.
2012: English rapper Dappy covered the song live alongside Brian May for BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. The song later appeared on UK chart-topping album BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge 2012.
2015: American girl-group Fifth Harmony performed the song chorus for their tour, 'The Reflection Tour' as a part of a mashup.
1991: Rick Rubin produced remixes of "We Will Rock You", for an EP released by Hollywood Records. The "Ruined Remix" also contains contributions by Flea and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
2003: Japanese techno artist Killingscum remixed 5ive's cover of the song in the track Morning Knifreak.
Norman Cook performed a Fatboy Slim remix on "We Will Rock You".
2009: French electronic music duo Daft Punk mixed this song along with their own song "Robot Rock" for the game DJ Hero to create "We Will (Robot) Rock You".
2011: Geddy (a.k.a. Armageddon), former member from hip hop group Terror Squad, mashed up "I Want It All" and "We Will Rock You" for the soundtrack to the 2011 film Sucker Punch and the videogame Madden NFL 12.
2012 : Helmut VonLichten (formerly of E.S. Posthumus) mixed this song with an orchestral version of "Posthumus Zone" for CBS's Super Bowl 50 coverage. This mashup was later used for the 2015 film Pixels.
2014 : Canadian dubstep producer Excision and downlink remixed this song in the track Rock You.
1990s
1992: Ice Cube sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" on his album "The Predator" for the song "When Will They Shoot?".
1999: The "stomp-stomp-clap" is sampled as Juvenile is introduced on the track "You Dig" from the Hot Boys album Guerrilla Warfare.
2000s
2002: American rapper Eminem sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" on his album The Eminem Show for the song "'Till I Collapse".
2004: He also sampled it on his song "Puke" from Encore.
2010: The song "Cinderella Man" from Recovery, features the "stomp-stomp-clap" beat.
2005: Edson & Hudson sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" on their hit "Galera Coração".
2003: Kid Rock samples the song on "Hillbilly Stomp" from his self-titled album. The song uses banjos, dobros and slide guitar to make it sound unique.
2006: American industrial metal band Revolting Cocks used the sampled "stomp-stomp-clap" for the song "Revolting Cock au Lait" and its shorter version "RevColution Medley", both of them from the album Cocked and Loaded.
2007: Bon Jovi used the song as intro of their song "Summertime" in the Lost Highway Tour.
2007: Prince used the song as the introductory music of his halftime show at Super Bowl XLI on 4 February in Miami, Florida.
2009: Japanese rock band Garnet Crow sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" in their song "Doing All Right."
2010s
2010: Rapper Charles Hamilton sampled the beat and chorus for the song "Gameday" from his mixtape "Well This Isn't Awkward".
2010: Southern Gospel Group Ernie Haase & Signature Sound Sampled the song in their version of The Cathedrals song Boundless Love
2011: American pop singer Katy Perry uses the "stomp-stomp-clap" beat in her song E.T.
2011: Beyoncé uses the "stomp-stomp-clap" beat in her song "Dreaming", featured on the Japanese edition of her 4th album 4.
2011: Lady Gaga sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" in her song "You and I", which also features the band's guitarist Brian May, from Gaga's album Born This Way.
2012: Taylor Swift sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" in her song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", featured on her fourth studio album, Red.
2012: One Direction sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" and references "Rock" in their song "Rock Me" featured on their second album Take Me Home.
2012: Kesha sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" in her song "Gold Trans Am", featured on the deluxe edition of her second album, Warrior.
2013: Avril Lavigne sampled the "stomp-stomp-clap" in her song "Rock n Roll", featured on her self-titled fifth studio album, Avril Lavigne.
