Queen are an odd band to be so beloved by the British people. They were endlessly posh, wrote extremely camp complex songs about murderous escorts, bicycle races and tigers defying the laws of gravity, referencing in equal parts heavy metal, music hall and opera. And it goes without saying they were fronted by the kind of man that Conservative governments would want you to be scared of: a self-possessed queer person of colour. And yet their first greatest hits is the best selling UK album of all time. Everyone of working age knows every single word of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. And it's their songs that will echo across the nation’s football stadiums forevermore. This is New British Canon, and this is the story of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions”.
#queen #wearethechampions #musicdocumentary
00:00 Introduction
00:50 A Day At The Races
07:19 News Of The World
16:30 We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions
24:47 The Afterwards, Live Aid Etc
Soundtrack
Luar - Citrine (
https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Luar - Anchor (
https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
You can also follow me here:
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/trashtheory.bsky.social
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TrashTheoryYT
Or support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/TrashTheory
Birmingham Rock and Metal Tour: voicemap.me/brumrocktour
Sources
“Queen: A Seventies Bombshell” Chris Welch, Melody Maker, Nov 1974
“Queen: the Best of Friends” David Hancock, Record Mirror, Jul 1976
“Sacked Into Stardom” David Hancock, Record Mirror, Sep 1976
“Queen: Four Queens Beat Opera Flush” Steve Turner, Rolling Stone, Mar 1976
“We’re Certainly Not Resting on Our Laurels” Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, Sep 1976
“Queen's own tale of success” Wesley Strick, Circus Magazine, Jan 1977
“Queen: The Guitarist” Mick Houghton, Sounds, Jan 1977
“The Year Queen Lizzy Shook America” Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, Feb 1977
“Queen: A Night at the Garden” Kris Nicholson, Creem, May 1977
“Fit to be Crowned: Queen's Mercury Rising” Mick Brown, Rolling Stone, May 1977
“Freddie Mercury: Is This Man a Prat?” Tony Stewart, NME, Jun 1977
“Queen Interview” Tom Browne, BBC Radio 1, Dec 1977
“Queen Deserve Rock's Royal Crown?” Rosy Horide, Circus Magazine, Jan 1978
“Queen's Royal Flush” Penny Valentine, Creem, Apr 1978
“CROWNING OF QUEEN” Tim Lott, Daily Mail, May 1978
“Jazz Review” Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, Feb 1979
“Queen Holds Court in South America” James Henke, Rolling Stone, Jun 1981
“Interview with Brian May” Jas Obrecht, Guitar Player, Jan 1983
“Brian May: Cash For Questions” Mark Blake, Q Magazine, Jul 1998
“Queen: Crowning Achievements” Alan di Perna, Guitar World, Oct 2002
“Queen: Killer Queen” Jon Wilde, Uncut Magazine, Mar 2005
“Born Again” Mark Blake, Mojo Magazine, Oct 2008
“Brian May Discusses Queen's Greatest Moments” Ben Mitchell, Guitar World, 2011
“Queen: Revisiting History” Rob Fitzpatrick, The Sunday Times, Feb 2011
“Queen: 10 of the best album tracks” Stevie Chick, The Guardian, Nov 2014
“Queen’s ‘News of the World’: 10 Things You Didn’t Know” Dan Epstein, Rolling Stone, Oct 2017
“How Queen Weathered The Sex Pistols & Punk With News Of The World” David Chiu, The Quietus, Oct 2017
“Betty the tea lady can be heard stamping her feet on Queen’s We Will Rock You” Katie Baillie, Metro, Oct 2017
“Bohemian Rhapsody: Freddie Mercury’s 28 most ludicrous anecdotes” David Levesley, GQ, Mar 2020
“Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions’ 40 Years Later: A History of the Biggest Jock Jam Single of All Time” Gil Kaufman, Billboard, Sep 2022
“Queen vs Sex Pistols: How Freddie took on punk and won with News Of The World” Mick Wall, Classic Rock, Oct 2022
“"Oi, Freddie! Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?": When Queen frontman Freddie Mercury met Sex Pistols bassist 'Simon Ferocious'” Paul Brannigan, Louder, Feb 2024
“Sheer Art Attack!” Mark Blake, Mojo Magazine, May 2025
“Brian May on Freddie Mercury and the mega-hit that changed Queen’s relationship with their audience” Christopher Scapelliti, Guitar Player, Jan 2026
Comments (0)