Queen have shared ‘We Will Rock You – Rocking The World’, the latest instalment in their ‘The Greatest’ year-long Queen Official YouTube celebration of the most extraordinary songs, performances and achievements from their incredible story so far. You can check the new episode out below.
This week’s eleventh episode revisits a song that would become not just one of Queen’s greatest hits, but also one of the most recognizable tracks in rock history, “We Will Rock You.”
In an exclusive and brand new interview with Brian May, the legendary guitarist and songwriter shares how this iconic song written for the band’s 1977 album, News Of The World came to life, the specific gig that inspired its creation… and what it has come to mean to him.
“Bingley Hall. This great hall in the Midlands. It was heaving”, May recalls. “It’s all sweaty and hot, the atmosphere is great. Everybody’s jumping up and down, making a noise, and what they were doing was singing along.
“In those days, it was really new I have to tell you. You just didn’t go to concerts where people sang to rock bands. But on this particular occasion they didn’t stop…I think I’d gone to sleep thinking – ‘what could an audience do, what could you ask them to do?’ They’re all crammed in there, they can’t do much, but they can stamp their feet they can clap their hands, and they can sing.”
“It just kind of came to me that we were all part of this scenario where we’re all young, and full of enthusiasm, we think we can change the world, and we get out there…we will rock you! “We Will Rock You” means we will change the world, and we feel like we can do it when we’re young.
He continues, “And then …looking ahead to when you get old, what happens when you get old and all this stuff has kind of blown over, and you stand there and you think ‘what happened, did I change the world? What happened, who am I and what is the world to me now?
“I would like to leave the planet knowing that I just made a little bit of difference to the amount of decency that there is in the world. Not sure I can do that, but I’m still trying. So that in a nutshell is what “We Will Rock You” is about.”
Watch every episode of ‘The Greatest’ at Queen’s official YouTube channel.
