We Are the Champions
| "We Are the Champions" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Queen | ||||
| from the album News of the World | ||||
| B-side | "We Will Rock You" | |||
| Released | 7 October 1977 | |||
| Format | 7", CD single | |||
| Recorded | 1977 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:59 | |||
| Label | EMI (UK) Elektra (US) |
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| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |||
| Producer | Queen, assisted by Mike Stone | |||
| Queen singles chronology | ||||
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"We Are the Champions" is a power ballad written by Freddie Mercury, recorded and performed by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album News of the World.[1] One of their most famous and popular songs, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems.[2] The song was a worldwide success, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart, and number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.[3][4] In 2009, "We Are the Champions" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame,[5] and was voted the world's favourite song in a 2005 Sony Ericsson world music poll.[6] In 2011, a team of scientific researchers concluded that the song was the catchiest song in the history of pop music.[7]
"We Are the Champions" has become an anthem for sporting victories,[2] including as official theme song for 1994 FIFA World Cup, and has been often used or referenced in popular culture (see below). The song has been covered by many artists.
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[edit] Original Queen version
[edit] Music
Written by Freddie Mercury, "We Are the Champions" was built on audience response, with Brian May stating; 'We wanted to get the crowds waving and singing. It’s very unifying and positive'.[8] Musically, it is based around Mercury's piano part, with Roger Taylor and John Deacon providing a drums and bass guitar backing. May overdubbed some guitar sections, initially subtle, but building to a 'solo' played simultaneously with the last chorus. Mercury employed many jazz chords (major and minor 6th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th harmonies), and the choruses featured these voiced as 4 and 5-part vocal harmonies. The lead vocal is very demanding and strident (highest point is a C5 both belted and in falsetto), with one of Mercury's most notable performances taking place at the Live Aid concert, at Wembley Stadium, London in 1985.[9]
The single featured "We Will Rock You" as a B-side, and followed the song on the album. The two songs were often played consecutively at the close of Queen concerts, and are customarily played together on radio broadcasts (in album order).[2] Keeping with tradition, it was also used to close the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert with all the show's acts joining in behind the lead vocal of Liza Minnelli.[2]
[edit] Chart performances
In 1977-1978, "We Are the Champions" was released as a single in many countries, reaching number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] number 4 on Billboard in the US.,[4] the top 10 in Ireland, Netherlands, and Norway, and top 15 in Germany, Austria and Sweden.[10][11]
In 1992, 1993 and 1998, the single was re-released in France, totalling 45 weeks on the chart and peaking respectively at #19, #14, and #10 during the 1998 FIFA World Cup.[11]
[edit] Personnel
- Freddie Mercury: lead vocals, piano, backing vocals
- Brian May: electric guitar, backing vocals
- John Deacon: bass guitar, backing vocals
- Roger Taylor: drums, backing vocals
[edit] Track listings
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[edit] Certifications
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified | Physical sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| France | Gold[12] | 1978 | 500,000 | 624,000+[13] |
| Silver[14] | 30 September 1998 | 125,000 | 165,000+[13] | |
| US | Platinum[15] | 25 April 1978 | 2,000,000 |
[edit] Charts
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[edit] Cover versions and samplings
Here is a list of cover versions performed by other artists:
- 1996: Musician Scatman John performed "We Are the Champions" along with other artists for the compilation Queen Dance Traxxx.[18]
- 1997: German band J.B.O. did a parody of the song, called "Wir sind die Champignons" (We are the champignons).[19]
- 2001: Robbie Williams on vocals with Queen (May/Taylor) for the soundtrack of the 2001 film A Knight's Tale.[20]
- 2001: Florent Pagny as duet with David Hallyday on his album 2.
- 2003: New York-based thrashcore band Das Oath covered the song for the album Über Alles.[21]
- 2003: Jean-Sébastien Lavoie, a contestant of French TV show Nouvelle Star, in 2003 (#38 in France and #53 in Switzerland),[22]
- 2004: William Hung for his album Hung for the Holidays.
- 2005: Gavin DeGraw the 2005 album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen.[23]
- 2006: Jonathan Coulton, along with "We Will Rock You", as the last two tracks of his Thing a Week project.
- 2010: The cast of the Off-Broadway musical Avenue Q performed covers of "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" in a video spoof of the Muppets' "Bohemian Rhapsody".[24]
- 2010: Mayday Parade on the album Punk Goes Classic Rock.
- 2012 Tony Vincent gave a fresh and fierce performance of We Are The Champions on The Voice (Season 2). Cee Lo Green was so impressed with Vincent's powerful rendition that he snatched him up for his Team (TeamCeeLo) and commented that Freddie Mercury would have been proud.
[edit] Live performances
- Green Day at Live 8 in 2005.[25]
- The Bad Plus (jazz cover in Blunt Object: Live in Tokyo, 2005)
- Japanese singer-songwriter Angela Aki in her 2006 concert,
- The Jonas Brothers, and the entire tour crew at their final concert for the When You Look Me in the Eyes tour.
- Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, in the season 8 finale of American Idol, on 20 May 2009.
- German parody rock band J.B.O. for "Wir sind die Champignons" (Ger: "We Are the Mushrooms"), in 1997.
- Lily Allen covered it as an A-side to "22" in 2009 which went to number 1.
After the 1981 World Series, Jay Johnstone, Jerry Reuss, Steve Yeager, and Rick Monday of the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers released a cover version of "We Are the Champions", which they later performed on Solid Gold, the syndicated music television program.
This song, along with "We Will Rock You", was part of a two song medley sung by Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy on Disney's album Mickey Sports Songs.[26]
The song was also sampled or parodied by producer Rick Rubin, who remixed the song for Hollywood Records.[27]
The song was sampled by Dame Dash, Kanye West, Young Chris, Beanie Sigel, Cam'ron and Twista for their song, "Champions".
A cover version by Crazy Frog – "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)" featuring Queen vocals was released in 2006 in time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was popular (reaching #1 in France and being certified gold).[28]
Hank Marvin performed an instrumental of "We Are the Champions" as a duet with Queen guitarist Brian May on Hank's 1992 album Into the Light.
In 2011 Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine & Blake Shelton covered this song at The Voice (U.S.).
[edit] Uses in popular culture
The song has been regularly played to celebrate sports victories. Formula One drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have both sung the song after crossing the finish line to become world drivers champions. Various politicians around the world have played this as a victory song after winning an election. In the National Hockey League when a team wins the Stanley Cup, as well as the Premier League when a team wins the league, the song is always played.
The song can be heard in many music video games (Guitar Hero: On Tour series, Pro Evolution Soccer 2, Taiko no Tatsujin series, The Matrix: Path of Neo and Lego Rock Band), films (including High Fidelity, D2: The Mighty Ducks, What Happens in Vegas, A Knight's Tale, Kicking & Screaming, Chicken Little, You Again and Revenge of the Nerds), and TV series (including South Park, The Mighty Ducks trilogy, three episodes of The Simpsons (in "The War of the Simpsons", "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" and "She Used to Be My Girl"), Season 5 of The Sopranos, Drawn Together, Malcolm in the Middle where Hal shows his skating abilities, South Park episode "Stanley's Cup", So You Think You Can Dance in 2007, The Big Bang Theory, Angel, and a Robot Chicken episode called "Unionizing Our Labor").
The song was also used as the introductory music prior to Prince's halftime TV performance at Super Bowl XLI on 4 February 2007 in Miami, Florida. When the New York Yankees won the 2009 World Series, the song played as soon as Mariano Rivera got the last out. The song also features as downloadable content on the multiplatform music video games, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 5, & re-issued in a RB3 Version for Rock Band 3.
The song was covered by Katie Waissel during the first live show of the 2010 UK The X Factor. The song was also performed as part of the Closing Ceremony of the Delhi Commonwealth Games. The song was featured in the novel The Million Dollar Kick when Whisper makes the million-dollar goal.
[edit] Catchiest song ever
In 2011, a team of scientific researchers concluded that the song was the catchiest song in the history of pop music. Dr. Daniel Mullensiefen said of the study, "Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and technology; from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers which can add effects to make a song more catchy. We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song."[7]
[edit] See also
| Preceded by "Un'estate italiana" by Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini |
FIFA World Cup theme song with Gloryland by Daryl Hall 1994 |
Succeeded by "The Cup of Life" by Ricky Martin and "Together Now" by Jean Michel Jarre and Tetsuya Komuro |
[edit] References
- ^ BRITs 25 Song Award: We Are The Champions - Queen BBC Retrieved 21 January 2011
- ^ a b c d We Are the Champions: Song Review All Music Retrieved 21 January 2011
- ^ a b c UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ a b c d Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ Grammy Hall of Fame Award Grammy.org Retrieved 21 April 2011
- ^ Haines, Lester (29 September 2005) 'We Are The Champions' voted world's fave song (Sony Ericsson world music poll) Retrieved 21 April 2011
- ^ a b We Are The Champions voted catchiest pop song of all time... by scientists, The Daily Mail, September 29, 2011
- ^ For the first time ever...Queen: Ten great hits from the sensational rock band Mail Online Retrieved 21 January 2011
- ^ Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury BBC News Retrieved 22 January 2011
- ^ a b Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "We Are the Champions", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ French certifications Chartsinfrance.net (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ a b Queen's certifications and sales in France See: "Les Ventes" => "Toutes les certifications depuis 1973" => "QUEEN" Infodisc.fr (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ French certifications Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ US certifications riaa.com (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ 1978 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ 1998 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Queen Dance Traxxx" germancharts.com.
- ^ J.B.O - Laut! Musik Sammler.de
- ^ "Soundtrack for "A Knight's Tale". Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Das Oath - Uber Alles Terminal Nation.
- ^ "We Are the Champions" by Jean-Sébastien Lavoie, French and Swiss singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 29 July 2008)
- ^ Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen Allmusic. Retrieved 11 July 2011
- ^ Avenue Q responds to Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody Chicago now.com
- ^ Live 8 accounts: Berlin BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2011
- ^ Mickey Sports Songs Allmusic. Retrieved 11 July 2011
- ^ The Rick Rubin Remixes Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 11 July 2011
- ^ "We Are the Champions (Ding a Dang Dong)", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved 16 December 2007)
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