Brian May Says Queen Wrote ‘We Will Rock You’ In Response to Fans’ ‘Irritating’ Need to Sing Along
Fans love to sing along to their favorite music during a live performance. However, it can be frustrating for the band, who can barely hear themselves over the audience’s screaming. Guitarist Brian May said Queen found the fan’s singing irritating, but they decided to give in by writing “We Will Rock You,” an incredibly interactive song.
Queen developed ‘We Will Rock You’ for fans who wanted to sing along
Queen’s music is powerful, and it’s hard not to sing along with Freddie Mercury’s incredible voice. However, the band had mixed feelings about fans singing with them. In a new interview with Total Guitar, May admitted being “irritated” by fans who sang along to every word. Bands like Led Zeppelin had fans who would listen, and he wanted Queen’s audience to be less interactive.
“We had a good following, [but] we had this thing where people insisted on singing along to our songs. And I think we were quite irritated by it,” May shared. “We thought, ‘People, just listen. We’re working really hard, so bloody well listen!’ But they were unstoppable… They sang every word to every song. When Led Zeppelin played, they listened. They banged their heads, and they listened. And I thought about our concerts: ‘Why don’t you buggers listen instead of singing?”
However, instead of banning audiences from singing along, Queen played into it by creating “We Will Rock You”. The song not only has an incredibly catchy chorus that’s easy to chant, but the audience is the instrument. Fans would clap their hands, smack their knees, and stomp their feet to create the rhythm. While the band went against their own feelings, it led to one of their biggest hits.
“I said to Freddie, ‘maybe instead of fighting this, we should be encouraging it,” May said. “‘Maybe we should be harnessing this kind of energy which seems to be happening.’ […] If they can chant, what would they chant? And with that, I could hear it in my head: ‘We will, we will rock you!’”
“I was hoping that this would become something which would catch on. We would have a song which would be led by the audience,” he added, “So that’s why there’s no drums on there. It was all aimed towards getting the audience involved… somehow it worked.”
How did ‘We Will Rock You’ perform on the charts?
“We Will Rock You” was released as a double a-sided single with “We Are the Champions” in 1977 and included on the News of the World album. The single was a top 10 hit in multiple countries, including the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, and Norway. While it wasn’t a No. 1 hit, the song has never stopped being popular.
It’s a song most anyone can sing, and it is constantly played at sporting events, where it has become a common stadium anthem. There have also been several remixes and covers of “We Will Rock You” by artists such as KCPK and Five + Queen.
