The latest episode of Queen's weekly YouTube video series Queen The Greatest premiered today, and this installment focuses on the band's classic 1977 anthem "We Will Rock You" and its legacy.
The video features a new interview with guitarist Brian May, who wrote "We Will Rock You." May begins by discussing the unusual structure of the song, which ends with his memorable guitar solo.
"I wanted the song to be non-standard, I wanted it to be exceptional in every way," he notes. "So, I wanted to break all the rules. And normally the guitar solo comes in the middle…I didn't want that. I wanted the whole song to be there, and then comes the guitar solo out of nowhere."
"We Will Rock You," which was released as a single with "We Are the Champions," peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, the song, with its rhythmic stomps and hand claps and chanted chorus, has long been a staple at sporting events.
May admits he "had no idea" that the song would go on to have the impact it's had.
"There wasn't that much confidence in the studio around me in the sense that not everyone was convinced that this was going to work, and they weren't convinced that people were going to play it on the radio," Brian reveals. "Turned out that they did, which is nice."
He adds, "[T]he thing I suppose I'm most proud of is the fact that it became part of public life."
May also says he's proud of the positive effect "We Will Rock You" has on people.
"It brings people together," he maintains. "That's probably the best thing of all, because 'We Will Rock You' [was] conceived in that way, in that sense of trying to bring people together."
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