The origin of We Are The Champions?

Hello everyone!

I am trying to clarify how the amazing song "We Are The Champions" came about...

In the book "Freddie Mercury: His Life in His Own Words", it says;

...When we performed it at a private concert in London, the fans actually broke into a football chant between numbers.

But I read that the song was made after the "incident" happened in a gig at Bingley Hall in Stafford on 29 May 1977.

https://www.radiox.co.uk/artists/queen/why-did-queen-write-we-will-rock-you/

Did Freddie simply forget where it happened? Or does anyone know which "private concert" it was??

THANK YOU!

We Will Rock You came from the incident at Stafford. IIRC We Are The Champions was written in late 1975. Maybe it was about bo rhap

Heard many times that Freddie wrote WATC in 1975ish and then pulled it out for News of The World, but not sure I've seen it confirmed. Does anyone have an actual quote?

Thrill Yeti wrote:

Heard many times that Freddie wrote WATC in 1975ish and then pulled it out for News of The World, but not sure I've seen it confirmed. Does anyone have an actual quote?

Both, WATC and Under Pressure were written in 1975

<img src="https://soccerattic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/15-05-09-Shoot-298-17-May-75-Derby-10in.jpg">

Thrill Yeti wrote:

Heard many times that Freddie wrote WATC in 1975ish and then pulled it out for News of The World, but not sure I've seen it confirmed. Does anyone have an actual quote?

ANATO 30th anniversary DVD, Audio Commentary, you can hear Frederick himself saying it. IIRC, the interview in question was also released a few years back for that 'On Air' compilation.

Frederick! You're a legend Seb.

stevelondon20 wrote:

Frederick! You're a legend Seb.

Wee all luv Federico!

Haha!!

I remember watching a documentary years ago where David Minns stated that he bought Freddie a book of Japanese Haiku's (perhaps during their 1974 tour?) and one of the poems was called "You Are My Champion". I remember David stating that this may have been the inspiration for writing the song in 1975 before shelving it for 2 years.

Anyone else remember seeing this clip?

Don't remember seeing that mate. Great if it's true though!

Thanks Sebastian. I don't have that DVD, so I'd be interested to know the specific quote if anyone has it. Does he actually say 1975, or does he just say he generally had the song knocking around for a bit before he recorded it?

Also worth noting that the song was to some extent changed (and thus, in a sense, written) in the NOTW sessions, as we've got the rough mix from the anniversary edition which ends with four choruses and solo.

Thrill Yeti wrote:

Thanks Sebastian. I don't have that DVD, so I'd be interested to know the specific quote if anyone has it. Does he actually say 1975, or does he just say he generally had the song knocking around for a bit before he recorded it?

Yes, Freddie says clearly he wrote it in 1975 for the ANATO album.

Thank you everyone!

So interesting that Freddie wrote all those amazing songs year before the release. Wonder how many more he had in his brain.

Love the episode of the Japanese Haiku... would love to know if it's true!

So, does anyone know at which private London concert the crowd sang "a football chant between numbers"?

Ale, refreshing to visit this site again (with the mods doing their jobs), and then be able to see and enjoy some cleverness. Thanks for the article:-)

Here's the source: Frederick Mercury speaking to Graham Neale on the BBC Radio One programme 'Saturday Live'. The interview was first broadcast in September 1984 and is commercially available on Queen On Air, CD 5, Track 6.

And here's the transcript:

'I mean, I remember when I was writing "Bohemian Rhapsody", I had a song called "We Are the Champions", but I just think feel that it fitted at the time and I just kept it aside and it’s, virtually, I think, about two or three years later that I sort of pulled it out of the bag again and there you are, so you... you can never tell.'