From what I can remember, Freddie had proposed to Mary as late as 1976. In 1975, Mercury was still going quite strong with Mary Austin (his relationship with her ended when he came out as bisexual to her sometime in 1977, I believe).

The song had to wait two years before it got its own spot soaring near the top of the charts, but I'm sure everyone who heard it at the time knew exactly how appropriate it was.Īs for the people saying it's about AIDS or coming out, I'd have to firstly point to the timing to shoot those down. Champions would be a rightful bit of indulgence in all the hard work those guys put in from 72 to 75 paying off. Queen was ready to disband if A Night At The Opera flopped, and instead it was rightly recognized as one of the greatest albums of all time. This time period would have been when Queen really did overcome all the odds and became a permenant staple in rock (and really, all) music. I suppose it was likely written after A Night At The Opera was recorded and perhaps was deemed too arrogant (which is how he would later describe the song) for inclusion on A Day At The Races in 1976. We Are The Champions was written by Mercury in '75. They had attained a near perpetual spot atop the charts from 1975 to 1978, and were back on top in 1980 with the singles from The Game. By the time of We Are The Champions' release in late 1977, Queen had done everything possible to silence their critics. In hindsight, it's ridiculous seeing a band producing music that dynamic with an insanely talented and vibrant live presence being pushed aside as much as Queen was. On Sheer Heart Attack and Opera, songs like Flick Of The Wrist and Death On Two legs give you a sense of the attitude Mercury had towards Queen's management and maybe the industry as a whole to that point. Queen's approach to this was to literally take several of the songs from the delayed album and add them to their shows. Queen II was finished almost immediately after and the band was handed yet ANOTHER DELAY.

The band formed very, very early in the 1970's and despite getting into the studio by the end of 1972 and working their butts off they had to wait until mid-73 to get Queen I onto the shelves. I always felt like Freddie had a bit of a chip on his shoulder during the early years, as it seems for most of his career the odds were stacked against the success of Mercury and Queen as a whole. Queen were always underrated, counted out, or outright looked down upon by the media and the press (especially during the 1970's) and to have taken the world by storm with the success of Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and A Night At The Opera (1975) must have meant the world to the members of Queen, ESPECIALLY Freddie. It exudes victory and triumph and acknowledges the struggle that comes with achieving glory.

We are the champions video