“We said, ‘Fred, are you sure about this? Does this not sound big-headed?’ Fred said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. The experience brings May’s mind back to the moment in 1977 when Freddie Mercury first presented the band with the song. “He came up with changing those words in the last chorus and I think it was a very good solution, just perfect. It exudes victory and triumph and acknowledges the struggle that comes with achieving glory. “We told him to experiment and maybe do a few different versions,” says May. It wasn’t until Lambert laid down his vocals that he decided to tweak the chorus at the end to “you are the champions.” Early thoughts revolved around changing the opening lyric to “you’ve paid your dues” to honor everyone working during the pandemic, but they felt unsure about changing something so iconic and beloved. They decided to tackle “We Are The Champions” with a little alteration. D Em9 F6 G7 Am11 No time for losers, cos we are the champions, Dm Em7, Dm Em7, Dm Em7 Of the World. Em7 A7/E Gm6 A13 Cdim We are the champions, we are the cham-pions. D Fm7 G Adim B7b9 And well keep on fighting till the end. Chorus 1: D Fm7 Bm7 G A We are the champions, my friends. “I hoped we would then have something we could call a record,” says May, “and we could we use it in some way to help people through this crisis.” F/G Gm9 G9 A7 And we mean to go on, and on, and on, and on. He invited Queen drummer Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert one night to join the fun. “I couldn’t even get to my studio since that is in the country and I’m in town.” “The only platform I had, in a sense, was Instagram,” he says. They soon grew into guitar tutorials and something he called #JamWithBri where he invited fans to add their own parts onto his compositions. To pass the time and lift his spirits, May began posting homemade performances onto his Instagram page. Some days I think I’m okay and I can deal with this, and some days I feel quite despondent.” “The feeling of loss of freedom and loss of ownership of your life is quite painful. “I haven’t seen my kids or my grandchildren for about three months or so,” says May. The band has been sheltering at their respective homes since the Australian leg of the Rhapsody tour wrapped on February 29th. Watch Lars Ulrich's Kids Summon Noise in Cover of Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby' Irrfan Khan, 'Slumdog Millionaire' Actor and Bollywood Star, Dead at 53
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It’s for everyone who is out there working and putting their life at risk.” “Just like we sent our young men and women into two world wars to fight, these young men and women are now fighting for us and risking their lives every day,” Queen guitarist Brian May tells Rolling Stone.