All language subtitles for BBC.Queen.Rock.the.World.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

This programme contains
strong language.

In the summer of 2017, Queen embarked on
a sell-out tour of North America.

It followed in the footsteps of
their breakthrough tour from 40
years before,

revisiting many of the same cities
and once again

performing songs that are now
amongst the biggest in rock history.

# We will, we will rock you... #

You know, it's incredible.

About 40 years ago, four precocious
boys came from England

to see what we could do in this
beautiful country of yours.

We were here in 1977, maybe some of
you were too, right?

CHEERING
You remember?

Back in 1977, as a young BBC music
presenter,

I was asked to make a film about the
band as they recorded and toured

their sixth album,
News Of The World.

Bob and Freddie, take seven.

That film was never put together,

but now to mark the album's 40th
anniversary,

we've uncovered and restored this
long-lost footage.

I'll have to sing it, go on,
and again.

The News Of The World tour was to be
Queen's most ambitious yet,

playing 26 concerts across North
America in just six weeks.

I was wondering, what targets do you
have left to achieve?

Number one album in America.

We were given unprecedented
behind-the-scenes access.

Oh, you've caught me in a good mood!

I'd watched the band grow over the
previous few years,

topping the UK charts and playing
every conceivable venue.

They rocked Britain, but could they
rock the world?

# We will, we will rock you... #

By 1977, Queen were a successful
headliner act with a loyal fan base.

MUSIC: Somebody To Love

Their two most recent albums were a
tour de force of multi-part
harmonies and

technical complexity,

which required unprecedented
recording time in the studio.

# But I just can't get no relief

# Lord, somebody

#Somebody

# Somebody

#Somebody

# Can anybody find me...? #

Despite achieving a number of hits,

they were battling an increasingly
hostile press.

And dealing with the music scene
that was being altered by the
arrival of punk.

The whole punk movement was said to
be a reaction against

people like us, you know, who had
raised their art to a high point.

I thought when we went into
News Of The World, you know,

we couldn't reinvent ourselves as a
punk band.

But we wanted it a little bit more

simple because we thought maybe
these really grandiose things

weren't really quite what was
happening then,

and to be more of the time, I guess.

We made a more straightforward
record.

It was just that we had gone as far
as we possibly could into this sort

of baroque, complex, incredibly
elaborate arrangements stuff, and we
thought,

well, it would be fun to go back to
the way we used to play when we
first

started. Which would be quite
simple, guitar, bass

and drums and vocals as well.

I really like News Of The World.

It's one of my favourites, I think.

And of course, it had two monster
singles on it,

We Will Rock You and
We Are The Champions.

We always thought of them as a pair.

We Will Rock You
and We Are The Champions

had a very sort of definite
genesis.

We played this great hall in
the Midlands, and it was packed,

it was heaving. You know, those gigs
that you love.

It's all sweaty and hot.

The atmosphere is great.
Everybody's in it.

Everybody's jumping up and down,
making a noise.

And what they were doing was singing
along.

They didn't stop. They sang every
note of every song.

And when we went offstage, they
sang You'll Never Walk Alone to us.

Now, in those days, it was really
new, I have to tell you.

You just didn't go to concerts where
people sang to rock bands.

So we went home that night thinking,
"What do we do here?

"What does this mean? What does this
mean for our future?"

Obviously the audience is as big a
part of the show as we are now.

So let's embrace it.

What can an audience do?
What could you ask them to do?

They're all crammed in there, they
can't do much, you know,

but they can stamp their feet and
they can clap their hands and they
can sing.

And they would be leading the song
rather than the singer.

So I woke up with We Will Rock You
in my head.

MUSIC: We Will Rock You

I sang the song to Freddie and he
went, "Yeah.

"It's going to work." He twigged
that it was a kind of rallying
song.

# Buddy, you're a boy

# Make a big noise
playing in the street

# Gonna be a big man someday

# You got mud on your face

# You big disgrace

# Kickin' your can all over the
place

# Singin' we will, we will... #

In my head, it was a song
of the three Ages of Man.

The first age is the boy who thinks
he can change the world.

The second stage is the man who
thinks he is changing the world.

# Buddy, you're a young man,
hard man shouting in the street

# Gonna take on the world someday

# You got blood on your face

# A big disgrace

# Waving your banner
all over the place... #

And the third stage is the old man
coming to terms with the fact that

there's only a certain amount he can
do.

It's like the serenity prayer, you
know, change what you can change,

but get used to it that you can't
achieve everything.

# Buddy, you're an old man

# Poor man pleadin' with your eyes

# Gonna make you some peace
someday

# You got mud on your face

# Big disgrace

# Somebody better put you back into
your place

# We will, we will rock you... #

Sing it!

So I came up with We Will Rock You,

and Freddie came up with
We Are The Champions.

Do you enjoy record production,
Fred?

Do you enjoy working in the studio?

Erm, yes. You can get
sick of it, though.

Especially now.

We've decided that on our albums,

we wouldn't spend as much time as
we've done in the past.

Because I just think that,

especially with News Of The World,

I think we actually did decide
before we went in that it was going
to be a short album.

As far as Queen standards are
concerned.

So that was like two months
instead of four.

We had something like a week and a
half to two weeks to actually write
all the material.

And it was nice. We didn't fall into
this thing of it being over-ripe

before we actually recorded it.

A Day At The Races, we spent five or

six months in the studio, and very
long hours.

So, just physically, you couldn't be
in the studio all the time.

News Of The World leads back to a
more spontaneous

kind of creation of an album.

Because of the nature of the way
that we did it,

we were all in the studio at the
same time for an amount of the time.

And it was more of a group thing
than perhaps A Day At The Races was.

It was easy, because it was so
simple.

After what we'd been doing,
learning the stuff on News Of The
World,

it was almost de rigueur to do it
quick because you didn't want to
mess

around with it too much. You didn't
want to polish it too much,

you wanted to keep
the rawness there.

MUSIC: We Are The Champions
(backing track)

# We are the champions

# No time for losers... #

Especially a group in our stage of
career

can fall into the trap where we can
have as much time as we want in the

studio. And you can just go and say,
"Look,

"I'd like to try another area of
this."

But now I think it's up to us to
decide, from the very onset,

that this is the decision, this is
what we're going to arrive at,

before we got there. And we were
going to say, "OK, this is it."

And I feel I did that.

I mean, OK, I could forever go
around saying that I could have
done, say, We Are The Champions

a bit better. But I think I quite
actually liked saying, "Look,

"I've made my sort of decision now.

"And we're going to stick to it."
And it's worked out pretty well.

That was a lovely feel.
That's exactly how it should be.

Can I have another cup of coffee?
Sorry. Sounding quite nice.

OK, cup of coffee coming, anybody
else want anything?

Yes, please, I'll have a cup.

I'll have a cup with one sugar,
please.

Right, that's three coffees,
with one sugar, one of them.

One and three-sevenths
sugars, please.

Three sugars?

No, one and three-sevenths.
Seven sugars?

One and three-sevenths!

Is this on?

Test, test. Knock, knock.
Hello?

DRUMS PLAY

Think we got a hundred...
That's better.

How does the studio situation work,
Freddie?

You mean, amongst us? Yes.

Between us? Yeah. If I write a
song,

and I sort of take it upon myself
from the actual writing stages

to the rehearsing, to the routining,
and to the recording,

as being my project, so I sort of
handle that.

With my kind of songs, I seem I sort
of, more or less,

have everything rehearsed.

I mean, everything sort of written
out.

# I've taken my bows

# And my curtain calls... #

It's still repeating.

# You brought me fame and fortune

# And everything that goes with
it... #

I want it on a pan.
What, the echo, yeah?

So that I can... Yeah, yeah.
It will be.

He had a vision and he was

very driven and he was very good on
the desk, you know?

And very good moving the faders,
balancing the harmonies and getting
the things

to do what he wanted. But then we
would pitch in with each other's
songs,

and then sometimes we'd all get
together to mix it.

When did you begin to get to a stage
where you felt, between you,

that you could take over the desk
yourselves completely?

It comes to a stage where all you
really need is an engineer, really,

because the idea of balancing sounds
you want, you know, it's...

An artist or musician should really
know what they want, you know?

And the only person needed to
implement that is an engineer,

really, in a way. And when you're
doing a mix, you know,

and you're mixing down the track
from the tapes.

I mean, it's setting it up.

And then we actually sit down and
work the controls as well, you
know...

Yeah. Can you remember which vocals,
which solos we used?

Well, if I hear, then I'll know.

Because here, we've got three
tracks, four tracks of vocals.

One with a solo guitar and then
that's got "end bit solo".

Well, listen to them, darling,
that's the only way we can do it.

That's your writing, isn't it,
that one? No, it's all, it's all...

..Mike's.

What are you doing now? I'm just
going to get a rough balance, OK?
OK.

MUSIC PLAYS

There must be more than this.

Must be more what? Oh, that's
the one, I think.

There are two guitars.

Yeah. But there's two guitars.

One crosses over.

Right...

Do you remember? Yes, I remember.

That one is... Go back to the other
place and we'll find out.

Just the last chorus of the note?
See if you could use...

Do you want to do a guitar
or something? I suppose we could.

It would sound different.

Do you want to do a guitar bit in
there, squeeze it in?

Work out your guitar so you can
mix...

Roger, do you want to come in here
and just do...

The kit? Yeah.

MUSIC PLAYS

More bass, please.

Erm... Back to cylinders.

What do you think for sounds? I
mean, I think we should just...

Yeah, it sounds all right to me.

He's only done
drum sounds at the moment.

That's right. Oh, that's why it
sounds all right to me.

Let's open a bottle of wine.

Yes, where is the screwdriver?

Congratulations, you're number one
on the Hit Line at the moment.

How's that for loyalty?

I think it's great. It's a very good
instant reaction

to what we put out.

And only Queen could come up with
the title, We Are The Champions.

I mean, where's the modesty gone?

Well, there isn't any. There's no
modesty whatsoever.

After the slaggings off that we get
from the English music press, well,
who cares?

So we've got nothing to lose now.

Because pulling We Are The
Champions, off the new album,

that seems to me to have thoughts
and sentiments in it that you
must've

been wanting to express for some
time.

Is that true? Oh, I'm a cold,
heartless bugger.

No, it has absolutely nothing.

It's just pure commercial, call it
what you like.

Can you go easy on the stage lights
because they're so fucking hot?

Oh, that's a bit better for now.

It's the most egotistical and
arrogant song I've ever written.

Was it?

HE BLOWS A RASPBERRY

I was kind of quite shocked
because I thought, "Are we really

"going to stand up and say we are
the champions as opposed to every
other group

"and every other person on the face
of this Earth?"

You know, and he says,
"Actually that's not what it is."

And he said rock and roll
is the only place

where everybody has a feeling of,
like, being in a team,

but you're not fighting anybody.

It'd work if you could dodge down
a bit lower even still. Oh, but...

Then you can't see,
there's no way you'll see the notes.

There's no way you will see them.
I can't... It doesn't work, huh?

Yeah.

The only way is to put
a sheet over my head.

Have you got a black card, or...?

Or just a bit of black drape
that we can put in front.

Black drape? Yeah.

Basically,
it is a participation thing.

I've been...
I'm just thinking in terms of how

maybe we're going to sort of
adapt it on stage,

and how people are going to...

It's a public...

..public/group thing, really.
Yeah.

We're going to be finishing off
filming for We Are The Champions,

which, of course, you know is the
new single from the band, yeah?

I don't know whether
you've heard it, first of all.

Have you heard it on the radio?

AUDIENCE CHEERS

I understand it's number two on the
Hit Line on Capital Radio tonight...

AUDIENCE CHEERS

We'd like your involvement,
if you would, towards the end,

because if you've got any banners
that you can wave towards the end...

Hundreds, hundreds. I knew it.

Get those out, shout and scream
and sing with the band.

# It's been no bed of roses

# No pleasure cruise

# I consider it a challenge
before the whole human race

# And I ain't gonna lose

# And I mean to go on and on
and on and on

# We are the champions, my friends

# And we'll keep on fighting
till the end

# We are the champions

# No time for losers

# Cos we are the champions
of the world

# We are the champions, my friends

# And we'll keep on fighting
till the end

# Oh, we are the champions

# We are the champions

# No time for losers

# Cos we are the champions... #

I think Queen fans will be surprised

because it's far more kind of raw
than any other album,

and also shorter tracks.

I'm glad you said raw, cos that was
exactly, really, what we wanted.

OK, are you ready to rock 'n' roll?

Most of that album
is quite stripped down.

There isn't a Bohemian Rhapsody
on that album.

It's very powerful, it's very raw.

So, in a sense, we went a little bit
sort of punky ourselves, I suppose.

You get involved in quite a lot of
music outside of the band,

and outside of the band's style,
don't you?

I mean, I remember you talking
really in the very early days,

for example, about The Sex Pistols.

If you hear something that's...

..or hear of something that's
exciting... There's simply so few.

# Well, you're just 17
and all you wanna do is disappear

# You know what I mean - there's
a lot of space between your ears

# The way that you touch... #

Roger was much more aware
than the rest of us.

He kept in touch with what
was going on around him.

I remember him talking about
The Sex Pistols very early on

and getting excited about it.

I thought, you know,
"This is so fresh,"

and I thought we needed a little
bit of that kind of sensibility.

Sheer Heart Attack,
which is a song of Roger's

which he'd been trying to get on an
album at that time,

we thought, "Oh, it makes
sense in this context."

Something simple and energetic.

# Sheer heart attack... #

It was sort of written
a few years before,

and I thought,
"This fits perfectly,

"this really fits in with
what we're trying to do now,"

so we put it on that album -

and it became a live staple.

Murder to play on stage,
it's so fast.

# I feel so inar, inar, inar, inar
inar, inar...

# ..inar, inar, inar, inar
inarticulate. #

We were making this album
in north London,

and in another studio just nearby
was this young group

called The Sex Pistols.

We were literally next door
for months.

Sid Vicious came in.

Sid was a moron, you know?

He was an idiot.

Fred played him a few things.

He played him Sheer Heart Attack,
actually.

I think he said,
"It sounds like The Cortinas."

And there was the moment
when Sid said,

"Are you bringing ballet
to the masses, then?"

Fred just said, "Oh, Mr Ferocious,
we're trying our best, dear."

# Do you know, do you know,
do you know just how I feel?

# Do you know, do you know,
do you know just how I feel?

# Sheer heart attack

# Sheer cardiac... #

How are the rehearsals going, Brian?

Very well up to now,
up to the usual standard, I think.

Which is usually slow up to
the last minute, and then panic.

But it's going OK.

How much time have you put aside
this time?

We have a full week here in
Shepperton, where we are now.

Um... Which is without the PA,
but we have the monitors,

so our stage environment
is more or less as it will be,

and we have a mock-up of how
the lights will be...

..and then the stuff is dismantled
and goes to the States,

and we follow it out a week later,

and then we have three or four days
with everything,

and with John working the PA
and everything. Mm.

How much of News Of The World
are you going to do this time?

News Of The World
will feature heavily.

Partly because it's easy to do.

Most of the stuff is fairly simple
in terms of instrumentation...

..and it was built around stuff
which is easy to do on stage,

which really is the first time we've
done that since the first album.

So there'll be a lot of it.

We've already been through five
or six numbers off the new album.

It must be interesting finding
that exact balance

between new material
and old material, too, Brian.

Definitely, yes.

Cos a lot of people come to see
a show for the familiar things...

..and always at the end of any
artist's show, generally,

when he starts doing the old stuff,

people respond in a completely
different way.

Um... So you have, as you say,

you have to strike the balance

between doing the things
which people want to hear

and doing the things which you think
you ought to be introducing them to.

Strangely enough, the things
that people notice most

are the beginning and the end.

I think it starts getting too much.
It's the start they've come to see.

They want to see
what we're going to do.

This is a new show.

This is something...
What are we going to perform?

I think it worked great as an
encore. I think we should do it,

but the whole thing with
We Will Rock You is stating that...

Do you see what I mean? Yeah.

There's no point saying,
"We will rock you,"

after we've rocked them all night
long at the end of the show.

Yeah.

MUSIC: We Will Rock You

We love designing these sort of
dramatic openings,

and particularly, the beginning and
the end of a show,

there's a great opportunity to
do something special,

and We Will Rock You,
I think, in my head,

was partly conceived as an opener,
anyway.

I thought, "Wouldn't that be great

"just to start off with this very
stark stamping and clapping?

"It'll be like the audience
is starting the show."

# We will, we will rock you

# We will, we will rock you... #

So Freddie would go out and do his
thing, all on his own, you know.
Hero.

# Buddy, you're a boy,
make a big noise

# Playin' in the street,
gonna be a big man someday

# Mud on your face

# Big disgrace

# Kickin' your can
all over the place

# We will, we will rock you
Yes, sir

# We will, we will rock you

# All right

# We will, we will rock you
Yes, sir

# We will, we will rock you... #

And I would go out on the other
side, do the guitar solo, hero.

But then it's like,
"What do we play now?"

You know, when we get to the end
of the guitar solo, what happens?

There's this huge kind of
anticipation

at the beginning of a show.

You've got to be high energy,

you've got to fulfil
that kind of expectation -

and on the record, you go
into We Are The Champions,

but that wouldn't be right,

because We Are The Champions really
cries out to be the end of a show.

So we thought, "What do we do here?"

And for some reason,
I thought, "Well, a fast version

"of We Will Rock You would be really
interesting."

# Ooh, yeah... #

And it was very effective.

It was just all very simple,
very high energy,

and the audience could kind of bang
their heads and get into it

and feel that their energy
was being harnessed.

# Buddy, you're a boy,
make a big noise

# Playin' in the street,
gonna be a big man someday

# Got mud on your face

# Big disgrace

# Kickin' your can
all over the place

# We will, we will rock you

# Tonight

# We will, we will rock you

# Buddy, you're a young man, hard
man

# Shoutin' in the street,
gonna take on the world someday

# Got mud on your face

# Big disgrace

# Wavin' your banner
all over the place

# We will, we will rock you

# We will, we will rock

# Oh, yeah

# We will, we will rock you

# We will, we will rock

# Buddy, you're an old man, poor man

# Pleadin' with your eyes,
gonna get you some peace someday

# Got mud on your face

# Big disgrace

# Somebody better put you back
into your place

# We will, we will rock you

# We will, we will rock you

# Rock you, rock you, rock you

# We will, we will rock... #

AUDIENCE CHEERS

America's great.

You feel like America is the centre
of rock music, somehow.

There's a real family which
surrounds music in America.

You go there and you feel
that you're part of it.

# You say you love me... #

America was regarded as sort
of the grail of the rock scene

in those days, and, obviously,

when you sort of smell success
in America, you go for it.

America was so geared up
for rock and roll,

much more so than any place else
at that time.

It had an amazing, thriving
community which we plugged into,

and, in a sense, we created our
audience,

but in a sense, they created us.

They're a very
formative influence on us.

And it was a riot, it was amazing.

The energy that would be in those
American halls was outstanding.

I think we grew up
on those American tours as a band,

and you start to think of yourself
as artists, in a sense.

# It's late

# But I'm bleeding deep inside

# It's late

# Is it just my sickly pride?

# Too late

# Even now the feeling
seems to steal away

# So late

# Though I'm crying
I can't help but hear you say

# It's late, it's late, it's late

# But not too late

# Mm, yeah

# The way you love me

# Is the sweetest love around

# But after all this time

# The more I'm trying

# The more I seem
to let you down... #

Are you going to make sure
that the whole...

..all the lights...
all these gaps are filled?

Oh, yeah.

You must aim for maximum effect,
both aurally and visually.

We're just trying to put out the
music and the visual aspect

as effectively as we can
to as many people as we can.

We think it should be a real event
every time we play.

People are paying money
to come and see you...

As far as we're concerned,
we're putting on a show.

It's not just another
rendition of an album.

If that was the case,
we might as well just have

sort of cardboard cut-outs
and just play the album.

# It's late

# But it's driving me so mad

# It's late

# Yes, I know
but don't try to tell me that...

# It's too late

# Save our love,
you can't turn out the lights

# So late

# I've been wrong
but I'll learn to be right

# It's late, it's late, it's late,
it's late, it's late

# It's late, it's late

# It's all too late

# Oh, let's do it

# Right on!

# Mm, late, oh, late

# Oh, yeah

# Whoo! #

I had to tell everyone to go home,
cos he stayed standing there.

I know! I didn't realise
he was playing!

Oh, blood, blood,
sue the management!

We are! I bled, as well.

Shit!

I haven't got that blood.

Peter, sue the management!

Get off my trousers.

Fucking get out!

We did stay pretty connected.

Generally, we sort of found
a big place

where we could get ready together,

and we would kind of joke around
and talk about stuff.

So we had a good kind of
camaraderie, which kept us alive.

Arnold! Sorry... Oh, my God...

Oh, shit, I threw my whistle away,
actually.

HE PLAYS WHISTLE

I bet you can't blow 'em like that.

I hesitated, actually,
I did, and I thought - I threw it.

I thought, "I've thrown it,
should I ask for it back?"

I want it back.

You threw my best fucking pair
of maracas away the first day.

Great-sounding maracas!

I mean, it took me hours
to steal them.

Now they know I'm going to
throw those things...

He just goes...

Actually, they were wonderful,
I must say, I'm sorry.

Now they know I'm going to throw
them in the audience,

they give me these horrible things

with about two peas inside,
you know?

They just rattle, rattle, rattle.

I feel such a berk, going...

Nothing happening.
So I just throw it away.

Lovely colours, as well.

Lovely colours,
lovely kitsch colours.

Real height of bad taste.

Really?

You could throw me in the audience!

Don't give him ideas.

You don't rattle as good.

Are you happy with the response
on the tour so far?

Very much so, I think. Yes.

See, I think it's worth pointing
out, really,

that it's the most successful tour
on the road right now.

Isn't it? If you say so, it is.

It is.

We wouldn't want to keep abreast
of it, but, yes. Yes, it is.

There's a lot of competition around.
I mean, there is...

How many groups on the road?
Well, I don't know.

Of the sort of halls we're playing,
no more than half a dozen.

But people here are just
geared to going to...

..to actually seeing so
many rock concerts

that, I mean, it's kind of a
way of life, really, isn't it?

Particularly what strikes me
on this tour

is how well put together the stage
is, how well designed it is,

and how well the stage show works.

Can you describe the opening and how
you got the idea for it, Freddie?

How did I get the idea for it?
What do you mean,

how HE got the idea for it?!

I don't know, usually,
I just kind of...

How did it start?
Somebody comes up with an idea

and it's immediately rejected -

but it kind of sort of seeps in
after a while,

once it's kind of thrown about. They
want to get a row on film, you see.

Oh, they want to get a row -
you should've been there yest...

Well, you were there yesterday,
but the cameras weren't rolling.

I'm playing what I always play.

I'm playing exactly
what is on the record, Fred.

Did you slow down?
Oh, fuck slowing down.

Did he slow down?
That's hardly the point.

Give us a bit more tea, and we might
try and join in with you.

Well, you're expecting all of us
to be perfect

before you even attempt to do
anything.

Oh, don't be so fucking ridiculous.

Don't take it down.

That's all right.

It's not coming out on mine.

I want to hear it.

I hear we split up last week,

according to the NME or something.

Actually, we must develop that.

Just to a point.

How did that develop, those rumours?

Oh, it's...

It's so...

A lot of trivia,
it's not even worth talking about.

Was there any basis in fact
for that speculation at all?

Not as far as I know, really.

Breaking up,
when we're doing so well?

Yeah. You must be kidding.

I think the most important thing is,
for a band - basically, it has to be
good,

and it also has to stick together,
I think,

and know each other backwards.

You know, you've almost got to know
what the other person is thinking.

A band has to stick together

until there's no longer any point
in them sticking together,

if you see what I mean.

But mind you, when it is all over

and there's not really much coming
out of it any more,

you've got to quit then, I think.

I'm sure we will when that happens.

Should we do something out front?

See if the fucking
monitor's working.

We did, in a sense, become a
little less cohesive, I suppose.

But I think the great thing for us
was that we always did soundchecks.

We did long soundchecks every day -

and so much happened
in the soundchecks.

We would talk to each other,
look at each other, discuss things.

We'd figure out what was good
about last night,

what wasn't good about last night,

and you know, "Let's try this.

"Let's see if we can
get this song together,"

and try out things,
and have a bit of fun.

It's a kind of dedication, really,

but, boy, it pays off!

So I think that saved us from
getting fragmented and disconnected.

# Get your party gown

# Get your pigtail down

# Get your heart beatin', baby

# Get your timin' right

# Get your act all tight

# It's gotta be tonight,
my little schoolbabe

# Momma says you don't

# Daddy says you won't

# And I'm boilin' up inside

# No way I'm gonna lose out
this time

# Tie your mother down

# Lock your daddy out of doors

# I don't need him nosing around

# Tie your mother down

# Tie your mother down... #

Just try and give me
a touch more vocal.

One, two. One, two, one, two.

# Sammy was low

# Just watching the show

# Over and over again... #

One, two, one, two.

# Sammy was low

# Just watching the show

# Over and over again

# Knew it was time

# He'd made up his mind

# To leave his dead life behind

# His boss said to him

# Boy, you'd better begin

# To get those crazy notions
right out of your head

# Sammy, who do you think
that you are?

# You should've been sweeping
up the Emerald Bar

# Spread your wings and fly away

# Fly away, far away

# Spread your little wings
and fly away... #

If, individually, you went off -

I'm not talking about the band
break-up at all. Mm.

Oh, no! If you made individual
solo albums...

Yeah. Oh, I'd make a lot of money!

..and I'll ask you
individually this -

what sort of album would you make?

Rog? No idea.

I don't know yet.
Haven't done it yet.

Er, a good one.

I'd like to make it naked and raw.

Fred? I really haven't thought
in those terms, really.

I mean, probably my solo album would
consist of me singing with Roger,

Brian and John backing me!

Most of the things that I want to
do, I would want to use the group,

cos that's partly -
we sort of use each other, in a way,

if we have ideas, and that is
the big thing about a group,

that you have a group of people

who understand each other's ways of
working

and you can get the maximum
out of each other.

So there are things which, perhaps,
at a particular time

you don't want to do for the group,
but mainly the group is the vehicle.

That's what I'm trying to say. Yeah.

And it's the best vehicle
that we have.

John? Um, I'd never do one, no.

I can't sing!

So how do each of you, then,

musically pull the band
in certain directions?

I mean, I'm thinking of your songs,
for example,

which always strike me as being so
melodic...

Yes. ..John, and add that input
into the...?

Yes, yeah. Well, that just obviously
comes from the type of songs

that the individuals write,

you know, I mean,
because we are four...

..you know, four individuals,
really.

I mean, we are quite different
in our musical taste, as well.

Mine tend to be slightly lighter.

I don't think I could ever write
a heavy song, you know?

It's, you know, it's not in me. Mm.

# Come on, honey

# Come fly with me... #

Oh, it's got an awful ridge on it.

Is there another one?

Ow, ow, ow.

I've lost my shoe!

Cinderella.

I like to think that I
can do different things.

I mean, I don't like to just think,
"OK, rock and roll,

"so therefore I'm going to go up
there,

"put on my high-heeled shoes
and play the songs."

I like to think that we do so many
different types of songs

that then when we try and put
them over

they require a different format.

And within that is a wide area.

Why don't you do a nice picture
of Roger's legs?

Away!

Oh, but I don't do my own!

Dave!

Do, do, do.

I feel a lot of people now realise
when they come to see our show

that they're going to get a lot of
contrasts.

We're not scared of trying out
different ideas, you know?

I think one of the things we really
steer clear of

is trying to sort of
repeat the same formula.

That's not the thing done
in rock and roll!

Can you imagine it?

As the albums have progressed,

I mean, our sort of songwriting
has progressed.

We've sort of ventured into
different areas.

When people hear them
on the records,

we like to do them on stage.

We'd like to try out something very
different right now.

This is from the new album,
the News Of The World.

Have you got it yet?
The album, that is.

AUDIENCE CHEERS

OK, you might just
about recognise this one.

This is called My Melancholy Blues.

# Another party's over

# And I'm left cold sober

# My baby left me for somebody new

# I don't wanna talk about it

# Want to forget about it

# Wanna be intoxicated
with that special brew

# So come me... #
Bluh-bluh-bluh!

# Let me

# Oh, don't expect me

# To behave perfectly

# And wear that sunny smile

# My guess is I'm in for
a cloudy and overcast

# Don't try and stop me

# Cos I'm heading
for that stormy weather soon

# I'm causing a mild sensation

# With this new occupation

# I'm permanently glued

# To this extraordinary mood
so now move over

# And let me take over

# With my melancholy blues

# I'm causing a mild sensation

# With this new occupation

# I'm in the news

# I'm just getting used
to my new exposure

# So, come into my enclosure

# And meet my melancholy blues. #

AUDIENCE CHEERS

We are halfway through
the tour with Queen now,

and it's proving to be,

relative to everything else
that's on the road this autumn,

a very, very successful tour.

We've just come back from a gig
at the Atlanta Stadium...

..and we're just going up...

I've already got one.
..to the bar to get another drink.

On the table, and kick it!
I don't want to...

On the table, and kick it!
What? Oh, right.

The Midwest could get
on your nerves,

because of the sheer
repetition of it,

and every town looks so much
like the other -

and you did feel like you were in a
culture vacuum sometimes.

Sorry.

All we have is bad televisions,
vibrating beds, even worse,

and bad food -
but it was still a lot of fun.

HE CHUCKLES

There was loads of sex and drugs!

No, there really
wasn't much sex and...

Well, there wasn't much drugs.

# Get down
Make love

# Get down
Make love

# You take my body

# I give you heat

# You say you're hungry

# I give you meat

# You suck my mind

# I blow your head

# Make love

# Inside your bed

# Everybody get down, make love

# Get down, make love

# Get down
Make love

# Every time I get high

# You wanna come down

# Every time I get hot

# You say you wanna cool down

# You say it's enough

# In fact it's too much

# Every time I wanna get down,
get down, get down. #

Your eye.

Dry your eye. Get your eyepiece.

Horrible use of space.

You are going to start taking.

I got a photograph of him tonight.

Really? Smiling?

How did you get that?

He even managed to get on the video.

Me? I fucking tripped...

I came hurtling on in Now I'm Here,

in the darkness, went arse over tit.

Did you see that?
That's why I came sort of...

I kind of slipped and I went
hurtling on and did all this.

It really puts you off, for real.

I thought it seemed
to get together tonight.

I enjoyed tonight.

We're not together.

Brian broke a string in,
well, the most awkward spot,

in the middle of Liar, where there's
a crescendo, and it comes to a lull,

and then he has to give it a cue,
so we're all waiting,

and he broke a string!

So he's changing. I'm standing
in this spotlight, I mean...

Fuck!

Anyway, we've been in worse things.

How were the audience?

They were good, yeah.
It's been different this time.

I don't know. Last time, the places
were smaller, much smaller,

but they were more...up.

This time, I suppose,
they brought their mums and dads.

# I was nothing but a city boy

# My trumpet was my only toy

# I've been blowing my horn

# Since I knew I was born

# But there isn't nobody
wants to know

# I've been sleeping on the sidewalk

# Rollin' down the road

# I may get hungry

# But I sure don't wanna go home. #

What's happening when
we get back to London,

going to be presumably looking at
your whole business situation

and reviewing it.

Let's face it, we're going to
sort of try and sort out

a lot of business...
so-called business problems,

and, I think, the Queen...
the so-called Queen Empire,

it's pretty large now, we've all got
subsidiary companies and things,

and it needs a lot of handling!

# I may get hungry

# But I sure don't wanna go home. #

We didn't get a penny of record
royalties

from the first three albums

so, basically, we got out
of that one, right,

by re-signing with a guy
called John Reid.

We signed with him
for three years, right,

which finishes in about
September next year.

What we are looking,
at that point in time,

is basically to just look after
ourselves

and, you know,
do it completely on our own.

TAYLOR: It's the long road to
artistic and financial freedom,

you know, which is so hard to find
if you're successful to any degree,

cos there's a million
sharks out there.

You've achieved so much, now,
over the last five or six years,

and I was wondering now what targets
you have left to achieve, really.

Number one album in America
would be nice.

Yeah, we've never had a
number one over here.

We've had very successful sort
of two-million-selling albums,

but we haven't had
a number one album.

I don't know. And also, we could be
a bigger draw than we are, you know?

Yes, I mean, we haven't...

The wrong thing to do is to actually
sort of see ourselves...

..with a particular goal to meet,
you know?

I mean, to say,
"This is where I want to go."

It's got to be so wide that...

I mean, you just keep going.

I mean, it's endless, really.

You're going to take some time off

when you get back to London,
aren't you? That's the plan, yeah.

You have to get refreshed
every now and again,

and we haven't really had a holiday
for the last four years or so.

We've always said,
"This is time off,"

but then it isn't, because you get
involved in projects.

Certainly, for me, I'm going to get
as far away as I can.

I think we really deserve it.

I think...

Oh, we bloody well do!

I think we've been kind of sort of
putting it off and putting it off

for the last six years, really,

and I think the time has come where
we can kind of ease off a bit

and just...

I mean, on this tour,
I've been surviving on just jabs.

I mean... I don't mean that,
in that sense!

Oh, please, mother!

No!

But, um...the show goes on.

MUSIC: We Will Rock You

# We will, we will rock you

# All right!

# We will, we will rock you

# OK!

# We will, we will rock you

# We will, we will rock you... #

As filming came to an end,

News Of The World reached number
three in the US Billboard charts,

their most successful album
in America to date.

The double A-side We Will Rock You
and We Are The Champions

reached number four, just missing
out on the top spot they craved.

# I've paid my dues

# Time after time

# I've done my sentence... #

It was to be another two years
before their singles

Crazy Little Thing Called Love
and Another One Bites The Dust

finally got them their American
number one -

but the huge appeal of We Will
Rock You and We Are The Champions

was to be pivotal in cementing
Queen's relationship

with the American audience -

a relationship that endures
to this day.

# We are the champions, my friends

# And we'll keep on fighting
till the end

# We are the champions

# No time for losers

# Cos we are the champions
of the world... #

I'm feeling very thankful and
grateful and blessed

just to be among you folks again,

cos it's something you can't
take for granted.

This is an amazing moment
for me, to be back here.

Thank you.
AUDIENCE CHEERS

It seems quite incredible
that old Roger and me are back here,

and it's even more incredible
that you guys are here to see us!

# It's been no bed of roses

# No pleasure cruise... #

I don't think either Roger or I ever
thought that this would happen.

We thought it was kind of done, in
the old days, when we lost Freddie -

and it's wonderful
that we have Adam.

You need an extraordinary
figurehead,

and we do have it in Adam.

# We are the champions, my friends

# We'll keep on fighting
till the end... #

I didn't even think
we'd ever get to this age.

You don't think of it, you know?

We spent half our lives building up
this legacy of songs

and sort of contact with an
audience,

and now we can still be Queen.

In some ways, it's a miracle.

# Cos we are the champions

# We are the champions, my friends

# And we'll keep on fighting
till the end

# We are the champions

# No time for losers

# Cos we are the champions

# Remember

# We are the champions of...

# ..of the world. #