During the A Day at the Races tour, Queen played a show at Bingley Hall in Stafford. As the band left the stage for their encore, instead of the usual applause, the crowd spontaneously began singing —the famous football anthem—back to them.
The band returned to the studio for their 1977 album with a new mission: audience participation. Queen - We Will Rock YouWe Are The Champions
Guitarist Brian May recalls being "completely knocked out" by the experience. That night, he and Freddie Mercury went to bed thinking about how to write songs that weren't just for the band to perform, but for the audience to own . The Two Anthems During the A Day at the Races tour,
Freddie Mercury wrote this as a "theatrical football chant". While some critics initially saw it as arrogant, Mercury explained that the "We" in the title referred to everyone singing it—a unifying message that "we" have all made it through our own struggles. A Global Legacy Guitarist Brian May recalls being "completely knocked out"