Queen and Adam Lambert have recorded a special version of the band’s classic “We Are The Champions” to raise money for frontline workers in the COVID-19 battle.
“It’s really a song about overcoming obstacles. It’s a song about, you know, defying the odds,” Lambert told Reuters. “That’s what we’re doing right now.”
The singer, who tours with original Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor in place of the late Freddie Mercury, changed only one word in the song that Mercury penned in 1977: He sings “you” instead of “we” in the final verse.
“This is the type of event that warranted such a change,” said Lambert. “Because it’s such a well-known title, changing that one word makes a huge impact.”
The three musicians and Mercury’s estate are donating proceeds from the song to a World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.
May told Reuters the new version of the song is for “the people who are risking their lives to save us and save our families.” This includes Taylor’s daughter, London doctor Rory Taylor (who appears in the video).
Watch “You Are The Champions” below: