Queen - We Are The Champions

What this video is

Released on 7 October 1977 as the lead single from Queen's sixth album News of the World, 'We Are the Champions' arrived at the cusp of the punk revolution in Britain yet achieved mass popular success by doubling down on anthemic, participatory arena rock. The video's use of a real fan audience at the New London Theatre was a pioneering production decision, collapsing the boundary between promotional film and…

Why it matters

A foundational document of the arena rock promotional film genre, predating MTV by four years. The video established a template for the band-as-collective-performance promo, privileging audience communion and theatrical lighting over narrative or concept. Its slow editorial rhythm and…

The director

Derek Burbidge is a British music video director and cinematographer active from the late 1970s through the 2010s. He directed nearly all of The Police's canonical early MTV-era videos including 'Roxanne,' 'Message in a Bottle,' 'Walking on the Moon,' and…