"You are the champions, my friends, and you'll keep on fighting 'til the end"… The Queen group, with singer Adam Lambert, adapted one of their classics to pay tribute and raise funds for the staff on the front line facing the Covid-19 pandemic.

"You are the champions", adaptation of the global hit "We are the champions", is a song intended "for all those on the front line, around the world [...]. People who risk their lives to save us and our families, "Queen guitarist Brian May told Reuters during a video conference from his London home.

This new version came to life when Brian May posted on Instagram on April 16 a video of him playing part of the song, inviting the public to take part. He then encouraged drummer Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert, who toured with the group in place of the late Freddie Mercury, to participate in the song.

After having discussed the possibility of modifying or not the lyrics, Adam Lambert replaced "we" by "you" in the last verse, without touching the rest of the song.

It is unusual to see Queen modify even a single word of a classic written by Freddie Mercury over forty years ago. "But that's the kind of event that warranted such a change," Adam Lambert told Reuters from his Los Angeles home. "And as it is a well-known title, changing a single word has a huge impact."

The proceeds will be donated to a World Health Organization (WHO) fund for medical staff.

With Reuters

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