Uses in Popular Culture
The song has been regularly played to celebrate sports victories. Formula One drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have both sung the song after crossing the finish line to become world drivers champions. Various politicians around the world have played this as a victory song after winning an election. In the National Hockey League when a team wins the Stanley Cup, as well as the Premier League when a team wins the league, the song is always played. Popular Darts Player Bobby George uses the song for his walk on
The song can be heard in many music video games (Guitar Hero: On Tour series, Pro Evolution Soccer 2, Taiko no Tatsujin series, The Matrix: Path of Neo and Lego Rock Band), films (including High Fidelity, D2: The Mighty Ducks, What Happens in Vegas, A Knight's Tale, Kicking & Screaming, Chicken Little, You Again, Happy Feet Two and Revenge of the Nerds), and TV series (including Friends, South Park, three episodes of The Simpsons (in "The War of the Simpsons", "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" and "She Used to Be My Girl"), Season 5 of The Sopranos, Drawn Together, Malcolm in the Middle where Hal shows his skating abilities, South Park episode "Stanley's Cup", So You Think You Can Dance in 2007, The Big Bang Theory, Angel, and a Robot Chicken episode called "Unionizing Our Labor"). In May 2012, the song was performed on Glee in the episode Nationals, and features in The Graduation Album. When the New York Yankees won the 2009 World Series, the song played as soon as Mariano Rivera got the last out.
The song also featured as downloadable content on music rhythm video games, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 5.
It was re-issued in a RB3 Version in 2010 for Rock Band 3 to take advantage of the addition of a real guitar and MIDI compatible keyboards and electronic drumkits.
After the 1981 World Series, Jay Johnstone, Jerry Reuss, Steve Yeager, and Rick Monday of the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers released a cover version of "We Are the Champions", which they later performed on Solid Gold, the syndicated music television program.
This song, along with "We Will Rock You", was part of a two song medley sung by Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy on Disney's album Mickey Sports Songs.
The song was covered by Katie Waissel during the first live show of the 2010 UK The X Factor. The song was also performed as part of the Closing Ceremony of the Delhi Commonwealth Games. The song was featured in the novel The Million Dollar Kick when Whisper makes the million-dollar goal.
Referring to "the late, great Freddie Mercury" in their 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech, Guns N' Roses quoted Mercury's lyrics from the song; "I’ve taken my bows, my curtain calls, you’ve brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it, and I thank you all."
Read more about this topic: We Are The Champions
Famous quotes containing the words popular and/or culture:
“Much of the ill-tempered railing against women that has characterized the popular writing of the last two years is a half-hearted attempt to find a way back to a more balanced relationship between our biological selves and the world we have built. So women are scolded both for being mothers and for not being mothers, for wanting to eat their cake and have it too, and for not wanting to eat their cake and have it too.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“The purpose of education is to keep a culture from being drowned in senseless repetitions, each of which claims to offer a new insight.”
—Harold Rosenberg (1906–1978)