Album
News of the World
News of the World is Queen's sixth studio album, released on 28 October 1977. It was recorded at Sarm and Wessex Sound Studios in London, the band's second album made there, with Mike Stone engineering and sharing production duties with the band. EMI put it out in the UK, with Elektra handling the United States.
It arrived when punk, led by the Sex Pistols, was turning on progressive rock acts like Queen. Their answer was to strip back the symphonic sound of earlier records and play something more direct and spontaneous, closer to hard rock. Reviewers were mixed at first, many remarking on the change of style, but time has been kind to it. "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You", often played back to back on the radio, became stadium anthems, and the album reached number 4 in the UK and number 3 in the US.
News of the World: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 39:15Tracklist
- 1We Will Rock YouBrian May2:01
- 2We Are the ChampionsBrian May and Freddie Mercury3:00
- 3Sheer Heart AttackRoger Taylor3:24
- 4All Dead, All DeadBrian May3:10
- 5Spread Your WingsJohn Deacon4:36
- 6Fight From the InsideRoger Taylor3:02
- 7Get Down, Make LoveFreddie Mercury3:51
- 8Sleeping on the SidewalkBrian May3:05
- 9Who Needs YouJohn Deacon3:07
- 10It’s LateBrian May6:26
- 11My Melancholy BluesFreddie Mercury3:33
- Produced by
- Queen, Mike Stone, Mike Stone
- Recorded at
- Wessex Sound Studios (London), Sarm East (London)
- Recorded
- 6 July – 16 September 1977
- Engineered by
- Mike Stone
- Labels
- Elektra, EMI
- Length
- 39:15
Line-up
- John Deacon · handclaps, foot stomps, bass guitar, acoustic guitar
- Brian May · guitar, handclaps, foot stomps, electric guitar, background vocals, piano, lead vocals, other instruments, maracas, acoustic guitar
- Freddie Mercury · handclaps, foot stomps, background vocals, lead vocals, piano, other vocals, cowbell
- Roger Taylor · handclaps, foot stomps, background vocals, drums (drum set), electric guitar, bass guitar, lead vocals, guitar
Singles
- “We Are the Champions" / "We Will Rock You” · 7 October 1977
- “Spread Your Wings” · 10 February 1978
- “It's Late” · 25 April 1978
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1977–1978 | 3 |
| UK Albums Chart · 1977–1978 | 4 |
| Dutch Albums · 1977–1978 | 1 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1977–1978 | 1 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1977–1978 | 2 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1977–1978 | 3 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1977–1978 | 4 |
| German Albums · 1977–1978 | 7 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1977–1978 | 8 |
| Austrian Albums · 1977–1978 | 9 |
All 16 charts
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) · 1977–1978 | 9 |
| Swedish Albums · 1977–1978 | 9 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1977–1978 | 15 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2018 | 22 |
| Italian Albums · 2019 | 95 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2019 | 98 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Belgium · 1978 | Gold |
| Canada · 1978 | 3× Platinum |
| France · 1978 | Gold |
| Germany · 1990 | Platinum |
| Italy · 2026 | Platinum |
| Netherlands | Platinum |
| Poland · 2009 | Platinum |
| South Africa · 1982 | Gold |
| Switzerland · 1992 | Platinum |
| United Kingdom · 1977 | Gold |
| United States · 2002 | 4× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
79.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
14k
ListenBrainz listeners
274k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
1.4k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 28 October
Every year →
More from Queen
Full discography →
Queen
1973
Queen II
1974
Sheer Heart Attack
1974
A Night at the Opera
1975
A Day at the Races
1976
Queen’s First E.P.
1977
Jazz
1978
Live Killers
1979
The Game
1980
Flash Gordon
1980
Greatest Hits
1981
Hot Space
1982
The Works
1984
A Kind of Magic
1986
Live Magic
1986
Hungarian Rhapsody: Live in Budapest
1987
The Miracle
1989
At the Beeb
1989
Innuendo
1991
Greatest Hits II
1991
Box of Tricks
1992
Classic Queen
1992
The 12″ Collection
1992
Live at Wembley ’86
1992
Five Live
1993
The Greatest 3
1995
Made in Heaven
1995
Queen Rocks
1997
The Crown Jewels: A 25th Anniversary Celebration
1998
Greatest Hits III
1999
Highlander
2000
Greatest Hits I, II & III: The Platinum Collection
2000
We Will Rock You
2002
Jewels
2004
We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan
2004
Queen on Fire: Live at the Bowl
2004
Stone Cold Classics
2006
The A–Z of Queen, Volume 1
2007
Rock Montreal
2007
The Singles Collection, Volume 1
2008
The Singles Collection, Volume 2
2009
Absolute Greatest
2009
The Singles Collection, Volume 3
2010
The Singles Collection, Volume 4
2010
Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 2 (1977–1982)
2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 3 (1984–1995)
2011
Icon
2013
Live at the Rainbow ’74
2014
Queen Forever
2014
A Night at the Odeon
2015
Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Soundtrack
2018
Riffs
2025
Pop
2025
Anthems
2025
Ballads
2025
The best of 1977
All of 1977 →
More on Elektra
The label →
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Metallica · 1984
Kill ’Em All
Metallica · 1983
The Game
Queen · 1980
Sheer Heart Attack
Queen · 1974
Jazz
Queen · 1978
A Day at the Races
Queen · 1976
Stiff Upper Lip
AC/DC · 2000
Reinventing the Steel
Pantera · 2000
Greatest Hits
Queen · 1981
Flash Gordon
Queen · 1980
Sound of White Noise
Anthrax · 1993
The Nothing
Korn · 2019
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 28 October 1977 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 28 October 1977 | |
| Wikidata | 28 October 1977 | |
| US release | 3 November 1977 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 28 October 1977 | earliest UK or European date |
47 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Island | 602527717470 | other |
| — | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087245429 | remaster |
| 1977 | JP | Elektra | other | |
| 1977 | DE | EMI | other | |
| 1977 | NL | EMI | other | |
| 1977 | FR | Pathé Marconi EMI | other | |
| 28 October 1977 | GB | EMI | original | |
| November 1977 | AU | WEA Records | other | |
| 3 November 1977 | US | Elektra | other | |
| 1984 | US | Elektra | other | |
| 1986 | GB | EMI | 077774620925 | other |
| 1986 | XE | EMI | 077774620925 | other |
| 4 February 1987 | JP | EMI | 4988006610262 | other |
| 12 February 1991 | CA | Hollywood Records | 075596103725 | other |
| 12 February 1991 | US | Hollywood Records | 720616103727 | other |
| 1993 | NL | Parlophone | 077778949428 | other |
| 1993 | IT | Parlophone | 077778949428 | other |
| 27 September 1993 | GB | Parlophone | 077778949428 | other |
| 19 October 1993 | US | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | 015775158825 | other |
| 1998 | JP | EMI | 4988006760844 | other |
| 1998 | US | Hollywood Records | other | |
| 21 November 2001 | JP | EMI | other | |
| 11 February 2004 | JP | EMI | 4988006818156 | other |
| 30 March 2008 | ES | EMI | 8423793300218 | other |
| 2011 | CA | Hollywood Records | 00050087522056 | other |
| 2011 | — | EMI | 00602527717470 | remaster |
| 2011 | ZA | Universal | 6009143473133 | remaster |
| 2011 | — | EMI | 00602527717487 | remaster |
| 22 June 2011 | JP | Island | 4988005667861 | remaster |
| 22 June 2011 | JP | Island | 4988005667861 | other |
| 27 June 2011 | XE | Island | 602527717470 | remaster |
| 27 June 2011 | GB | Island | 602527717487 | remaster |
| 13 September 2011 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087245429 | remaster |
| 14 December 2011 | JP | Island | 4988005692818 | remaster |
| 30 October 2013 | JP | Island | 4988005788399 | other |
| 2014 | XW | — | 602547025548 | deluxe |
| 2014 | XW | — | 602547024633 | other |
| 27 October 2014 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087318307 | other |
| 4 November 2014 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087318291 | deluxe |
| 25 September 2015 | XE | Virgin EMI Records | 602547202727 | other |
| 2 September 2016 | JP | Island | 4988031175392 | other |
| 17 November 2017 | XE | Virgin EMI Records | 602557842678 | deluxe |
| 17 November 2017 | DE | Hollywood Records | 050087376062 | deluxe |
| 17 November 2017 | US | Hollywood Records | 050087376062 | deluxe |
| 17 November 2017 | XE | Virgin EMI Records | 602557884470 | other |
| 12 December 2018 | JP | Island | 4988031308950 | other |
| 19 May 2021 | JP | Universal Music | 4988031426791 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 1500x1507 to 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1500×1507 | cropped: cropped from 1500x1507 to 1500x1500 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |