We Will Rock You is a song written by Brian May and recorded and performed by Queen. One version was used as the opening track on their 1977 album News of the World. This version consists of a stamping-clapping beat, and a power chorus, being somewhat of an anthem. The stamping effects were created by the band overdubbing the sounds of themselves stomping and clapping many times and adding delay effects to create a sound like many people were participating. When performed live, this version is usually followed by We Are the Champions, another of the album's hits, as they were designed to run together. The double A-side reached number 4 on the U.S. Billboard singles chart, becoming their second hit in the U.S. On the 45 of the song's original vinyl record release, the song was actually the flip side of We Are the Champions in Britain, however the American record company requested to put the two songs together as a double A-side because American radio stations were playing them back to back. This is a reason why the songs are often paired on the radio and at sporting events, where they are frequently played. The songs are also paired back to back on the album, and they are still played together to this day on American classic rock radio stations.Due to its prevalence in popular culture, We Will Rock You has been recognized by various authorities as being quite influential, including Rolling Stone, which ranked it #330 of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, and also the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) which placed it at #146 on its list of Songs of the Century.