{"id":139926,"date":"2026-02-20T12:58:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139926\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:58:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:58:33","slug":"university-research-reveals-queens-we-will-rock-you-as-the-catchiest-song-ever-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/139926\/","title":{"rendered":"University Research Reveals Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ as the Catchiest Song Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Science is definitely more than lab coats and Bunsen burners. It\u2019s also a dictator on the best music<\/a> of our generation.<\/p>\n

According to MediaFeed<\/a>, an independent digital media platform run by journalists and content strategists, researchers at the University of St. Andrews’ School of Philosophical, Anthropological and Film Studies developed a formula for figuring out how and why earworms are a thing.<\/p>\n

Based on five factors — \u201chow catchy the melody is, how predictable yet surprising it is, the rhythm, and how much you like it,” per the outlet — the formula is as follows.\u00a0\u201cReceptiveness + (predictability – surprise) + (melodic potency) + (rhythmic repetition x 1.5) = earworm.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applying the formula, the smarty-pants group compiled a list of 20 songs that we just can\u2019t get out of our heads. Topping the list? A Queen classic.<\/p>\n

Released in 1977, \u201cWe Will Rock You,\u201d off the band’s News of the World album, is the official “catchiest song of all time.” Written by the band’s guitarist, Brian May, it was composed with the intention of creating an interactive, stadium-ready anthem featuring a stomp-stomp-clap rhythm that allowed the audience to actively participate, May shared on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d makes the list, too. Claiming the No. 6 spot, the 1975 headbanger off the band\u2019s A Night at the Opera album might just be the most Queen-associated tune in the icons\u2019 discography.<\/p>\n

Sharing the origin story of the rock song in a 1984 interview, Mercury<\/a> said, \u201cI basically was writing three songs, and they were going to be different. I just couldn\u2019t finish them, and I just thought, Oh, dammit, I\u2019ll just put the three together.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a career-defining performance, Queen performed at the 1985 Live Aid concert, whose purpose was to raise awareness and funds for the famine crisis in Ethiopia. Per CNN<\/a>, the now-iconic performance is \u201coften lauded as the greatest live gig of all time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stretching across 21 minutes, Mercury and his guys seamlessly strung together a six-song medley of their greatest hits, sending the 72,000 fans packed into London\u2019s Wembley Stadium into fits of euphoria.<\/p>\n

The performance was re-created beat for beat in the Oscar-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek, who took home a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Mercury.\u00a0The film even received high praise from Queen’s May.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy with the film we made about Freddie, for now,\u201d he said, per the\u00a0The Daily Mail<\/a>.. \u201cI don\u2019t need any more than that. I feel very proud that we did it for Freddie, not for us, it made it right for us, it was the right thing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfac SIGN UP for Parade\u2019s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox<\/a> \ud83c\udfac<\/p>\n

Related: Queen Rocker Brian May Slams New Fab Four Biopic, ‘The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event’<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Parade<\/a> on Feb 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Science is definitely more than lab coats and Bunsen burners. It\u2019s also a dictator on the best music…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":139927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[58578,664,58577,58575,58576,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-139926","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-a-queen","9":"tag-brian-may","10":"tag-bunsen-burners","11":"tag-content-strategists","12":"tag-film-studies","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-queens","17":"tag-queens-headlines","18":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}