The shortage of personal protective equipment makes Queen’s Brian May feel “angry and sad”, he told the BBC. That healthcare workers are “expected to go in and risk their lives” without any proper protection is “heartbreaking and horrendous”, he said. May was talking to the BBC as Queen released a new version of their hit song We Are The Champions in support of healthcare workers.

The new version is re-titled You Are The Champions and was recorded during lockdown, May and drummer Rogan Taylor played their parts in London whilst touring singer Adam Lambert recorded his vocals in Los Angeles. Proceeds of the song will go to the World Health Organisation’s Covid-19 fund to support medics all around the globe.

Earlier this week a BBC Panorama investigation uncovered that there were no signs of gowns, visors, body bags or swabs in the government’s pandemic stockpile when the coronavirus reached the UK. “I think we as a nation have to be ashamed that we were not prepared”, May said in the interview with the BBC. “People have died. Young people who had their whole lives ahead of them. I find it absolutely heartbreaking.” May himself isolated very early after Queen had to postpone their tour due to the coronavirus. According to him, self-isolating early on was “a no brainer.” “This virus was about to invade, the only weapon we had was to have less human interaction. So I thought, I’m doing it for the sake of my own health and for the sake of my family, and for the sake of everyone, really”, he continues.

During self isolation he began sharing tutorials on how to play the most popular Queen songs on his Instagram account, and in one of the sessions, Taylor joined. Together they played We Are The Champions and they idea of rerecording the single was born. It wasn’t until touring singer Lambert added his parts that the plan became final. “I sent an email round to everyone and said, ‘You know, we can change the odd word, if we like, to make it mean something different,’ and we had the medics in mind because we’re out there clapping every Thursday night. So I thought, ‘Well, what can you change?” Adam went in there and he just changed those couple of words in the last chorus. So instead of ‘we are the champions it became ‘you are the champions’. We all went ‘Yes, that’s right. That’s just a nice little subtle change”.

The single comes out today, and was recorded only on iPhones and laptops, May says. It aims to show support to all the healthcare workers. “It means that we are all applauding you, because you are now the champions. You are the warriors that are saving humanity on this planet.”