I have a theory that if the rock band Queen were a food… it would be pizza.

Everyone likes pizza, right? You might debate about the best style (sorry deep-dish haters, but I’m Chicago-style all the way). You might argue about the ideal toppings. You might even want to make a case for what qualifies as pizza (“Does it need cheese to be pizza?” “Yes. Yes it does. Next question please.” And so on.)

But personally, I can’t think of another food that carries more universal appeal than pizza. Likewise, I’m hard-pressed to come up with a more likable band than the one consisting of Brian May, John Deacon, Roger Taylor, and Freddie Mercury that came into its prime in the late 1970s/early 80s and keeps rocking (on TV, in film, during timeouts of stadium sports events) today– some 30+ years after Mercury’s untimely death in 1991. 

And about those stadium sports events… you know how sometimes a game or a match isn’t what you hoped it would be, and suddenly the speakers (or a live marching band) gets the audience stomping and clapping the rhythm to “We Will Rock You”...

And you’re singing along as best you can, maybe only joining in for the chorus, but it’s loud, and it’s fun, and… then the time out is over and the game resumes, and you’re thinking Awww… can’t we all just keep singing instead?

In figure skating, you CAN. Granted, “We Will Rock You” isn’t often a Queen selection of choice (more on that later), but whatever IS… audience participation is part of the event. And even if the program in question isn’t going as planned, the song carries the skater. It uplifts the crowd! No wonder it works so well in stadiums– where else is there room for Mercury’s vocals to climb and soar like that?

Given that need for vocals, it might go without saying that Queen programs didn’t become a competitive mainstay until vocals were allowed in all disciplines (not just ice dance). But that would overlook several programs utilizing orchestrated versions of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

As you might know, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a nearly six-minute suite melding balladry, operatic passages, and hard rock into one of the most unique (and uniquely successful) Top 40 singles of all time. But if its sheer length didn’t make it difficult to edit into even an exhibition program, its utter complexity did. 

However, orchestral versions of “Rhapsody” (usually embracing the balladry within it) made their way into competitive skating in the 2000s… and other orchestrations of Queen’s work soon joined the fold as well. This medley used by Canadian pairs team Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch at 2013 Worlds was a big hit as they reached the podium at Canadian Nationals… and nearly reached the Worlds podium too! 

Once Mercury’s vocals were permitted in competition, the Queen programs we were treated to became increasingly electric (literally)! This FS by Adam Rippon to “Who Wants To Live Forever”-- a ballad– got the needle moving back in the 2015-16 season… 

And this arrangement of “Under Pressure”-- a collaborative effort between Queen and David Bowie that I still wish was used more often– brought the band into the ice dance world, courtesy of Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

Which includes several medleys– like this one that brought Ross Miner a lot of love from the audience, if not the Olympic selection committee– back in 2018: 

(songs used are “Somebody to Love,” “Love of My Life,” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”)

As bottomless as the well of Queen music is, it should come as no surprise that deeper cuts (AKA lesser-known tracks) are making their way to the ice surface in the 2020s. Did you know there was a skater-friendly track on their A Day At The Opera album entitled “The Millionaire Waltz”? Thanks to Georgia’s Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava, you do now!

Don’t tell two-time World Champion Madison Chock, for she and Evan Bates brought more Queen goodness (and an homage-paying jacket!) to their Rhythm Dance in 2023-24.

If you’re somehow still unconvinced of this band’s kind of magic when it comes to this sport, I’ll just leave you with this question: When is the last time you learned a skater was using Queen music and thought Oh, God, not again!

I think the answer speaks for itself.