Return of the Champions

Return of the Champions
Live album by
Queen + Paul Rodgers
Released13 September 2005
Recorded9 May 2005
VenuesHallam FM Arena, Sheffield, England
GenresRock, hard rock
Length101:00
LabelsParlophone (Europe)
Hollywood (US)
ProducersJoshua J. Macrae, Justin Shirley-Smith, Peter Brandt
Queen + Paul Rodgers chronology
Return of the Champions
(2005)		 The Cosmos Rocks
(2008)
Singles from Return of the Champions
  1. "Reaching Out (Live)"/"Tie Your Mother Down (Live)"
    Released: 29 August 2005 (Europe)

Return of the Champions is a double live album by English rock band Queen + Paul Rodgers. All of the tracks, apart from "Imagine", were recorded in May 2005 during the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour at the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England. "Imagine" was performed in Hyde Park, London on 15 July 2005. The performance was meant to take place on 8 July, but was postponed due to the London bombings that occurred the previous day. The album was released on 19 September 2005. A companion DVD was released in October, directed by David Mallet.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllmusicStarStar link
Robert ChristgauD+ link
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStar

Track listing

All lead vocals performed by Paul Rodgers, except where noted.

Disc 1

Track List
No.TitleWriter(s)Original AlbumLength
1."Reaching Out"Don Black, Andy Hill  
2."Tie Your Mother Down"Brian MayA Day at the Races (1976 / Queen) 
3."I Want to Break Free"John DeaconThe Works (1984 / Queen) 
4."Fat Bottomed Girls"MayJazz (1978 / Queen) 
5."Wishing Well"FreeHeartbreaker (1973 / Free Album) 
6."Another One Bites the Dust"DeaconThe Game (1980 / Queen) 
7."Crazy Little Thing Called Love"Freddie MercuryThe Game 
8."Say It's Not True" (Lead Vocals by Taylor)Roger TaylorThe Cosmos Rocks (2008) 
9."'39" (Lead Vocals by May)MayA Night at the Opera (1975 / Queen) 
10."Love of My Life" (Lead Vocals by May)MercuryA Night at the Opera 
11."Hammer to Fall" (Lead Vocals by May & Rodgers)MayThe Works 
12."Feel Like Makin' Love"Paul Rodgers, Mick RalphsStraight Shooter (1975 / Bad Company) 
13."Let There Be Drums"Sandy Nelson, Richard Podolor  
14."I'm in Love With My Car" (Lead Vocals by Taylor)TaylorA Night at the Opera 
15."Guitar Solo" (Brighton Rock)   
16."Last Horizon"MayBack to the Light (1992 / Brian May) 

Disc 2

Track List
No.TitleWriter(s)Original AlbumLength
1."These Are the Days of Our Lives" (Lead Vocals by Taylor)TaylorInnuendo (1991 / Queen) 
2."Radio Ga Ga" (Lead Vocals by Taylor & Rodgers)TaylorThe Works 
3."Can't Get Enough"RalphsBad Company (1974 / Bad Company) 
4."A Kind of Magic"TaylorA Kind of Magic (1986 / Queen) 
5."I Want It All" (Lead Vocals by Rodgers & May)MayThe Miracle (1989 / Queen) 
6."Bohemian Rhapsody" (Pre-Recorded Vocals by Mercury, With Lead Vocals by Rodgers)MercuryA Night at the Opera 
7."The Show Must Go On"MayInnuendo 
8."All Right Now"Andy Fraser, RodgersFire and Water (1970 / Free) 
9."We Will Rock You"MayNews of the World (1977 / Queen) 
10."We Are the Champions"MercuryNews of the World 
11."God Save the Queen"Traditional, Arr. MayA Night at the Opera 
DVD Tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Original AlbumLength
12."It's a Beautiful Day" (Remix / Pre-Recorded Vocals by Mercury)MercuryMade in Heaven (1995 / Queen) 
13."Imagine" (Live at Hyde Park / Lead Vocals by May, Taylor & Rodgers)John Lennon  

NOTES: Tracks 12–13 are bonus songs from the DVD

Personnel

Charts

Album

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) 107
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)52
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)39
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)19
French Albums (SNEP)80
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)13
Irish Albums (IRMA)47
Italian Albums (FIMI)19
Portuguese Albums (AFP)28
Scottish Albums (Official Charts)10
Spanish Albums (Promusicae)44
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)42
UK Albums (Official Charts)12
UK Rock & Metal Albums (Official Charts)2
US Billboard 20084

DVD

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Australian Music DVDs Chart 16
Austrian Music DVDs Chart 2
Belgian (Flanders) Music DVDs Chart 7
Belgian (Wallonia) Music DVDs Chart 6
Danish Music DVDs Chart 10
Dutch Music DVDs Chart 2
Greek Music DVDs Chart 3
Italian Music DVDs Chart 4
Spanish Music DVDs Chart 6
US Music Videos Chart 13

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) Gold 7,500^
France (SNEP) Gold 10,000*
Germany (BVMI) Gold 25,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "Queen: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  2. ↑ "Queen ARIA chart history (1988 to 2025)". ARIA. Retrieved 18 April 2026 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
  3. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 38, 2005". GfK Chart-Track. IRMA. Archived from the original. Retrieved 1 March 2013. [dead link]
  10. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  11. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  12. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 25/9/2005 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  13. ↑ ""Spanishcharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  14. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  15. ↑ "Official Albums Chart on 1/10/2005 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart on 25/9/2005 – Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  17. ↑ "Awards: Queen + Paul Rodgers – Return of the Champions". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  18. 1 2 "ARIA Top 40 DVD" (PDF). The ARIA Report (823): 23. 5 December 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2005. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  19. ↑ "Austria Top 40 – Musik-DVDs Top 10 11.11.2005". Austriancharts.at (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  20. ↑ "Ultratop 10 Muziek-DVD". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  21. ↑ "Ultratop 10 DVD Musicaux". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "Musik DVD Top-10". Hitlisten.nu (in Danish). IFPI Denmark. Retrieved 1 March 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  23. ↑ "DVD Music Top 30". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  24. ↑ "Top 20 DVD/Video". IFPI Greece (in Greek). Archived from the original on 14 December 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  25. ↑ "Classifiche: Archivio – DVD Musicali". FIMI (in Italian). Retrieved 2 March 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  26. ↑ "Top 20 DVD Musical" (PDF). PROMUSICAE (in Spanish). Media Control GfK International. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  27. ↑ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 5 November 2005.
  28. ↑ "French video certifications – Queen + Paul Rogers – Return of the Champions" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  29. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Queen; 'Return of the Champions')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 2 March 2013.