The Subways unveil new version of their iconic hit ‘ROCK & ROLL QUEEN’

The Subways today commemorate the 20th anniversary of their debut album ‘Young For Eternity’ by unveiling a fresh re-recorded version of the iconic ‘Rock & Roll Queen’. he celebrations will continue throughout the rest of 2025, first with the release of the career-spanning compilation ‘When I’m With You’ on October 17th, and then with ‘The Subways For Eternity’ UK and European headline tour.

‘Rock & Roll Queen’ is a cornerstone of The Subways’ story. It has been played at nearly every one of the band’s 1059 gigs to date, while also exceeding 100 million streams and becoming a mainstay of rock radio and streaming playlists. It was also a cultural phenomenon of the era, which soundtracked a Rimmel / Kate Moss ad campaign, and which they performed in ‘The OC’ and Guy Ritchie’s ‘RocknRolla’. It was also the song they played when they stormed ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’.

This new version shows how the song has evolved over the years, led by Billy Lunn’s raw sneer and featuring a heavyweight breakdown that maximises the dynamics of its final explosive hook. Elsewhere, of course, it’s still the ‘Rock & Roll Queen’ that people know and love: that instant earworm of a chorus, Charlotte Cooper’s effortlessly cool backing vocals, and Billy’s blood-letting scream.

Charlotte says, “I always think of ‘Rock & Roll Queen’ as the song that’s taken us around the world, and we’ll always be grateful for that.

Billy adds, “It was punk, it was pop, it was everything we loved about music.”

It still receives a huge reaction to this day, as drummer Camille Phillips observes, “It’s always completely impossible for it not to be contagious for you as well, when everyone starts bouncing around, dancing around, and singing alone to that song.”

The track is accompanied by a new visual which compiles live performances of the track from a selection of recent major European festivals – Deichbrand, Open Flair and Bonn Harmonie for Rockpalast – as well as footage from a video shoot at the Gorilla in Manchester. It proves that even after twenty years on the road, The Subways still remain an incendiary live force to be reckoned with.

The career-spanning ‘When I’m With You’ is structured to reflect the band’s live set, taking in their high impact debut single ‘Oh Yeah’ and the original version of ‘Rock & Roll Queen’, through to early fan favourites like ‘With You’ and recent highlights such as ‘You Kill My Cool’. But there is much more to come in The Subways’ story, as represented by two new songs: ‘I Need To Feel You Closer’ and ‘Passenger’s Side’. The new recordings also mark the album debut of Camille, who joined in 2023.

‘When I’m With You’ is available to pre-order HERE, with physical products coming in the shape of double white-and-black marbled vinyl with a signed insert, double red-vinyl and CD.

The Subways will play select festivals this summer, including UK dates at Harlow’s Sunset Sessions (July 5th) and a headline set on the Giant Squid stage at Y NOT? (August 1st). ‘The Subways For Eternity’ headline tour then gets underway in November across the UK before heading into Europe. Tickets for the dates, listed below, are available HERE.