"Rockin' All Over the World" is a rock song written by John Fogerty, formerly of

Creedence Clearwater Revival Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...

. It made its debut on Fogerty's second solo album in 1975. It was also released as a single, spending six weeks in the US top 40, peaking at #27.

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

recorded their own, heavier arrangement of Fogerty's song for their 1977 album '' Rockin' All Over the World''. The cover peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart and also charted in several other countries. In July 1985, Status Quo opened

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

with "Rockin' All Over the World". Fogerty has given the cover a positive appraisal, occasionally making joking reference to it as the better-known version in introducing the song at UK gigs, and has talked about how the success of Status Quo's version came during a "very dark period" in his life and "made imfeel much better". In an interview with '' Uncut'' magazine, he said that "it's wonderful to have a cover that's much better known than the original" and stated that he didn't mind that many people mistakenly believed that Status Quo wrote the song.

Reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' critic

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born ) is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of '' Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published num ...

considered the song a good choice for the album's lead single, although he claimed that it was "little more than the formulaic CCR sound with the title repeated over and over, like a chant." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' exclaimed "Good news for rock and roll fans. John Fogerty is back, capturing all the deceptively simple magic frantic feel that made Creedence a groundbreaking rock group in the '60s," praising the vocals, instrumentals and the title. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "every kid in town should sit up and take note of the simple drive, and cut out all that complicated crud."

Status Quo version

During the recording of Status Quo's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

to the song,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Alan Lancaster Alan Charles Lancaster (7 February 1949 – 26 September 2021) was an English musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the rock band Status Quo, playing with the band from 1967 to 1985, with brief reunions in 2013 and 2014. As wel ...

was living in Australia. He had refused to return to the UK for the recording, so he was replaced by a dummy with a

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

in the video. Quo's version was their 8th UK top ten hit, peaking at #3. At

, Status Quo began their set (and thus the event itself, as they were the opening band) with "Rockin' All Over the World" which first became an unofficial anthem for the event when the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

used it to advertise their TV coverage.

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

performed a portion of the song at

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005 ...

, with lead singer Chris Martin singing the chorus during the song " In My Place", after much was made of Status Quo's absence from the concert in the British media. The song has found widespread usage in the sports world. In 1988, to support Sport Aid, Status Quo re-recorded the song as "Running All Over the World" with slightly amended lyrics. It reached #17 in the UK Singles Chart. In the 21st century, Status Quo's 1977 rendition has become both an anthem of English football and European football more broadly, including as German side

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

's post-goal track (a song played over the PA system whenever a goal is scored by the home team). The song is played over the PA system after England international matches, to which the crowd sings along. It is also popular as a crowd chant, with both original and modified lyrics, at various clubs around England, including

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

(modified, "

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

and Emile Smith Rowe"), Millwall (original) and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

(modified, "Super Ben Foster In Goal"). The song was also adapted by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

women's teams fans as " Tooney and Lessi Russo". Following Alessia Russo's transfer to

, Ella Toone admitted that she was upset to hear the chant modified as " Lotte and Lessi Russo" when Manchester United faced Arsenal.

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

uses the song whenever the home team wins their matches at home. A portion of the song was played in the background music of the episode of the

ITV Sport ITV Sport is the Broadcasting of sports events, sports department of ITV plc, which produces and presents sports programming for the ITV (TV network), ITV network and ITVX. The branding was originally introduced in 1985 as an umbrella title fo ...

show English Football League Highlights when Katie Shanahan was presenting a match between Millwall and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Another re-recorded version by Status Quo - a cover of the original 1977 record - appeared on their album '' Riffs'' in 2003. The song was reprised once again, in 2014, for Status Quo's thirty-first studio album, '' Aquostic (Stripped Bare)'', as an acoustic arrangement. It was featured in the ninety-minute launch performance of the album at London's '' Roundhouse'' on 22 October, the concert being recorded and broadcast live by

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

as part of their ''In Concert'' series.

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1975 songs 1975 singles 1977 singles John Fogerty songs Status Quo (band) songs Songs written by John Fogerty Song recordings produced by John Fogerty Song recordings produced by Pip Williams Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Asylum Records singles Vertigo Records singles