Queen song Dropped From Greatest Hits
It appears rock classic "Fat Bottomed Girls" by legendary band Queen has fallen victim to cancel culture.
The song was surprisingly omitted from the group's new collection of greatest hits for younger listeners that debuted on the audio platform Yoto. The decision has been met with quite a bit of criticism, with some in the music industry blasting the move as "woke" or "ridiculous".
"It is the talk of the music industry, nobody can work out why such a good-natured, fun song can't be acceptable in today's society," one music industry professional - whose name was withheld - told U.K. outlet The Daily Mail. "It is woke gone mad. Why not appreciate people of all shapes and sizes like society is saying we should, rather than get rid of it?"
Commenting on the controversy, Fox News contributor Joe Concha called the omission of the song "utterly ridiculous".
"'To say, ‘All right, that song never existed’ is utterly ridiculous," he said to "Fox & Friends First" anchors Todd Piro and Carley Shimkus. "And, by the way, the boomerang effect will be more people downloading that song than they ever would've before 40 years later. This is just another example of ‘go woke, go broke," but I guess you can't go broke [since] they have made millions upon millions."
The song, which is featured on the Queen's 1981 Greatest Hits album, wasn't the only one to get moved to the platform. Some of their classic tracks came with an online content warning as well.
Yoto called the album the "ideal introduction to the music of Queen for young music lovers", adding a note that warned parents that some of the band's music contained adult themes, including "occasional references to violence and drugs."
"These are the original and unedited recordings. Whilst no swear words are used parental discretion is advised when playing this content to or around younger children," the note adds.
Universal Music U.K.'s head of youth strategies, Sarah Boorman, mentioned that the new partnership between Universal Music and Yoto was the first time any "major frontline music" was available on the service.
"Children should have access to a rich and varied musical offering so that they may foster a life-long love of music of all types," she said. "We are excited to launch Queen's iconic Greatest Hits 1 album as our first release."
Though the intentions of the new partnership between Yoto and Universal Music are good, the inexplicable omission of "Fat Bottomed Girls" from the collection has been quite controversial. It just goes to show that even rock classics are not safe from the reach of cancel culture.