“Another One Bites the Dust”- A look back at how

‘Queen’ struggled to stay afloat in the US, ultimately

sinking ‘under pressure’.
WRITTEN BY JOSEPHINE JOHNSON
Introduction
June, 1984. British pop-rock band ‘Queen’ reigns as self-
proclaimed ‘champions’ in the UK. However across the Atlantic
in America, Queen was of the process of one of the largest
downfalls of all time . They’d released the now-infamous “I
Want to Break Free” music video, featuring all 4 band members
cross-dressing¹. The last tour Queen made in the US was
“Hotspace” in 1982² and after a less-than-positive reception,
Queen isn’t looking like it’s coming back. Amid a slew of
criticism, Is it possible this was the point Queen truly bit the
dust in the country?
The Rise
WEDNESDAY, 25 OCTOBER 2022
Tensions
Despite this success, clashes within the band were growing.
To quote Brain May in a 2021 Interview, “[Queen] had a
family relationship. It wasn’t always nice, because families
aren’t always nice⁹." While this created great chemistry on
stage it led to incessant fighting. The band also argued on a
professional level. As time passed, each band member
wanted to explore their own style and ideas, leading to
creative disagreements. As Brian May went on to say, "We
were like four painters with a brush each but one canvas¹⁰.”
And when these new ideas strayed miles from the rock style
they were known for, fans weren’t impressed.

Queen started in London, 1970 with guitarist Brian May, Hotspace

drummer Roger Taylor and frontman Freddie Mercury⁴, whose Hot Space, the rock band’s tenth studio album, was centred
flamboyant energy infused itself within their songs. They firmly around disco and funk². This was nothing like their
struggled to find a bass player who fit but it was John Deacon usual traditional rock style, leaving many core fans
who stuck with them after 1971⁵. The band dominated the disappointed. One song featured “Back Chat”, was heavily
1970s pop rock music field, with albums “Queen” (1973), influenced by African American music and blues. The song
“Sheer Heart Attack” (1974) and “Night At the Opera” (1975)⁶, flopped, stalling at number 40 on the UK charts and failing to
solidifying the band's popularity. The success of these initial chart in the US.² Many other songs on the album, also fell on
albums helped Queen create a large, loyal fanbase worldwide deaf ears. British newspaper ‘The Guardian’ described the
So rolling into the 1980s Queen seemed unstoppable. Their sound as a “weird, skeletal, dubby electronic… which didn't
next album “The Game” contained “Another One Bites the suit Queen at all.”²
Dust”, which Roger Taylor blamed the shift in
spent 15 weeks in the direction on bassist John Deacon in
US Billboard Top 10⁷. an interview from 1984. "John’s
The overall reception of always been R&B orientated ... And
their music was I think catapulted us into taking
overwhelmingly positive, that road. I think we went too far Figure 3: Hot Space
album cover
with a Record Mirror and did too much”². May and Taylor
critic describing them as also scorned the influence that
“the most exciting band Mercury’s manager Paul Prenter
Figure 1: ‘Another One Bites the Dust’
I've ever seen or heard”⁸. UK release art held on the singer who supposedly
In 1981 Queen released their first compilation album, Greatest hated rock music and did all he
Hits. A true representation of the band that had controlled the could to move Freddie away from
Western music scene for the last decade. the style².
The Hot Space tour came in April
1982. It marked the last time that
the band went to the US as fans
couldn’t get behind the new sound.
Many see this album as the initial
Figure 2: ‘The Game Tour’ cause of Queen's downfall. Figure 4: Prenter and Mercury
1980, Oakland Arena together in 1981
 “Another One Bites the Dust”- A look back at how ‘Queen’ struggled to stay afloat in the US, ultimately sinking ‘under pressure’.

I Want to Break Free
Hotspace was the start of the end for Queen. Yet despite their
dwindling popularity, Queen were still respected for their
previous hits and contribution to the rock-pop music scene. But
if the poor quality and reception of Hotspace was the band's
funeral, then their music video for ‘I Want to Break Free’¹⁰ was
the final nail in their coffin. The song itself was released on the
Album The Works in 1984 with a mediocre performance,
peaking at number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 101.
Unsurprisingly, the song is much more R&B than rock and roll¹⁰.
Created in 19811², MTV became a vital tool for artists to
generate attention for their new music, becoming essential
for commercial success. The channel banned “I Want to Break
Free” for the cross dressing, leaving half of the US angry and
offended by their video and the other half indifferent to its
existence. The consequence of this was a lack of success
anywhere close to what they were generating pre-Hotspace in
the US. Sure, hardcore fans remained, but their small, loyal
following was insignificant compared to the entire nation that
Queen had managed to lose in just a few years. Tours to the
country stopped, and while their 1989 album “The Miracle”
hit number 1 in the UK and other countries, it didn’t come
close in the US. A review by Rolling Stone described good
moments in the album as “little snippets of Queen's former
majesty¹¹.”, showing Queen truly wasn’t what it used to be.

Conclusion
“Another One Bites the Dust”. Ironically, a perfect way to describe
Figure 5: Mercury, Taylor, Deacon and May in
what happened to Queen in the US. You may think it unlikely that a
‘I want to Break Free’ music video
band so popular could be undone by a single album and music
The music video was produced and released in 1984, with the
video, but the ratings and reviews speak for themselves. There’s no
characters and premise based on the British soap opera denying that Queen had a huge impact on the late 20th-century
“Coronation Street”1. The music video follows Mercury's music scene, but this fame did nothing to soften the fall
character, based on a barmaid from the show who wants to from the top in the US
‘break free’ from her life. In the music video, Freddie sported a which left them
“tight-fitting sleeveless pink top with sizable false breasts (with bruised, battered, and
black bra straps showing), black leather miniskirt, thigh-high worst of all, irrelevant.
black stockings, and high-heeled shoes¹⁰.” The other band
members wore similar outfits, May an unfashionable (1097 words)
housewife, Deacon a conservative grandma and Taylor a
schoolgirl¹⁰. While many in the
UK appreciated it Figure 7: Band ‘Queen’ in 1973

as a reference to
the well-loved
show which often
included
cross-dressing,
the full drag
that all 4 band
members wore
was simply
unacceptable for
the majority of
Figure 6: Coronation Street character “Mark
the US audience. Selby” crossdressing in show
Unfortunately for Queen, the 24-hour cable television network
MTV was one of those.
 References:
(1) Aquilina T. (2021 September 3). Queen's Roger Taylor recalls MTV's 'narrow-minded' response to drag in 'I Want to Break
Free' video. Entertainment Weekly https://ew.com/music/queen-i-want-to-break-free-music-video-mtv/

(2)Wikipedia. (2023 October 24). Hot Space. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Space

(3) Britannica. (2023, September 9). Queen, British rock group. Britannica. https://www.britannica
(3)* Hodkinson, M. (2009, October 28). Queen: The Early Years. Omnibus Press. London
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ltd6eEI7tZgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
*additional source

(4) Millier M. (2019, February 21). The True Story of How Freddie Mercury Joined Queen, According to The Band's Original
Singer. Esquire https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies

(5) Gagne. M. (2023, January 1). ROCK REWIND: WHY QUEEN CONTINUES TO INSPIRE FANS TODAY. Rock Rewind
https://rock95.com/rock-rewind-queen-history/

(6) Wikipedia. (2023, October 24). Queen discography. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen

(7) Wikipedia. (2023, October 23). The Game (Queen album). Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

(8) Queen Archives. Record Mirror review (archived at queenarchives.com) (site unavailable)

(9) Horsfall.T. (2022, May 6). Brian May recalls "merciless" arguments with Freddie Mercury: "We said terrible things".
Smooth Radio https://www.smoothradio.com/artists/queen/brian-may-arguments

(10) Wikipedia. (2023, September 25). I Want to Break Free. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

(11) Neely K. (1989, September 7). The Miracle. Rolling Stone

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/the-miracle-247944/ (11)

Images:
Figure 1: Wikipedia. (2023, October 18). Another One Bites the Dust. Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_One_Bites_the_Dust

Figure 2: Wikipedia. (2023, September 10). The Game Tour. Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_Tour

Figure 3: Wikipedia. (2023 October 24). Hot Space. Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Space

Figure 4: Stets R. (2019 December 6). What happened to Paul Prenter: biography of Queen manager. Legit
https://www.legit.ng/1281235-what-happened-to-paul-prenter-biography-of-queen-manager.html

Figure 5: Wikipedia. (2023, September 25). I Want to Break Free. Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Want_to_Break_Free

Figure 6: Fitzmaurice S. (2011, June 24). Who’s your cute friend? Coronation Street's Audrey Roberts goes on a date with
transvestite beau Marc. Daily Mail
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2007351/SPOILER-ALERT-Who-s-cute-friend-Coronation-Streets-Audrey-
Roberts-goes-date-transvestite-beau-Marc.html

Figure 7: Penley T. (2023 August 21). Queen classic 'Fat Bottomed Girls' dropped from band's greatest hits collection for
younger audiences. Fox News
https://www.foxnews.com/media/queen-fat-bottomed-girls-dropped-band-greatest-hits-collection-younger-audiences