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Queen
With the single "Another One Bites the Dust" reaching No. 1 in the U.S. Rock, Soul,
and Disco categories simultaneously, Queen was more popular than ever.
The quartet undertook the first-ever tour of South America by a major rock band,
playing to crowds of unheard sizes, up to 130,000people per date.
In fact, the band was perhaps bigger in South America than in the rest of the world,
with Queen singles staying at No. 1 for years at a time.
In early 1981 Roger Taylor released his solo debut, Fun in Space.
During the group's time off, EMI released a "greatest hits" album which stayed in
the British Top 100 for most of the next decade. The following year Queen released Hot
Space, another commercial smash.
After pausing to release a Brian May solo EP, Star Fleet Project, Queen returned to
the studios in late 1983 to record The Works, released early the next year; its first
single "Radio Ga Ga," reached No. 1 in 19 countries, though the album was not as
popular as past Queen releases.
Following the release of another Roger Taylor solo album (Strange Frontier) in
early 1984; Queen began another tour, this time heading to Africa.
Their decision to include South Africa, then under worldwide boycott due to its racial
policies, caused the band problems in the British Commonwealth, where they were hounded
with criticism; they even faced protests at some New Zealand concert dates.
Freddy Mercury's solo debut, Mr. Bad Guy, was released in 1985, shortly before Queen
appeared at the famous Live Aid show in London that July.
The group took some time off before recording a soundtrack for the 1986 action film
Highlander, entitled A Kind of Magic.
The elaborate tour that followed included a stop in Hungary, one of the first
appearances by a Western rock band in an Eastern Bloc country; the tour culminated
with a massive show at Knebworth that drew 120,000 fans. The tour was captured in
the group's second live album, Live Magic.
Though Queen was as popular as ever throughout the world, in the U.S. their popularity
was swiftly declining. Queen spent much of 1987 and 1988 apart -- Taylor formed a new band,
the Cross, while Mercury worked on Barcelona, a duet album recorded with Spanish opera star
Montserrat Caballe.
Queen's much-anticipated 16th album, The Miracle, was released in May 1989 and entered the U.K.
charts at No. 1.
Queen song lyrics...
Another One Bites The Dust
Under Pressure
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