“Killer Queen” by Queen

"Killer Queen" is Freddie Mercury's portrait of a high-class call girl, written for Queen's third album, Sheer Heart Attack, in 1974, and for once he wrote the words first and the music after, the reverse of his usual habit. What he came up with is a dainty, dangerous little parlor number: Mercury on piano and a jangly tack piano, Roger Taylor tinkling triangle and wind chimes alongside his drums, John Deacon's bass sliding underneath and Brian May's guitar stacked into a gleaming chorus.

The harmonies of Mercury, May and Taylor are fussed over down to the last breath. Roy Thomas Baker produced with the band, working at Trident and, for part of it, at Rockfield in Wales. It went to number two in Britain and became Queen's first hit in America, reaching 12 on the Hot 100.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.