Song · The Smiths
“The Queen Is Dead” by The Smiths
From the album The Queen Is Dead (1986)
“The Queen Is Dead” by The Smiths appears on 19 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1986 and 2024. It was first released in 1986 on the album The Queen Is Dead. Its best result is #7 on the John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #31 alternative song of 1986, #814 alternative song of all time and #377 of the '80s.
Watch
Video from YouTube (The Smiths). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"The Queen Is Dead" is the title track of the Smiths' third album, released in 1986, and it makes its case against the monarchy with teeth bared. Morrissey's anti-royalist lyric stirred up controversy in the British music press, and the band behind him matched the provocation: the music grew out of experiments and jams, with Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce leaning on studio technology to push their playing further.
Marr and Morrissey produced it themselves, with Stephen Street engineering. It wasn't issued as a single until 2017, and it didn't need to be; it won its notoriety on the album and in the band's live sets, and critics have since hailed Morrissey's savage words and the ferocity of the band's attack.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 61 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986 | 90 |
| 1986 | 7 | John Peel (BBC Radio 1) | John Peel's Festive Fifty of 1986 | 50 |
All-time and decade countdowns
Also listed as: Queen is Dead; The Queen is Dead.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "The Queen Is Dead" by The Smiths.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.