Queen's 1979 Single 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love,' Written in 10 Minutes, Became First No. 1

It's hard to believe that a band like Queen doesn't have 200 No. 1 hits on the US Billboard charts. The trailblazing four-piece act pushed musical genre conventions and became one of the best-selling artists of all time. However, the Freddie Mercury-led rock band didn't strike Billboard gold until 1980 with their first US No. 1 hit: "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."

Released on Oct. 5, 1979, in the UK and Dec. 7, 1979, in the US, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on Feb. 23, 1980, where it reigned for four weeks. (The group's only other Billboard No. 1 track, "Another One Bites the Dust," climbed to the top of the chart in October of that year.) It appears on Queen's eighth studio album, The Game, which was released on June 30, 1980.

Surprisingly, the catchy tune came about in the bathtub. Mercury, whose primary instrument besides his jaw-dropping four-octave range was the piano, composed "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the guitar. He also wrote it as a tribute to Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley. More impressively, Mercury created the iconic single in just "five or 10 minutes." Drummer Roger Tayloradded that Mercury finished the lyrics in the bath before presenting the song to him and bassist John Deacon. They later dubbed in guitarist Brian May's solo after the initial recording process.

Mercury delved into the nuts and bolts of penning the tune in a 1981 interview with Melody Maker:

"'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' took me five or 10 minutes. I did that on the guitar, which I can't play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords. It's a good discipline because I simply had to write within a small framework. I couldn't work through too many chords, and because of that restriction, I wrote a good song, I think."

I'd certainly say so. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a delightfully rockabilly-esque, toe-tapping track. It's a quintessential Queen earworm.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 9:14 AM.