Under Pressure



"Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Queen's second number-one hit in their home country (after 1975's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which topped the chart for nine weeks) and Bowie's third (after the 1975 reissue of "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes" in 1980). The song peaked at No. 29 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in January 1982, and would re-chart for one week at No. 45 in the US following Bowie's death in January 2016. It was also number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. It was voted the second best collaboration of all time in a poll by Rolling Stone magazine.

The song was played live at every Queen concert from 1981 until the end of Queen's touring career in 1986. Live recordings appear on the Queen live albums Queen Rock Montreal and Live at Wembley '86. The song was included on some editions of Queen's first Greatest Hits compilations, such as the original 1981 Elektra release in the US. It is included on the band's compilation albums Greatest Hits II, Classic Queen, and Absolute Greatest as well as Bowie compilations such as Best of Bowie (2002), The Platinum Collection (2005), Nothing Has Changed (2014) and Legacy (2016).

Background and composition
Queen had been working on a song called "Feel Like", but were not satisfied with the result. David Bowie had originally come to Mountain Studios to sing backing vocals on another Queen song, "Cool Cat", but his vocals were removed from the final song because he was not satisfied with his performance. Once he got there, they worked together for a while and wrote the song. The final version, which became "Under Pressure", evolved from a chance encounter jam session that Bowie had with the band at Queen's studio in Montreux, Switzerland. It was credited as being co-written by the five musicians. The scat singing that dominates much of the song is evidence of the jam-beginnings as improvisation. However, according to Queen bassist John Deacon (as quoted in a French magazine in 1984), the song's primary musical songwriter was Freddie Mercury – though all contributed to the arrangement. Brian May recalled to Mojo magazine, in October 2008, that, "It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. David took over the song lyrically. Looking back, it's a great song but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce battle over that. It's a significant song because of David and its lyrical content." The earlier, embryonic version of the song without Bowie, "Feel Like", is widely available in bootleg form, and was written by Queen drummer Roger Taylor.

There has also been some confusion about who had created the song's bassline. John Deacon said (in Japanese magazine Music life in 1982) that David Bowie created it. In more recent interviews, Brian May and Roger Taylor credited the bass riff to Deacon. Bowie, on his website, said that the bassline was already written before he became involved. Roger Taylor, in an interview for the BBC documentary Queen: the Days of Our Lives, stated that Deacon did indeed create the bassline, stating that all through the sessions in the studio he had been playing the riff over and over. He also claims that when the band returned from dinner, Deacon, amusingly, forgot the riff, but fortunately Taylor was still able to remember it. Brian May clarified matters in a 2016 Mirror Online article.

Reception
"Under Pressure" has received critical acclaim since its release, with multiple publications ranking it among Queen and Bowie's best songs and among the greatest songs of all time. In a review for Hot Space, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called "Under Pressure" as the album's "undeniable saving grace" and "the only reason most listeners remember this album." He described the song as "an utterly majestic, otherworldly duet...that recaptures the effortless grace of Queen's mid-'70s peak, but is underscored with a truly affecting melancholy heart that gives it a genuine human warmth unheard in much of their music." Similarly, Ned Raggett of AllMusic described the song as "anthemic, showy and warm-hearted, [and] a clear standout for both acts."

Following Bowie's death in 2016, Jack Hamilton of Slate called "Under Pressure" a "masterpiece" and is a reminder to the public that Bowie could be "wonderfully, powerfully human." Jack Whatley wrote for Far Out Magazine "with all the animosity, wine, cocaine and vocal battles which helped come together to birth the song, what remains is an incredibly powerful and poignant pop song that we will likely not see matched in our lifetimes. The two juggernauts of Freddie Mercury and David Bowie collide here with perfect and enriching precision."

The September 2005 edition of online music magazine Stylus singled out the bassline as the best in popular music history. In November 2004, Stylus music critic Anthony Miccio commented that "Under Pressure" "is the best song of all time" and described it as Queen's "opus". In 2012, Slant Magazine listed "Under Pressure" as the 21st best single of the 1980s.

Music video
The video for the song features neither Queen nor David Bowie due to touring commitments. Taking the theme of pressure, director David Mallet edited together stock footage of traffic jams, commuter trains packed with passengers, explosions, riots, cars being crushed and various pieces of footage from silent films of the 1920s, most notably Sergei Eisenstein's influential Soviet film Battleship Potemkin, the silent Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore, and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, a masterpiece of the German Expressionist movement. The video explores the pressure-cooker mentality of a culture willing to wage war against political machines, and at the same time love and have fun (there is also footage of crowds enjoying concerts, and lots of black and white kissing scenes). Top of the Pops refused to show the video due to it containing footage of explosions in Northern Ireland, so a choreographed performance was instead shown. In 2003, Slant Magazine ranked “Under Pressure” number 27 among the 100 greatest music videos of all time.

7": EMI / EMI 5250 (UK)

 * Side one
 * 1) "Under Pressure" (Mercury, May, Taylor, Deacon, Bowie) – 4:08
 * Side two
 * 1) "Soul Brother" (Mercury) – 3:38

7": Elektra / E-47235 (US)

 * Side one
 * 1) "Under Pressure" (Mercury, May, Taylor, Deacon, Bowie) – 4:08
 * Side two
 * 1) "Soul Brother" (Mercury) – 3:38

1988 3" CD: Parlophone / QUECD9 (UK)

 * 1) "Under Pressure" – 4:08
 * 2) "Soul Brother" – 3:40
 * 3) "Body Language" – 4:33

Personnel

 * Original producers:
 * Queen
 * David Bowie

Musicians on original version:
 * Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals, piano, Hammond organ, handclaps, finger snaps
 * Brian May – electric guitars, handclaps, finger snaps
 * Roger Taylor – drums, backing vocals, handclaps, finger snaps
 * John Deacon – bass guitar, handclaps, finger snaps
 * David Bowie – lead and backing vocals, synthesizer, handclaps, finger snaps

Live performances
Although very much a joint project, only Queen incorporated the song into their live shows at the time. Bowie chose not to perform the song before an audience until the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, when he and Annie Lennox sang it as a duet (backed by the surviving Queen members). However, after Mercury's death and the Outside tour in 1995, Bowie performed the song at virtually every one of his live shows, with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey taking Mercury's vocal part. The song also appeared in set lists from A Reality Tour mounted by Bowie in 2004, when he frequently would dedicate it to Freddie Mercury. Queen + Paul Rodgers have recently performed the song; and in summer of 2012, Queen + Adam Lambert toured, including a performance of the song by Lambert and Roger Taylor in each show. While Bowie was never present for a live performance of the song with Mercury, Taylor instead filled for backing vocals in unison with Mercury, as Mercury took over all of Bowie's parts.

Live recordings

 * Queen first recorded a live version of the song at the Montreal Forum in Canada on 24 November 1981. This was included in the concert films We Will Rock You and Queen Rock Montreal. Incidentally it is one of the few times in concert where Mercury used falsetto in the song on the line "these are the days it never rains but it pours".
 * A second live version of the song was recorded at Milton Keynes, England, in 1982. This was released in 2004 on the live album/DVD Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl. Prior to the concert, rumours circulated that Bowie would appear with Queen to sing his parts onstage, but it is probable that he did not even attend the concert.
 * In September 1982 the band performed the song during an appearance on the eighth-season premiere of Saturday Night Live, which turned out to be Freddie Mercury's final live performance with Queen in the United States.
 * Later, Queen recorded a third live version of the song at Wembley Stadium, London, in 1986. This was released on the live album/DVD Live at Wembley Stadium. Another rendition from this same tour (from Queen's concert in Budapest) appeared in edited form on the album Live Magic in 1986. A recording taken from Queen's last gig in Knebworth Park in 1986, appears, albeit in remixed form, as a B-side from second CD single of "Rah Mix" version of this song, released in 1999. (See below)
 * During the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992, the surviving members of Queen along with Bowie and Annie Lennox (filling in for Mercury) performed the song. The concert was later released on DVD in 2002 for the 10th anniversary.
 * A version recorded by David Bowie's live band in 1995 was released on the bonus disc included with some versions of Outside – Version 2. This live version was also released on the single "Hallo Spaceboy" in 1996.
 * Bowie's 25 June 2000 performance of the song at the Glastonbury Festival was released in 2018 on Glastonbury 2000.
 * Bowie's DVD A Reality Tour (2004) and album A Reality Tour (2010) include a November 2003 live version from the A Reality Tour, recorded in Dublin, with Bowie's bassist Gail Ann Dorsey singing Mercury's parts.
 * The 2006 VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, featured Queen + Paul Rodgers performing "Under Pressure" along with "The Show Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" as a live broadcast.

Rah Mix
A remixed version (called the "Rah Mix") was issued in December 1999 to promote Queen's Greatest Hits III compilation, reaching No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart. The video for the Rah Mix was directed by DoRo, featuring footage of Freddie Mercury from the Wembley concert on 12 July 1986 and David Bowie at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert also at Wembley on 20 April 1992 spliced together using digital technology (with Annie Lennox carefully edited out). This version is featured on the Greatest Hits III compilation, the Rah Mix CD single (as an Enhanced CD video) and the 2011 iTunes LP edition of Hot Space.

Track listing
Two CD singles (one multimedia enhanced) released 6 December 1999 and 7" picture disc released 13 December 1999. As "Bohemian Rhapsody" wins The Song of The Millennium award, this released as B-side under the title "The Song of The Millennium – Bohemian Rhapsody".
 * CDS No. 1
 * 1) "Under Pressure (Rah Mix)"
 * 2) The Song of the Millennium – "Bohemian Rhapsody"
 * 3) "Thank God It's Christmas"


 * CDS No. 2
 * 1) "Under Pressure (Rah Mix – Radio Edit)"
 * 2) "Under Pressure (Mike Spencer Mix)"
 * 3) "Under Pressure (Knebworth Mix)"
 * 4) Enhanced section


 * 7-inch single
 * 1) "Under Pressure (Rah Mix)"
 * 2) The Song of the Millennium – "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Other releases

 * It was initially released in US on the Elektra Records US and Canadian versions of Queen's Greatest Hits as a new track.
 * It was released in the UK on Queen's Greatest Hits II in 1991 (which would later be included in The Platinum Collection (2000, 2002 and 2011) adding Freddie Mercury's line in the beginning, "That's Ok-ay!" while removing the second time David Bowie sings, "This is our last dance."
 * It was released as a bonus track on the Virgin Records reissue of Bowie's Let's Dance in 1995.
 * Hollywood Records remixed the song for their 1992 release, Classic Queen. This version features improved sound quality, but removes Mercury's interjection "that's okay!" at about 0:53.
 * It also appeared on the Bowie compilation Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993).
 * The original single version appears on disc three of Bowie's The Platinum Collection (2005). This disc was later released separately as The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007).
 * The original single version also appears on Bowie's Nothing Has Changed (2014) and Legacy (2016).
 * An instrumental version appears in the DVD menu for the Hot Space section of Greatest Video Hits 2.
 * It has also been performed, but without the lyrics, by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
 * It was featured nearly in its entirety in the 2010 film It's Kind of a Funny Story, initially as a 'cover' by the patients in a music therapy class at a New York City psychiatric ward, which the film transformed into the authentic song 'performed' by the patients, dressed in glam, in a near music-video style imaginary sequence (with David Bowie and Queen's original vocals and instrumentation).
 * It was featured in the 2009 film World's Greatest Dad, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait.
 * Featuring in Happy Feet Two in 2011, the song was also released in the film’s soundtrack.
 * The song featured in a French TV advert for LCL bank in 2018.

Other remixes
Mr. Mixx Remix. Mr. Mixx of 2 Live Crew produced a hip-hop remix intended for inclusion as the fourth track on the cancelled 1992 Hollywood Records compilation BASIC Queen Bootlegs.

Lazy Kiss Edit. Released in October 2013 by Brazilian Electro-House duo, Lazy Kiss. This edit/mashup gained exposure through blog filter site, Hype Machine and the Italian music blog, Frequenze Indipendenti.

Mouth Pressure. Released in January 2017 as a part of the Neil Cicierega album Mouth Moods, "Mouth Pressure" pairs the instrumentals from "Under Pressure" with the vocals from Smash Mouth's "All Star".

Percy's Pressure . A karoke version of the song was released in September as a part of the soundtrack of the animated Warner Brothers musical film Smallfoot whose lyrics detail one of the central human characters Percy's (voiced by James Corden) fall from fame and his need to bounce back. Additional lyrics were written by Karey Kirkpatrick, the film's director, and his brother Wayne Kirkpatrick.

Charts
In the U.K., "Under Pressure" was Queen's second number-one hit and Bowie's third. Queen's smash hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" reached number one in November 1975, just two weeks after Bowie's "Space Oddity" had done the same. Bowie also topped the British charts in August 1980 with "Ashes to Ashes", his own answer song to "Space Oddity".

"Ice Ice Baby" sampling controversy
Controversy arose when Vanilla Ice sampled the bassline for his 1990 single "Ice Ice Baby". Initially he denied the accusation and then said he had modified it but did not originally pay songwriting credit or royalties to Queen and Bowie. A lawsuit resulted in Bowie and all members of Queen receiving songwriting credit for the sample. Vanilla Ice later claimed that he purchased the publishing rights to "Under Pressure", saying that buying the song made more financial sense than paying out royalties, but a Queen spokesman clarified that Vanilla Ice's statement was inaccurate.

My Chemical Romance and the Used version
The song was covered in 2005 by American alternative rock bands the Used and My Chemical Romance for tsunami relief. The cover was originally released as an Internet download track but has subsequently been featured as a bonus track on the 2005 re-release of the Used's second studio album In Love and Death, and received wide airplay in 2005.

On the Billboard charts, the single reached number 28 on Modern Rock chart and number 41 on the Hot 100.

Shawn Mendes version
In October 2018, Canadian singer and songwriter Shawn Mendes featuring American singer and songwriter Teddy Geiger (credited as teddy<3) released a version of the song.

The song was released to coincide with the release of the film Bohemian Rhapsody. Universal Music Group released three tracks by different artists "channeling their inner Freddie Mercury"; this was the first.

A portion of the profits from the "Under Pressure" cover were donated to Mercury Phoenix Trust, which was founded by Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor (and the group's manager, Jim Beach) after Mercury's death to help fight AIDS worldwide. Mendes said in a statement: "I am so honored to be able to support the amazing legacy of Freddie and Queen by doing a cover of one of my favorite songs, 'Under Pressure'".

Reception
Taylor Weatherby from Billboard called the track "breezy" and said "Mendes and Geiger put their voices at the forefront of the stripped-down rendition, with Mendes' falsetto and Geiger's ""raspier"" tone complementing their plucky acoustic guitars."