Best Queen Songs, Ranked by Awesomeness

These iconic Queen songs should be on your playlist.

Best Queen Songs, Ranked by Awesomeness

One of the greatest bands to add to your playlist is Queen, whose songs rank among the greatest in pop music history.

Freddie Mercury, LGBTQ icon and Queen frontman, is one of the most charismatic performers of all time. Since his 1991 death, "American Idol" alum Adam Lambert has breathed new life into the band with his renditions of these classic songs.

Check out the best Queen songs. And crank it up.

15. The Show Must Go On

Year released: 1991

Album: Innuendo

Bottom line: The song, written mostly by Brian May, details singer Freddie Mercury's attempts to keep performing despite the illnesses he suffered from HIV/AIDS.

His bandmates were concerned that he wasn't capable of singing the song, but he knocked his vocal out of the park. "He never moaned, he never said 'my life is s--t, this is terrible, I hate it,'" said May. "He had an incredible strength and peace."

Following Mercury's death on Nov. 24, 1991, the song was in the top 20 of the United Kingdom charts for five weeks.

14. Radio Ga Ga

Year released: 1984

Album: The Works

Bottom line: The Roger Taylor-penned track, "Radio Gaga" was prophetic in its critique of the commercialization and corporatization of radio stations. At the time, the days of freeform radio were coming to a close.

When it charted, all four members of the group had written at least one top 10 hit either in the United States or U.K. Another side note — Lady Gaga took her name from this very track.

13. Don't Stop Me Now

Year released: 1978

Album: Jazz

Bottom line: This song wasn't as big a hit as the other Queen singles when it first came out. It only went to number 86 in the U.S. and number 9 in the U.K. But it's an understated classic that's been made a classic through consistent airplay and use in ad and TV shows.

In 2011, Queen fans voted "Don't Stop Me Now" as having the best lyric of any of the band's songs — "Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball."

The royals seem to love it too. When they played it at the Queen's Jubilee, Kate Middleton couldn't help but sing along.

12. Fat Bottomed Girls

Year released: 1978

Album: Jazz

Bottom line: This song was part of a double "A" side single release with "Bicycle Race." It was Queen's second double "A" side single release — "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions" was their first.

It is a humorous take on the groupies that surrounded the band in their heyday and was written by guitarist Brian May, who said, "I wrote it with Fred in mind, as you do especially if you've got a great singer who likes fat bottomed girls … or boys."

11. I Want to Break Free

Year released: 1984

Album: The Works

Bottom line: Bass player John Deacon penned "I Want to Break Free" from a man's perspective of the women's liberation movement.

The song was a hit everywhere but in the U.S., as its video featured the band members in drag parodying then-popular British soap, "Coronation Street."

According to drummer Roger Taylor, the video was essentially banned. "It was a measure of the ... thinking, MTV, that they ... thought it was disgraceful, and didn't show it."

10. Keep Yourself Alive

Year released: 1973

Album: Queen

Bottom line: "Keep Yourself Alive" is Queen's first-ever single and the only one that didn't chart, but it has since become a well-loved classic played by classic rock stations all over the world.

The theme of the song (written by Brian May) revolves around not just surviving, but thriving — "I was told a million times, Of all the people in my way, How I had to keep on trying, And get better every day."

9. You're My Best Friend

Year released: 1975

Album: A Night at the Opera

Bottom line: "You’re My Best Friend" is a John Deacon-penned song that became a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic. It was written about his wife, Veronica Tetzlaff.

It was on the U.K. singles charts for eight weeks and peaked at number 7. In the U.S., it initially reached number 16, but eventually, it was certified platinum, with more than a million copies sold.

8. Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Crazy Little Thing Called Love single cover

Year released: 1979

Album: The Game

Bottom line: This homage to 1950s rock n' roll was a stripped down departure from Queen's usual fare, but it was popular right out of the gate.

In the U.S., "The Game" wasn't even out when DJs started putting the import single of the song in heavy rotation. Such was the demand, the record company was forced to release it early. It became Queen's first U.S. number 1 hit.

According to legend, the song inspired John Lennon to start playing music again. If you listen to "Double Fantasy" today, it is very inspired by 1950s rock.

7. Another One Bites the Dust

Year released: 1979

Album: The Game

Bottom line: John Deacon had a knack for writing hits and this was another song that went to the top of the charts.

However, the band wasn't sold on it being a single. It wasn't until they played the Forum in Lo Angeles that Michael Jackson convinced them to release it saying, "That's a fantastic track. You must release it." It was their biggest hit, and the song that truly "broke" the band in the U.S.

Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson went onto record music together, but it has yet to be released.

6. Bicycle Race

Year released: 1978

Album: Jazz

Bottom line: The band recorded the "Jazz" album in France. According to drummer Roger Taylor they were taxed nearly 98 percent on royalties from their earlier records in the U.K., so they recorded in France and Switzerland to avoid paying such high taxes.

Freddie Mercury wrote the song after watching the Tour de France pass his hotel. Fans loved the tune so much that they brought bicycle bells to Queen shows to ring them during this song.

5. Somebody to Love

Year released: 1976

Album: A Day at the Races

Bottom line: Freddie Mercury penned this iconic track about a man who wants love and asks God to help him find it. It's sung in gospel style with all the band members' voices multitracked to resemble that of a choir. Brian May said that the song was inspired by Aretha Franklin's music.

The song didn't hit the number one spot in the U.K. when initially released. It did, however, go to the top of the charts when George Michael performed it with Queen's remaining members at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992.

Somebody to Love by George Michael and Queen

4. Under Pressure

Year released: 1981 (single only release)

Album: Added to "Hot Space" in 1982

Bottom line: This Queen/David Bowie collaboration was another massive hit for the band. All the band members and Bowie contributed, but the main writer was Freddie Mercury. The song is about how societal pressure can destroy lives, but love can break us free from bondage.

It was the band's second U.K. singles chart-topper, and it was Bowie’s third. It's been a classic rock radio staple ever since.

3. Killer Queen

Year released: 1974

Album: Sheer Heart Attack

Bottom line: Freddie Mercury wrote the songs about "a high-class call girl. I'm trying to say that classy people can be whores as well. That's what the song is about, though I'd prefer people to put their interpretation upon it [and] to read into it what they like."

Brian May wasn't sure about the song at first, as Queen was such a heavy band in its early days, but's he's grown fond of it since saying, "This is a perfect pop record and one of Freddie's greatest songs. It's beautifully constructed, and it's also got one of the solos I'm most proud of."

It also influenced none other than pop icon Katy Perry, who said: "Freddie Mercury painted the lyrics of this woman who I wanted to be. She seemed very powerful, and she captivated a room when she walked in."

2. Bohemian Rhapsody

Year released: 1975

Album: A Night at the Opera

Bottom line: The meaning of "Bohemian Rhapsody" has long been disputed, and the members of Queen still won't reveal its secrets, which is just what Mercury wanted.

"It's one of those songs which has such a fantasy feel about it. I think people should just listen to it, think about it, and then make up their own minds as to what it says to them," said Brian May. (We can tell you, however, that "Galileo" is a nod to May's love of astronomy. He's an astrophysicist.)

"Bohemian Rhapsody" went straight to number 1 in the U.K. and number 9 in the U.S., but it has charted repeatedly over the decades due to its inclusion in television and movies, such as "Wayne's World."

1. We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You

We Are the Champions/We Will Rock You single cover

Year released: 1977

Album: News of the World

Bottom line: The songs on Queen's first double "A" side single are forever linked. Both are played together on the radio to this day.

"We Will Rock You" is a foot-stomping anthem that was written by Brian May to encourage audience participation. It leads into "We Are the Champions," which is played at nearly ever major sporting event.

According to scientists, it's literally the "catchiest song ever." In other words, you just can't help but sing along.