"Don't Stop Me Now" is a song by the British rock band

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, featured on their 1978 album ''

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

'' and released as a single on 26 January 1979. Written by lead singer

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

, it was recorded in August 1978 at Super Bear Studios in

Berre-les-Alpes Berre-les-Alpes (; ; , formerly, although still in use in Niçard) is a rural commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the southeastern Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in France. Toponymy By a decree of 22 December 1997, Berre-''de ...

(Alpes-Maritimes), France, and is the twelfth track on the album. The song also appeared on the band's 1981 compilation album ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

''. In June 2011, as part of Queen's 40th anniversary celebrations, an old take of the song containing more guitar parts was included on the bonus EP of the re-released and remastered ''Jazz'' album. Featuring in films, commercials, and television shows, the song has grown in popularity in the decades since its release. Bobby Olivier of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' attributes its initial rebirth to its appearance in the 2004 cult classic zombie apocalypse film '' Shaun of the Dead''. In 2014, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' readers voted it their third-favourite song by Queen.

Background

The song was written by Freddie Mercury during the sessions for ''Jazz''. The band felt they were "getting better at having a good time" and the lyrics reflect this. Musically, the song builds on Mercury's piano playing, with

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician who was the bass guitarist for the rock band Queen. He wrote several songs for the group, including Top 10 hits " You're My Best Friend", "Another One Bites the Dust" a ...

and Roger Taylor providing a bass guitar and drums backing track. The song also provides an example of Queen's trademark style of multitrack harmony vocals for the chorus lines. An alternative version of the song, with a harder, guitar-driven arrangement, appeared on '' Bohemian Rhapsody: The Original Soundtrack'' issued in 2018, billed as "Don't Stop Me Now... Revisited".

Reception

The single reached number 9 in the UK charts but only number 86 in the US; as the album was a top-10 hit, the song got some airplay on U.S.

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...

stations despite its low chart ranking as a single. Despite this, the song has grown in stature with time and has been popularised not only by consistent airplay, but by its use in advertisements, television programmes and films, and through cover versions. It has subsequently become one of Queen's most popular songs. The song was voted as the third-best Queen song by readers of ''

'', who noted that "time has also been very kind to it and it's widely seen now as one of the group's best works." The single also has reached

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

status in the United Kingdom. In a March 2019 ''

'' article titled, "The Evolution of Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now': How a Minor Hit Became One of the Band's Most Beloved (And Inescapable) Songs", Bobby Olivier wrote,

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that the "astonishing" song "may be Queen's greatest song of all". He felt it was "a direct product of ercury'shedonism and promiscuity: an unrepentant, joyous, utterly irresistible

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice ( monody). It comes from the Greek (also or ), "song ...

to gay pleasure-seeking. You find yourself wondering if its title might not have been aimed at his censorious bandmates." Mike Orme of ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

'' ranked it the 7th-greatest penultimate track on an album, calling it Queen's "most flamboyant and energetic single" and commenting: "Essentially three and a half minutes of Freddie Mercury jacking the mike from the rest of the world, the song offers him a chance to let us know just how much fun he's having in the spotlight." ''

'' praised

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melody, melodic passage, instrumental section (music), section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, classical, electric guitar, electric, or acoustic guitar. In 20th and ...

and also stated that the song was "less gimmick laden" than Queen's previous single from ''Jazz'', "

Bicycle Race "Bicycle Race" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and written by Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song " Fat Bottomed Girls", re ...

"/"

Fat Bottomed Girls "Fat Bottomed Girls" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song appears on the band's seventh studio album ''Jazz'' (1978) and later on their compilation album '' Greatest Hits''. When released as a singl ...

", "while still retaining the brazen braggadocio of Freddie Mercury's lead vocals." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said it has "vocal dramatics and varied arrangements by Mercury" and "beautifully layered vocals and regal guitar work from

May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May in the Southern Hemisphere is the ...

". ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it a "fast paced tune with that easily identifiable Freddie Mercury lead vocal and Brian May guitar." The television show '' Top Gear'' voted it the Greatest Driving Song Ever.

Criticism

Despite its popularity, Brian May was not originally a fan of the song as he felt it was celebrating the hedonistic and risky lifestyle of Mercury, which he considered threatening. He added that he struggled with the lyrics at the time, because it was about a difficult period in Freddie's life when the singer was "taking lots of drugs and having sex with lots of men". However, after hearing the song being played at weddings, parties and funerals, he has come to appreciate it as representing "great joy".

Music video

The video for the song was directed by J. Kliebenstein and filmed at the

Forest National Forest National (French language, French) or Vorst Nationaal (Dutch language, Dutch) is a multi-purpose arena located in the municipality of Forest, Belgium, Forest in Brussels, Belgium. The arena can hold more than 8,000 people. It hosts indoo ...

, Brussels, Belgium on 26 January 1979. The video was uploaded to Queen's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel on 1 August 2008.

Live performances

Viewed at the time of release as one of the lesser songs in the Queen canon, it was only performed live during 1979, with the last performance in the Crazy Tour. On the studio version,

's only guitar playing is in his guitar solo, but on live versions performed on the band's 1979

and

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

tours, May would also play rhythm guitar throughout the rest of the song to give more of a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

feel. A live version of the song features in the band's 1979 album ''

Live Killers ''Live Killers'' is a double live album by the British rock band Queen, released on 22 June 1979.Live Ki ...

''. Queen reintroduced the track to their set in the 2010s with

Adam Lambert Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...

and it is now a popular live favourite.

Personnel

Queen: *

– lead and backing vocals, piano *

– guitars, backing vocals * Roger Taylor – drums, percussion, tambourine, triangle, backing vocals *

– bass guitar

Charts

Year-end charts

Revisited version

Certifications

McFly version

In 2006, English band

McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...

covered "Don't Stop Me Now" and released it as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

single with original track "Please, Please". The release, titled "Don't Stop Me Now" / "Please, Please", was the first single from their third album, '' Motion in the Ocean''. It premiered on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

on 7 June 2006. The double A-side entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on 23 July 2006, knocking "

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

" by

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...

off the top spot. It also reached number 15 in Ireland.

Charity

Some of the money from any version of the single went to ''

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

'' and as a result their version of "Don't Stop Me Now" was played across the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's sport programmes, including highlights from the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. It also was the theme for the "Sport Relief Mile", which McFly also took part in. Judd also travelled to India for ''Sport Relief'' with a collection of other British celebrities including presenter and comedian Nick Hancock and radio DJ and presenter Chris Evans. Whilst out in India, Harry took part in a cricket tournament, travelling across India's poorest areas and playing with everyone from the kids to the professionals, all in aid of ''Sport Relief''.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Don't Stop Me Now" # "Please, Please" (radio version) UK CD2 # "Please, Please" (single version) # "Don't Stop Me Now" # "5 Colours in Her Hair" (US version) # "5 Colours in Her Hair" (live from Arena Tour) # "5 Colours in Her Hair" (live video) # "Harry in India for

" UK DVD single # "Please, Please" (audio) # "Don't Stop Me Now" (audio) # "I've Got You" (US version) # "I've Got You" (US movie video) # "Please, Please" (video) # Behind the scenes at the "Please, Please" video shoot

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

Cover versions include: *

Foxes Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

covered the song on the 11 October 2014 episode of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', "

Mummy on the Orient Express "Mummy on the Orient Express" is the eighth episode of the Doctor Who (series 8), eighth series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 October 2014. The episode was written by Ja ...

". A music video was subsequently released by the BBC to publicise series 8 of the rebooted show. *

The Vandals The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, three live albums, three live DVDs and have toured the world extensively, including performances on ...

, on their 2004 album '' Hollywood Potato Chip''.

In popular culture

* The song was used in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise: the 2020 film of the same name, and a launch trailer for the 2022 game '' Sonic Frontiers,'' as well as other promotional material. It was also featured in the official trailer for

Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...

's '' Elio''. * The song and its associated Wikipedia page feature in

Hank Green William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American YouTuber, science communicator, novelist, Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, and entrepreneur. He produces the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green, a ...

's debut novel '' An Absolutely Remarkable Thing''. * The song was also used in the 2019 film '' Shazam!'' and the 2024 film '' Venom: The Last Dance''.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
''Don't Stop Me Now – The Story Behind The Song at Wow-Vinyl''
{{authority control 1978 songs 1979 singles 2006 singles Queen (band) songs The Vandals songs McFly songs Songs written by Freddie Mercury Song recordings produced by Roy Thomas Baker EMI Records singles Elektra Records singles Hollywood Records singles British power pop songs Gay-related songs Charity singles Comic Relief singles Island Records singles Number-one singles in Scotland UK singles chart number-one singles Universal Records singles