"Thank God It's Christmas" is a Christmas single by the British rock band

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. It was written by lead guitarist

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Fredd ...

and drummer

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

. Released on 26 November 1984, the single spent six weeks in the UK charts over Christmas 1984 and new year of 1985, and peaked at number 21. The song was not originally released on any Queen studio album, appearing only on Queen's '' Greatest Hits III'', released in 1999, and as the

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

of the single "

A Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

" from the 1995 album ''

Made in Heaven ''Made in Heaven'' is the fifteenth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 6 November 1995 by Parlophone Records in the United Kingdom and by Hollywood Records in the United States. It was the band's first and only release so ...

''. However, the track was finally included on the bonus EP packaged with the deluxe edition of their album '' The Works'', remastered and re-released in 2011. It appears on the Christmas compilation LP ''

The Edge of Christmas ''The Edge of Christmas'' is a compilation album released in 1995 by Oglio Records. It features Christmas songs with a general new wave/rock theme. Track listing # "Thank God It's Christmas" - Queen # "Please Come Home for Christmas" - Pat Bena ...

'' in its full 12" version with the drum intro. It also appears on the US-only compilation boxed-set ''The Queen Collection'', which consisted of a re-release of the LPs ''Classic Queen'' and ''Queen's Greatest Hits'' along with a bonus CD called ''Queen Talks'' that included this song, along with a 1989 interview with the band.

Music video

Upon its original release, no promotional video was filmed for the track, with shows often using footage of live performances in lieu of an official promotional

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

. In a 2018 interview with ''

Ultimate Classic Rock Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'', Brian May blamed the lack of a music video for the single's underwhelming chart performance In 2019, an animated version of the music video was produced. The animation, directed by Justin Moon and Drew Gleason, depicted a wintery evening scene, with people enjoying each other's company during the Christmas season. The video was released in December 2019 on the Queen Official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel.

Track listings

7" single

12" single

Personnel

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

– lead and backing vocals *

– electric guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals *

– drums, drum machine,

sleigh bell A jingle bell or sleigh bell is a type of bell which produces a distinctive 'jingle' sound, especially in large numbers. They find use in many areas as a percussion instrument, including the classic sleigh bell sound and morris dancing. The ...

s, synthesiser, backing vocals *

John Deacon John Richard Deacon (born 19 August 1951) is an English retired musician, best known for being 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 Bit ...

– bass guitar

Chart performance

Certifications

References

External links

Lyrics at Queen official website
(from '' Greatest Hits III'') {{Authority control Queen (band) songs 1984 singles British Christmas songs Rock ballads Songs written by Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) Songs written by Brian May Hollywood Records singles EMI Records singles Capitol Records singles 1984 songs Song recordings produced by Reinhold Mack