Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen

A momentous song for Queen, this was both their first US Number One and a highlight of one of their most celebrated shows, the performance at Live Aid in London’s Wembley Stadium. Queen was up against heavy competition that day: they played after U2 and Dire Straits, and right before David Bowie. Freddie Mercury had a throat infection, and his doctors had told him not to perform that day…but he did, and Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof called them the best band of the day.

As drummer Roger Taylor later recalled, “Live Aid was a shot in the arm. We got the whole 17 minutes into one long medley of hits - why bore them with something they’ve not heard before? And we were louder than anyone else, you’ve got to overwhelm the crowd in a stadium.” Added Geldof, “It was the perfect stage for Freddie: the whole world.”

Performing this song with Queen, Freddie Mercury played acoustic 12-string guitar - the first time he ever played guitar onstage.

The guitar part is harder than you might expect. The swing rhythm has some very tricky chord changes, and a lot of pattern variation. It might at first seem like you’re playing the same thing, but pay attention - the pattern changes and you’ll over strum the whole song.

Freddie is in heaven. John Deacon is retired. Brian May and Roger Taylor recently revived Queen with ex-Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers.