Imagine dropping by a friend’s jam session and walking out having created one of the greatest rock songs of all time. That’s exactly what happened when David Bowie stopped by Queen’s Swiss studio in 1981 — resulting in the legendary hit “Under Pressure.”
The song was released in October 1981 and quickly made its mark on the U.K. charts, entering at number eight. Within a few weeks, it climbed to number one and held the top spot for two weeks. This achievement gave Queen their second U.K. chart-topper and Bowie his third.
During the recording of their tenth studio album, Hot Space, Queen was based at Montreux Mountain Studios in the Swiss Alps. Just down the road, Bowie was busy working on a song for an upcoming film.
Intrigued by Queen’s project, Bowie made an impromptu visit to their studio. A spontaneous jam quickly turned into a co-writing session, with Bowie later recalling, “This is stupid, why don’t we just write one?” as remembered by Roger Taylor.
When it came to the vocals, Brian May described the unique approach the band took. Speaking with Ultimate Classic Rock Nights, he explained, it was “constructed in a very novel way, which came through David, because he had experience of this avant-garde method of constructing the vocals…He said, ‘Everybody just goes in there with no ideas, no notes, and sings the first thing that comes into their head over the backing track.’”
May recalled, “So we all did, and then we compiled all the bits and pieces—and that’s what ‘Under Pressure’ was based on; all those random thoughts.”
However, the recording wasn’t without tension. The early ‘80s rock scene was defined by big personalities, making creative clashes almost unavoidable.
May told Mojo in 2008, “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, the legendary guitarist admitted he might have done some things differently. “It’s a great song, but it should have been mixed differently. Freddie and David had a fierce battle over that.”
Despite the creative challenges, “Under Pressure” became a global hit and an anthem of the era. In 2018, Rolling Stone readers named it the second-best collaboration of all time. Clearly, a little bit of “avant-garde” went a long way.
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