1980 'All Time Top Rock Song' With an Unforgettable Bassline Released 46 Years Ago
Inspired by "Good Times" from the band Chic, the iconic anthem "Another One Bites the Dust" from Queen was written by the band's bassist, John Deacon. Deacon played almost all of the instruments during recording sessions including bass guitar, piano, electric guitar, and even handclaps. Famously, it was Michael Jackson who suggested to lead singer Freddie Mercury that Queen release "Another One Bites the Dust" as a single
The unmistakeable and unforgettable bassline of the song is widely considered to be one of the most memorable in rock music. Polls have listed it as number one for the "Greatest Baselines in Music History" and ClassicalMusic.comagreed, putting it in the top spot for "Best Basslines in Rock." Record Worldcalled it "a brutal bass conspires with the sing-along hook on this thoroughly contagious [song]."
"Another One Bites the Dust" was a total worldwide hit, charting at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks upon release and spending 15 total weeks in the top 10, making it the longest running top ten song of 1980. The song spent 31 weeks total on the Billboard chart-which was more than any other song that year. "Another One Bites the Dust" is Queen's best-selling single in the band's catalog, selling over 7 million copies. Billboard named the song number 34 in its "All Time Top Songs."
The hit Queen song was one of many popular rock songs to be subjected to conspiracy theories from Christian evangelists. The radical claims suggested that playing the chorus of the song backwards (also known as "backmasking") would show the listener was actually hearing Mercury sing: "Decide to smoke marijuana" or, "It's fun to smoke marijuana" or, "Start to smoke marijuana." This has never been proven whatsoever.
The iconic bassline is good for more than just a stellar listening session. The beats per minute of said bassline is used to train medical professionals to provide the correct number of chest compressions per minute while performing CPR. A study proved that doing compressions to the beat of "Another One Bites the Dust" helped improve the accuracy of rates when people were performing CPR.
The song won an American Music Award for Favorite Rock Single and was also nominated for a Grammy Award. Classic Rock History critic an author Millie Zeiler rated it John Deacon's second best Queen song, only behind "You're My Best Friend."
Related: Legendary Frontman Named 'Greatest Vocalist of All Time' 35 Years After His Death
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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 11:15 PM.