Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust Hit US No. 1 on This Day

Forty-six years after Another One Bites the Dust reached US No. 1, revisit John Deacon’s songwriting and Queen’s bass-driven crossover.

GuitarGangsters Editorial 4 October 2026

AI-created editorial portrait of songwriter John Deacon for Queen’s 1980 US No. 1 anniversary; not an archival photograph. Identity reference: Eddie Mallin, Dublin 1979, CC BY-SA 2.0.

On October 4, 1980, Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” began a three-week run at No. 1 in the United States. Forty-six years later, the anniversary puts John Deacon’s songwriting and the band’s rhythmic range back in focus.

One distinction matters: this was not Queen’s first American No. 1. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” written by Freddie Mercury, had reached the top earlier in 1980. “Another One Bites the Dust” brought a different route to the same position.

John Deacon moves to the foreground

Written by Deacon and included on The Game, Queen’s eighth studio album, the song placed a bass-driven idea at the centre of a major crossover hit. Queen’s official retrospective connects it with the bass lines of Chic and the album’s embrace of funk and disco rhythms.

The Game was recorded at Musicland in Munich and produced by Queen and Mack. That context is useful: the single belonged to an album in which the band was opening its sound to different rhythmic priorities.

For guitar-minded listeners, the lesson is an arrangement question. What happens when the low end supplies the hook and the rest of the band has to make that hook work? Space, repetition and the relationship between parts become as important as a conspicuous lead line.

A wider audience

Queen’s official Deacon biography also records the song’s No. 2 placing on the US R&B chart. Alongside the American pop-chart peak, that helps explain why this record is a useful marker of the band’s reach.

Deacon also wrote “You’re My Best Friend” and “I Want to Break Free.” Revisit those songs beside “Another One Bites the Dust” and the anniversary becomes a portrait of a songwriter with more than one way into a Queen song. Which of his compositions is your favourite?

For another side of Queen, explore our Brian May and the Red Special feature.

AI-created editorial portrait of songwriter John Deacon for Queen’s 1980 US No. 1 anniversary; not an archival photograph. Identity reference: Eddie Mallin, Dublin 1979, CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: reference photograph. License information. The adapted illustration is shared under the same CC BY-SA 2.0 license.