Editing Queen (band) (section)

===1980–1982: ''The Game'', ''Hot Space'' and stadium tours ===
Queen began their 1980s career with ''[[The Game (Queen album)|The Game]]''. It featured the singles "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "[[Another One Bites the Dust]]", both of which reached number one in the US.<ref name="bbtfh"/> After attending a Queen concert in Los Angeles, [[Michael Jackson]] suggested to Mercury backstage that "Another One Bites the Dust" be released as a single, and in October 1980 it spent three weeks at number one.{{sfn|Sutcliffe|2009|p=155}} The album topped the ''Billboard'' 200 for five weeks,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=The Billboard Albums|place=[[Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin]]|publisher=Record Research|year=2006}}</ref> and sold over four million copies in the US.<ref name=RIAAC/> It was also the first appearance of a synthesiser on a Queen album. Heretofore, their albums featured a distinctive "No Synthesisers!" sleeve note. The note is widely assumed to reflect an anti-synth, pro-"hard"-rock stance by the band,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vocalgroup.org/inductees/queen.html|title=Inductees – The Vocal Group Hall of Fame Foundation|publisher=Vocalgroup.org|access-date=2 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130034307/http://vocalgroup.org/inductees/queen.html|archive-date=30 November 2010}}</ref> but was later revealed by producer [[Roy Thomas Baker]] to be an attempt to clarify that those albums' multi-layered solos were created with guitars, not synths, as record company executives kept assuming at the time.<ref name="sos1995">{{Cite magazine|last=Cunningham|first=Mark|title=AN INVITATION TO THE OPERA: Roy Thomas Baker & Gary Langan: The Making Of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'|magazine=Sound on Sound|date=October 1995|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/oct95/queen.html|quote=There was no stipulation that we wouldn't have any synths, but the statement 'No synths' was printed on the album sleeves because of peoples' lack of intellect in the ears department. Many people couldn't hear the difference between a multitracked guitar and a synthesiser. We would spend four days multi-layering a guitar solo and then some imbecile from the record company would come in and say, 'I like that synth!'|access-date=25 September 2008|archive-date=11 April 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040411064017/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/oct95/queen.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In September 1980, Queen performed three sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden.{{refn|name="history"|1={{sfn|Sutcliffe|2009|pp=128, 129, 159}}}} In 1980, Queen also released [[Flash Gordon (album)|the soundtrack]] they had recorded for ''[[Flash Gordon (film)|Flash Gordon]]''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Flash+Gordon+%28album%29+queen&pg=PT29|title=Billboard 12 July 1980|date=12 July 1980|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-date=5 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305150754/https://books.google.com/books?id=kSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=Flash+Gordon+%28album%29+queen&pg=PT29#v=snippet&q=Flash%20Gordon%20(album)%20queen&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> At the [[American Music Awards of 1981|1981 American Music Awards]] in January, "Another One Bites the Dust" won the award for Favorite Pop/Rock Single, and Queen were nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo, or Group.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1981/amas.htm |title=8th American Music Awards |publisher=Rockonthenet.com |access-date=19 October 2012 |archive-date=15 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815172347/http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1981/amas.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In February 1981, Queen travelled to South America as part of [[The Game Tour]], and became the first rock band outside [[the Americas]] to play stadiums in Latin America.<ref name="SA Concerts">{{cite news |title=What happened when Queen conquered South America |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/what-happened-when-queen-conquered-south-america |access-date=12 November 2023 |work=[[Classic Rock (magazine)#Publication history|Louder]] |archive-date=12 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112031238/https://www.loudersound.com/features/what-happened-when-queen-conquered-south-america |url-status=live }}</ref> On playing the concerts, ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]'' magazine states, "They were under the spotlight from all quarters, as the entire music industry waited to see if their ambitious plans would bear fruit".<ref name="SA Concerts"/> Tom Pinnock in the March 1981 issue of ''[[Melody Maker]]'' wrote, {{blockquote|Queen chalked up a major international "first" by becoming the band to do for popular music in South America what The Beatles did for North America 17 years ago. Half a million Argentinians and Brazilians, starved of appearances of top British or American bands at their peak, gave Queen a heroic welcome which changed the course of pop history in this uncharted territory of the world rock map. The ecstatic young people saw eight Queen concerts at giant stadia, while many more millions saw the shows on TV and heard the radio broadcasts live.<ref name="Melody Maker"/>}}

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| caption1 = Queen played to over 250,000 over two concerts at the [[Estádio do Morumbi|Morumbi Stadium]] in São Paulo, Brazil during the South American part of The Game Tour
| caption2 = The band with Argentine footballer [[Diego Maradona]] (middle) at the [[José Amalfitani Stadium|Vélez Sarsfield Stadium]] in Buenos Aires
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The tour included five shows in Argentina, one of which drew the largest single concert crowd in Argentine history with an audience of 300,000 in [[Buenos Aires]]<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=27 July 1982|url=http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Queen_-_07-27-1982_-_Washington_Post_-_Capital_Centre|title=Queen's Flashy Rock|access-date=15 January 2011|archive-date=16 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116043715/http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Queen_-_07-27-1982_-_Washington_Post_-_Capital_Centre|url-status=live}} Retrieved 15 January 2011</ref> and two concerts at the [[Estádio do Morumbi|Morumbi Stadium]] in São Paulo, Brazil, where they played to more than 131,000 people in the first night (then the largest paying audience for a single band anywhere in the world)<ref>{{cite news |last=Lowry |first=Max |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jul/13/popandrock.art |title=The ones that got away |work=The Guardian |date=13 July 2008 |location=London |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-date=23 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623170020/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jul/13/popandrock.art |url-status=live }}</ref> and more than 120,000 people the following night.<ref>Henke, James (11 June 1981) "Queen Holds Court in South America" ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' Retrieved 15 January 2011</ref> A region then largely ruled by military dictatorships, the band were greeted with scenes of fan-fever, and the promoter of their first shows at the [[José Amalfitani Stadium|Vélez Sarsfield Stadium]] in Buenos Aires was moved to say: "For music in Argentina, this has been a case of before the war and after the war. Queen have liberated this country, musically speaking."<ref name="Melody Maker">{{cite news |title=Freddie Mercury: "I'm very conscious of the fact that Queen must not get too cerebral" |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/freddie-mercury-im-conscious-fact-queen-must-not-get-cerebral-94346/ |access-date=26 May 2021 |work=Melody Maker |agency=Uncut magazine |archive-date=26 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526153215/https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/freddie-mercury-im-conscious-fact-queen-must-not-get-cerebral-94346/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The group's second show at Vélez Sarsfield was broadcast on national television and watched by over 30 million. Backstage, they were introduced to footballer [[Diego Maradona]].{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=255}}

Topping the charts in Brazil and Argentina, the ballad "[[Love of My Life (Queen song)|Love of My Life]]" stole the show in South American concerts. Mercury would stop singing and would then conduct the audience as they took over, with [[Lesley-Ann Jones]] writing "the fans knew the song by heart. Their English was word-perfect."{{refn|1={{harvp|Jones|2012|p=198}}<ref name="Jones-2012"/>}} Later that year Queen performed for more than 150,000 on 9 October at Monterrey ([[Estadio Universitario (UANL)|Estadio Universitario]]) and 17 and 18 at Puebla ([[Estadio Olímpico Ignacio Zaragoza|Estadio Zaragoza]]), Mexico.{{sfn|Purvis|2006|p=315}} Though the gigs were successful, they were marred by a lack of planning and suitable facilities, with audiences throwing projectiles on stage. Mercury finished the final gig saying, "Adios, amigos, you motherfuckers!"{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=261}} On 24 and 25 November, Queen played two nights at the [[Montreal Forum]], Quebec, Canada.<ref>{{cite press release|title=QUEEN ROCK MONTREAL|url=http://www.queenrockmontreal.com/dvd.php|publisher=Eagle Rock Vision|quote=Release date: October 29, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510090916/http://www.queenrockmontreal.com/dvd.php|archive-date=10 May 2014}}</ref> One of Mercury's most notable performances of ''The Game''{{'s}} final track, "[[Save Me (Queen song)|Save Me]]", took place in Montreal, and the concert is recorded in the live album, ''[[Queen Rock Montreal]]''.<ref>{{cite web |author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1239496 |title=Queen Rock Montreal |website=AllMusic |date=30 October 2007 |access-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018005645/https://www.allmusic.com/album/queen-rock-montreal-mw0000489040 |archive-date=18 October 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Queen worked with [[David Bowie]] on the 1981 single "[[Under Pressure]]". The first-time collaboration with another artist was spontaneous, as Bowie happened to drop by the studio while Queen were recording. Mercury and Bowie recorded their vocals on the track separately to each other, each coming up with individual ideas. The song topped the UK charts.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=258}} In October, Queen released their first compilation album, titled ''[[Greatest Hits (Queen album)|Greatest Hits]]'', which showcased the group's highlights from 1974 to 1981.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=262}} The [[List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom|best-selling album]] in UK chart history, it is the only album to sell over seven million copies in the UK.<ref name="OCC GH">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/queen-s-greatest-hits-becomes-first-album-in-official-charts-history-to-reach-7-million-uk-chart-sales-__36841/|title=Queen's Greatest Hits becomes first album in Official Charts history to reach 7 million UK chart 'sales'|last=Smith|first=Carl|date=11 July 2022|publisher=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=19 July 2022|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714082403/http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-the-uks-official-top-10-biggest-hits-collections-revealed__15397/|archive-date=14 July 2016}}</ref> As of July 2022, it has spent over [[List of albums which have spent the most weeks on the UK Albums Chart|1000 weeks in the UK Album Chart]].<ref name="Queen head all-time sales chart">{{Cite news|date=16 November 2006|title=Queen head all-time sales chart|publisher=BBC|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6151050.stm|access-date=28 May 2011|archive-date=4 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204064437/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6151050.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/greatest-hits/|title=Queen Greatest Hits|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=23 October 2019|archive-date=18 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018111623/https://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/greatest-hits/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''The Telegraph'', approximately one in three families in the UK own a copy.<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen's Greatest Hits is first album to sell 6 million UK copies |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10629578/Queens-Greatest-Hits-is-first-album-to-sell-6-million-UK-copies.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/10629578/Queens-Greatest-Hits-is-first-album-to-sell-6-million-UK-copies.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=10 April 2020 |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The album is certified [[RIAA certification|nine times platinum]] in the US.<ref name=RIAAC/> As of August 2024, it has spent over [[Billboard 200#Most weeks on the chart|600 weeks on the US ''Billboard'' 200]].<ref name="Billboard all time"/> ''Greatest Hits'' has sold over 25&nbsp;million copies worldwide.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/entertainment/2002/jubilee/popup/5.stm|title=In Pictures: 50 years of pop|publisher=BBC|access-date=28 September 2014|archive-date=30 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730234814/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/entertainment/2002/jubilee/popup/5.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{quote box
 | quote = We moved out to Munich to isolate ourselves from normal life so we could focus on the music. We all ended up in a place that was rather unhealthy. A difficult period. We weren't getting along together. We all had different agendas. It was a difficult time for me, personally – some dark moments.
 | source = — May on the recording of ''Hot Space'' during a difficult period for the band.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why Queen Struggled With 'Hot Space' Amid a 'Difficult Period' |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-hot-space/ |access-date=26 September 2020 |magazine=Ultimate Classic Rock |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920182842/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/queen-hot-space/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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In 1982, the band released the album ''[[Hot Space]]'', a departure from their trademark seventies sound, this time being a mixture of [[pop rock]], dance, disco, [[funk]], and [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/queen-hot-space.htm |title=Queen – Hot Space |magazine=Stylusmagazine.com |access-date=31 May 2011 |archive-date=14 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614203823/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/queen-hot-space.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Most of the album was recorded in [[Munich]] during the most turbulent period in the band's history.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=263}} Mercury and Deacon enjoyed the new soul and funk influences, but Taylor and May were less favourable, and were critical of the influence Mercury's personal manager [[Paul Prenter]] had on him.{{sfn|Blake|2010|pp=263,267,273}} According to [[Reinhold Mack|Mack]], Queen's producer, Prenter loathed rock music and was in Mercury's ear throughout the ''Hot Space'' sessions.{{sfn|Blake|2016}} May was also scathing of Prenter—Mercury's manager from 1977 to 1984—for being dismissive of the importance of radio stations and their vital connection between the artist and the community, and for denying them access to Mercury.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brianmay.com/queen/tour05/interviews/bm_classicq_mar05pt5.html |title=Q Classic: Stone Cold Crazy: Brian May Interview |publisher=Brianmay.com |access-date=31 May 2011 |archive-date=18 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918005417/http://www.brianmay.com/queen/tour05/interviews/bm_classicq_mar05pt5.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> May states, "this guy, in the course of one tour, told every record station to fuck off".{{sfn|Blake|2016}} Queen roadie Peter Hince wrote "None of the band cared for him [Prenter], apart from Freddie", with Hince regarding Mercury's favouring of Prenter as an act of "misguided loyalty".{{sfn|Blake|2016}} During the Munich sessions, Mercury spent time with Mack and his family, becoming godfather to Mack's first child.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=264}} [[Q (magazine)|''Q'']] magazine would list ''Hot Space'' as one of the top fifteen albums where great rock acts lost the plot.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/q150lists.htm|title=15 Albums Where Great Rock Acts Lost the Plot|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q magazine]]|date=July 2004|access-date=6 September 2016|archive-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116150726/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/q150lists.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Though the album confused some fans with the change of musical direction, it still reached number 4 in the UK.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=268}}

[[File:Queen 12041982 01 800b.jpg|thumb|Queen performing in Norway during the [[Hot Space Tour]] in 1982]]
Queen toured to promote ''Hot Space'', but found some audience unreceptive to the new material. At a gig in [[Frankfurt]], Mercury told some people heckling the new material, "If you don't want to listen to it, go home!"{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=266}} Former Mott the Hoople keyboardist [[Morgan Fisher]] joined as an additional touring member.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=265}} Shows were planned at [[Arsenal Stadium]] and [[Old Trafford]], but these were cancelled as [[Pope John Paul II]] was touring Britain, leading to a lack of available outdoor facilities such as toilets. The gigs were moved to the [[Milton Keynes Bowl]] and [[Elland Road]], [[Leeds]] instead. The Milton Keynes concert was filmed by [[ITV Tyne Tees|Tyne Tees Television]] and later released on DVD.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=268}} On 14 and 15 September 1982, the band performed their last two gigs in the US with Mercury on lead vocals, playing at [[The Forum (Inglewood, California)|The Forum]] in Inglewood, California.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.laweekly.com/music/the-royal-family-album-queen-gets-definitive-photo-bio-2407273 | title=The Royal Family Album: Queen Gets Definitive Photo Bio | first=Siran | last=Babayan | work=LA Weekly | date=18 November 2009 | access-date=6 September 2016 | archive-date=25 October 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025200428/http://www.laweekly.com/music/the-royal-family-album-queen-gets-definitive-photo-bio-2407273 | url-status=live }}</ref> Fisher was replaced as touring keyboardist by [[Fred Mandel]] for the North American shows.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=270}} The band stopped touring North America after their Hot Space Tour, as their success there had waned, although they performed on American television for the only time during the eighth-season premiere of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' on 25 September of the same year;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/season-8/episode/1-chevy-chase-with-queen-64696|title=Saturday Night Live Season 08 Episode 01 on September 25, 1982 with host Chevy Chase and musical guest Queen|publisher=[[NBC]]|access-date=6 September 2016|archive-date=26 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026003008/http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/season-8/episode/1-chevy-chase-with-queen-64696|url-status=live}}</ref> it became the final public performance of the band in North America before the death of their frontman. Their fall in popularity in the US has been partially attributed to [[homophobia]]:{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=272}} Mikal Gilmore for ''Rolling Stone'' writes, "At some shows on the band's 1980 American tour, fans tossed disposable razor blades onstage: They didn't like this identity of Mercury—what they perceived as a brazenly gay rock & roll hero—and they wanted him to shed it."<ref>{{cite magazine |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/queens-tragic-rhapsody-234996/ |title= Queen's Tragic Rhapsody: Theatrical, brilliant, excessive and doomed — there had never been another band like Queen or a frontman like Freddie Mercury |last= Gilmore |first= Mikal |date= 7 July 2014 |magazine= Rolling Stone |access-date= 13 July 2020 |archive-date= 14 November 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181114013215/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/queens-tragic-rhapsody-234996/ |url-status= live }}</ref> The group finished the year with a Japanese tour.{{sfn|Blake|2010|p=273}}