Not many people, not even the late and great David Bowie, could predict how great this collaboration would be. Then again, he and this legendary rock band were among some of the artists that were climbing the charts and were on radio rotation, as they were among the hottest artists to watch during the 70s and 80s. So when fans heard his collaboration with Queen on this iconic song, “Under Pressure,” fans could not be any more excited.
Bowie and Freddie Mercury had a friendship, and they were even neighbors in Switzerland. With their shared love for music and their musicianship, of course, a collaboration would be something that they and their fans would expect. However, the studio during the recording sessions could not be any more tense.
“Under Pressure” Was a Spontaneous Collaboration Between David Bowie and Queen
During the 70s, Queen would write a lot of their songs in Montreux, Switzerland. Just north of their location in Vevey, Bowie also settled in Switzerland. Quite often, Bowie would pay a visit to the band while they were recording and writing new music, and a friendship blossomed.
How they ended up in the studio to record one of the most iconic records of all time is hard to say. One minute, Bowie was simply saying hello while Queen recorded. The next minute, they were playing music together until “Under Pressure” was born. As Brian May recalled in 2016, following the shock announcement ofBowie’s death, he wrote in the Mirror, “Since we already knew him a little, he popped in to say hello one day while we were recording. Now time dims the memory a little, but the way I remember it, we all very quickly decided that the best way to get to know each other was to play together.”
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They played music together, “kicking around a few fragments of songs we all knew”, as May remembered. According to Peter Hince, who was part of Queen’s road crew, “They performed some original songs they did together and some covers.” While playing music, they decided that “it would be great to create something new on the spur of the moment.”
And then, something magical happened. A famous riff that can be heard in “Under Pressure” came from John Deacon’s guitar, which got everyone excited. “We all brought stuff to the table, and my contribution was a heavy riff in D which was lurking in my head,” May said. “But what we got excited about was a riff which [John Deacon] began playing.”
David Bowie and Queen Often Clashed Due to Creative Differences
Despite the group getting excited over Deacon’s riff, that was where the tension started. While Deacon tried to replicate the famous riff, Bowie often stepped in and disagreed, telling him how the riff actually sounded. While May was recalling the “tense” moments, he described Bowie as very “forceful”.
The riff was settled, but things only grew sour from there. The main issue was the difference in working patterns. Bowie would often encourage the band to sing the first thing that came to their minds and trust their instinct. Normally, Queen would craft out a song structure during that time.
May also revealed that at one point, the band “backed off” as Bowie had a stroke of genius and wrote more lyrics for the song. Bowie had more control over how the song sounded than Queen, as despite bouncing around ideas between each other, arrangements were thrown in the trash. “It was very hard because you already had four precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us,” he said. “Passions ran very high. I found it very hard because I got so little of my own way. But David had a real vision, and he took over the song lyrically.”
When the song was finished, there was still mixing to do, and that was when tensions rose between Mercury and Bowie. May spoke on the tension despite not being there when the mixing was done, and even he disliked the final mixing. “All I know is that Freddie and David had different views of how the mix should be done, and the engineer didn’t completely know how the studio worked, May said. “So it ended up as a compromise.”
David Bowie and Queen Have More Collaborations, but They Were Never Released
The greatest thing about “Under Pressure” is the spontaneity of the track. Even though Mercury and Bowie found it hard to work with each other, the song was adored by many. “Under Pressure” climbed the charts, as it reached number 1 on the UK and US charts. However, that was the only collaboration that fans will hear.
Bowie and Queen recorded more songs, according to May and Hince, but why they were never released could be easily guessed. For one, as Hince stated, it was hard to decipher which estate the songs belonged to. There were some songs that David sang, but they were never used. Another reason could be due to creative differences, or simply because they were creating during a time when they just wanted to create music to bond and to share their music passions, adoration, and appreciation. Sadly, those songs may never be released, and fans could only ask themselves, What if?
