Story of Song
Generally the song is about giving yourself the best moments you can, enjoying life, forgetting everything that could stick you to the ground and believing that you can fly and touch the stars. The song is also about a man intent on having a wild night out in any and every way he can think of, and inviting the rest of us to come along for the ride or else get out of his way.
But for Freddie ‘wild night’ could mean sexually broad adventures. Freddie was living it to the max at the time he wrote this song and was indulging himself of every pleasure available to a successful bisexual rock star. He was very likely warned by friends and the band that he ought to cool it, but Freddie was partying very hard at this point. That might be where the slightly defiant, confrontational title lyric comes from. There are (very thinly) veiled references to sex (“I’m a sex machine ready to reload”) and drugs (“and floating around in ecstasy”).
Brian May and the rest of the band hated this song because it was this attitude that led to Freddie contracting HIV.
Release date
Released on January 5, 1979
Songwriter/s
Freddie Mercury
Label
EMI – Elektra
Chart Rankings
US – 86
UK – 9
GERMANY – 35
One of Queen’s most popular songs, it was certified Gold in Italy, UK and the US. “Don’t Stop Me Now” peaked at number 89 in the US and reached number 9 in the UK at the time. Early in 2007, when the UK chart rules changed allowing all digital downloads to chart, whether or not they had a physical equivalent, ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ remained in the top 200 throughout the entire year. The song sold 53,000 copies and was the 160th best selling single of 2007. It was voted as “The Greatest Driving Song Ever” by viewers of the BBC television program Top Gear in 2005.
Artist’s age on release date
The band Queen had been active for 9 years when they released this song. Brian May was 31, John Deacon was 27, Roger Taylor was 29 and Freddie Mercury was 32 years of age.
Cover Versions
Foxes – Matt Johnson – Darren Criss – Disney’s The Incredibles – Indonesian Idol (Sean) – Kitty Brucknell – Sally Chatfienld – Olly Murs – “Weird Al” Yankovic – Fibes – Katy Perry – The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Donkey Konga – The Vandals – McFly.
queeny
January 20, 2019 at 8:29 pm
Why was this song not more popular in the USA? Was only up to #89 in pop charts.
Donna Pieniazek
January 16, 2020 at 1:06 pm
I love this song! Yes, it does make you think about, all that Freddie was doing, thinking and feeling at the time he wrote this song, which I read that he did indeed write it.
He sang it, with such enthusiasum, like he had every song he sang. To see him so young and able, is wonderful to watch and so sad at the same time, since he is gone now but still always in our hearts and thoughts..