Queen: Greatest Hits Album (1981)

A Crown Jewel of Rock Classics

Queen’s Greatest Hits LP, was released in the UK on October 26, 1981, on EMI Records (catalogue: EMTV30). The album consisted of Queen's biggest hits since their first chart appearance in 1974 with "Seven Seas of Rhye", up to their 1980 hit "Flash" (although in some countries, "Under Pressure", the band's 1981 UK number one single with David Bowie, was included). There was no universal track listing or cover art for the album, and each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles had been released there and which were successful. In 1992, the US version of the album Classic Queen was released following the band's rekindled popularity in the nation.

Greatest Hits is the band's best-selling album to date, with total sales of over 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It spent four weeks at number one in the UK Albums Chart, and sold consistently well throughout the 1980s, becoming the fourth-biggest selling album of the decade. As of October 2025, Greatest Hits has spent 1,176 weeks on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified 23× platinum with sales of over seven million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time in the UK.

Overview

Format:Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Stereo, No Barcode, Round Cornered Innersleeve

Country: UK

Released: 26 Oct 1981

Track List

A1 Bohemian Rhapsody 5:50

A2 Another One Bites The Dust 2:32

A3 Killer Queen 2:58

A4 Fat Bottomed Girls 3:16

A5 Bicycle Race 2:57

A6 You're My Best Friend 2:48

A7 Don't Stop Me Now 3:25

A8 Save Me 3:44

B1 Crazy Little Thing Called Love 2:40

B2 Somebody To Love 4:51

B3 Now I'm Here 4:10

B4 Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy 2:52

B5 Play The Game 3:21

B6 Flash 2:45

B7 Seven Seas Of Rhye 2:45

B8 We Will Rock You 2:00

B9 We Are The Champions 2:57

Published By – Queen Music Ltd.

Published By – EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

Published By – Trident Music

Published By – Wide Music Inc.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – EMI Records Ltd.

Manufactured By – EMI Records Ltd.

Pressed By – EMI Records

Record Company – EMI Records Ltd.

Printed By – Garrod & Lofthouse

Made By – Trademasters Ltd

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Queen Productions Ltd.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Raincloud Productions Ltd.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Queen

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Starling Productions Ltd.

Bass Guitar – John Deacon

Drums, Vocals – Roger Taylor

Engineer, Co-producer – Mack (tracks: A1 to B1, B5)

Guitar, Vocals – Brian May

Photography By – Snowdon

Producer – May* (tracks: B6), Mack (2) (tracks: B6), Queen (tracks: A1 to B5, B7 to B9), Roy Thomas Baker (tracks: A1, A3 to A7, B3, B7)

Producer [Assistant] – Mike Stone (tracks: B8, B9)

Sleeve, Design – Cream (7)

Vocals, Piano – Freddie Mercury

Written-By – May (tracks: A4, A8, B3, B6, B8), Mercury* (tracks: A1, A3, A5, A7, B1, B2, B4, B5, B7, B9), Deacon* (tracks: A2, A6)

Issued with a printed inner sleeve with rounded corners. No barcode on the back of the sleeve.

Manufactured in the UK.

Publishers:

A1, A3, A6, B3, B7: Trident Music

A2, A4, A5, A7-B2, B4, B5, B8, B9: Queen Music Ltd./ EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

B6: Queen Music Ltd./ Wide Music Inc./ EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

A1, A6: (P) 1975 Queen Productions Ltd.

A2, A8, B5: (P) 1980 Raincloud Productions Ltd

A3: (P) 1974 Queen

A4, A5, A7: (P) 1978 Raincloud Productions Ltd.

B1: (P) 1979 Raincloud Productions Ltd.

B2, B4: (P) 1976 Queen Productions Ltd.

B3, B7: (P) 1974 Queen

B6: (P) 1980 Queen Productions Ltd./Starling Productions Ltd

B8, B9: (P) 1977 Queen Productions Ltd.

This compilation (P) 1981 EMI Records Ltd.

Runouts:

Variant 12's 'Y' and Variants 14 & 16's 'X 3' are etched.

Durations do not appear on this release.

Chart (1981–1982) Peak position

Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 2

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 1

Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 1

German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 1

New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 1

Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) 21

UK Albums (OCC)[35] 1

Sources

Discogs: Greatest Hits (1981)

45cat: Queen Singles

Official Charts Company: Queen Albums

AllMusic: Greatest Hits

Wikipedia: Greatest Hits

Billboard Chart History: Queen

YouTube: Greatest Hits Full Album (2014 upload, 5M+ views)