Studio Album · No. 4
A Night at the Opera Songwriting Credits by Queen
Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, Queen · Engineered by Mike Stone, Gary Langan
Queen wrote 11 of 12 documented tracks
Authorship Breakdown 11 / 12 documented
Scored across the 12 tracks with documented writers, by whether Queen carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 12 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Awards & Recognition 2
A Night at the Opera is the fullest flowering of Queen's four-writer model, with each member contributing across an enormous stylistic range. Freddie Mercury wrote five songs, including "Bohemian Rhapsody," Brian May four, Roger Taylor one, and John Deacon one, the breakout "You're My Best Friend," his first hit. Every track is credited to an individual member with no outside writers, making the band's most celebrated album also one of its most clearly self-authored.
Queen's fourth studio album, released November 21, 1975, produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen. A Night at the Opera was the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release and represents the full flowering of the band's ambitions. It contains 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' written entirely by Freddie Mercury, a six-minute song with three distinct sections (ballad, operatic passage, and hard rock) that defied all radio conventions and became one of the best-selling singles in UK history. John Deacon contributes 'You're My Best Friend,' which became a top ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic. The album spans extraordinary stylistic range: '39' (May) is an acoustic skiffle song with science fiction lyrics; 'Seaside Rendezvous' (Mercury) is a 1920s-style music hall number; 'The Prophet's Song' (May) is an eight-minute epic with an a cappella section. The closing track is an arrangement of 'God Save the Queen' by Brian May, played entirely on guitar overdubs.