This compilation was made up of tracks such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Keep Yourself Alive" and "Under Pressure" (which had already appeared on the Elektra 1981 Hits collection) as well as newer tracks (" A Kind of Magic" and " Radio Ga Ga"). Hollywood Records decided to not release Greatest Hits II to the US market, but instead created their own collection, Classic Queen (1992), peaking at number four. The problem was that Elektra still held the US rights to that first 1981 collection (despite being Hollywood's US licensee). However, the band had just changed record labels in the US, from Capitol to Hollywood Records, who were keen on a massive promotion of the band's back catalogue.
In 1991, Queen sought to issue a second Greatest Hits collection worldwide, this time with a standard track listing. For the 1981 release the photo was skewed but later presented as it was originally taken for the 2011 re-release. The cover photo that appeared on the UK and US release was taken by Lord Snowdon at his home studio using only natural light. The CD version is the same as the British. In Argentina and Brazil, the LP edition included the same list of UK Greatest Hits minus " Seven Seas of Rhye", and including "Love of My Life" ( Live Killers version). However, the song was not included on the European versions of Greatest Hits – according to Queen's business manager Jim Beach, this was because the longer manufacturing time required to press records in Europe meant that several hundred thousand copies of the album had already been pressed up before the song had been recorded. The US version also added " Under Pressure", Queen's collaboration with David Bowie, which was released the same week as Greatest Hits and subsequently topped the UK Singles Chart and reached the top ten in many charts around the world. The US ended up with its original edit of Queen's first single release, " Keep Yourself Alive", which had been re-released in the US in 1975 (original release was 1973) after the success of " Bohemian Rhapsody".
In the UK, the album was limited to the Queen singles that had reached the top 20 in the UK singles chart up to that point, plus " We Will Rock You", which had been the B-side of " We Are the Champions". Some examples of these were " Sweet Lady" and " Love of My Life", neither of which was released as a single in any country, but appear on some regions' 1981 Hits release. In some cases, despite the band's popularity, not enough songs were issued as singles to fill a compilation album, and a few album tracks were used as filler. There was no universal track listing or cover art for the Greatest Hits album, and each territory's tracks were dependent on what singles were released there and what tracks charted. Following the release of the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018, it re-entered the charts of countries worldwide. It has also been certified 15× platinum in Australia, 10× platinum in New Zealand, and 3× platinum in Canada. Among the longest charting albums in the US, as of November 2020, it has spent over 400 weeks on the Billboard 200, and has been certified 9× platinum in the US. Greatest Hits peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 in November 2020, the second-slowest ascent to the top ten of the US album chart in history.
The single "Under Pressure", which was released the same week as Greatest Hits, also topped the UK Singles Chart.Īs of November 2020, Greatest Hits has spent over 900 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, and has been certified 22× platinum with sales of over 6 million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time in the UK. It reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, spending four weeks at the top and sold consistently well throughout the 1980s, becoming the fourth-biggest selling album of the decade. 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. In 1992, the US version of the album Classic Queen was released following the band's rekindled popularity in the nation. 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. 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" (though in some countries " Under Pressure", the band's 1981 chart-topper with David Bowie, was included). Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, released worldwide on 26 October 1981.