Before It Was a Sports Anthem, Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ Hit No. 1 in America
Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ reached No. 1 during the week of October 4, 1980, then found a long second life in sports.
Queen had already proven they could top charts in the United States by 1980. But during the week of October 4 that year, the band’s second and final American No. 1 arrived with a very different kind of hit: “Another One Bites the Dust.”
The song knocked Diana Ross’ “Upside Down” out of the top spot after that single had spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It then held first place for three weeks of its own and remained on the chart for 31 weeks in total.
That mattered for more than chart trivia. “Another One Bites the Dust,” written by bassist John Deacon, gave Queen a harder, more confrontational hit than their earlier U.S. chart-topper, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” which had become their first American No. 1 earlier in 1980. Built around Deacon’s bass line and a disco-leaning pulse, the track carried an edge that helped it stand out then and keep traveling long after its chart run ended.
The song’s second life started almost immediately
Its transformation into a sports staple was already underway before it even reached No. 1. In the fall of 1980, members of the Detroit Lions created their own version of the song to celebrate the team’s unusually strong start to the season. That parody was played on Detroit radio stations and is still remembered fondly by Lions fans.
From there, the song spread far beyond one team or one city. Over the past 46 years, it has turned up at youth games, amateur leagues and all kinds of competitions where a playful jab at an opponent fits the moment. That long afterlife helps explain why the track still feels bigger than a typical chart hit.
Queen already had arena-sized songs in their catalog, and “Another One Bites the Dust” eventually joined “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” as one of the group’s most durable sports-ready records. What changed in October 1980 was the chart position. Who it affected was Queen’s standing in the U.S., where the band landed its second and last No. 1 single. What took effect almost immediately was something harder to measure: the start of a reputation that carried the song from radio success to game-day ritual.
