Hot Space

Hot Space
Studio album by
Queen
Released4 May 1982
RecordedJune 1981 – March 1982
Studio
Genre
Length43:29
Label
Producer
Queen chronology
Greatest Hits
(1981)		 Hot Space
(1982)		 The Works
(1984)
Queen studio album chronology
Flash Gordon
(1980)		 Hot Space
(1982)		 The Works
(1984)
Singles from Hot Space
  1. "Under Pressure"
    Released: 27 October 1981
  2. "Body Language"
    Released: 19 April 1982
  3. "Las Palabras de Amor"
    Released: 1 June 1982
  4. "Calling All Girls"
    Released: 19 July 1982 (US)
  5. "Staying Power"
    Released: July 1982 (Japan)
  6. "Back Chat"
    Released: 9 August 1982

Hot Space is the tenth studio album by the British rock band Queen. It was released by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. This was on 4 May 1982. The album is the band's most synthesizer-heavy. It expands on the funk, disco, new wave and R&B elements of The Game. This was mainly due to the success of their 1980 single "Another One Bites the Dust" in the US. However, disco's reputation had declined by 1982. This made the album less popular with fans. They preferred the hard rock style they had come to associate with the band.

"Under Pressure" was Queen's collaboration with David Bowie. The single was released in 1981. It became the band's second number one hit in the UK. The song was a separate project from before Hot Space. However, it was included on the album. The second single was "Body Language". It peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

Track listing

All lead vocals by Freddie Mercury unless noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Staying Power"Mercury 4:11
2."Dancer"Brian May 3:49
3."Back Chat"John Deacon 4:35
4."Body Language"Mercury 4:32
5."Action This Day"Roger TaylorMercury and Taylor3:32
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
6."Put Out the Fire"MayMercury with May3:19
7."Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)"Mercury 3:32
8."Calling All Girls"Taylor 3:51
9."Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)"MayMercury with May4:31
10."Cool Cat"
  • Mercury
  • Deacon
 3:29
11."Under Pressure" (with David Bowie)
Mercury and Bowie4:06
Total length:43:29
Bonus track (1991 Hollywood Records CD reissue)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Body Language" (1991 bonus remix by Susan Rogers)Mercury4:44
Total length:48:13
Disc 2: Bonus EP (2011 Universal Music CD reissue)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Staying Power" (Live at Milton Keynes Bowl, June 1982)Mercury3:57
2."Soul Brother" (B-side to "Under Pressure")Mercury3:36
3."Back Chat" (Single remix)Deacon4:12
4."Action This Day" (Live at Seibu Lions Stadium in Tokorozawa, November 1982)Taylor6:25
5."Calling All Girls" (Live at Seibu Lions Stadium in Tokorozawa, November 1982)Taylor4:45
Total length:22:55
Bonus videos (2011 iTunes deluxe edition)
No.TitleLength
6."Las Palabras de Amor" (Top of the Pops video, 1982)4:30
7."Under Pressure" (1999 Rah Mix Promo Video)4:10
8."Action This Day" (live at Milton Keynes Bowl, June 1982)4:46
Total length:35:41

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album. Specific instruments sourced from Queenvinyls.

Queen

Additional personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 15
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)1
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)6
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)1
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) 10
French Albums (SNEP) 7
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)5
Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi) 9
Japanese Albums (Oricon) 6
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)5
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)4
UK Albums (OCC)4
US Billboard 20022

Year-end charts

Chart (1982) Position
Austrian Albums Chart 17
Canadian Albums Chart 46
French Albums Chart 14
UK Albums Chart 51

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria) Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada) Gold 50,000^
Japan (RIAJ) Gold 100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) Platinum 15,000double-dagger
Poland (ZPAV) Platinum 20,000*
South Africa (RISA) Gold 25,000*
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA) Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales+streaming figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 Queen – Hot Space Archived 14 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 31 May 2011
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hot Space Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
  3. ↑ Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Some Kind of Monster: Metal". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 569. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
  4. ↑ Monahan, Mark (June 23, 2011). "Queen: Albums 1977-1982, CD review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 30, 2026.
  5. ↑ "QueenVault". Queen Vault.
  6. ↑ "Queen singles". Queen Vault.
  7. ↑ "Queen singles". Queen Vault.
  8. ↑ "BPI".
  9. ↑ "Queen – full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  10. ↑ "Queen "Hot Space" album and song lyrics". www.ultimatequeen.co.uk.
  11. ↑ "Queen "Under Pressure" remix lyrics". www.ultimatequeen.co.uk.
  12. ↑ "Queen "Queen On Fire - Live At The Bowl" album and song lyrics". www.ultimatequeen.co.uk.
  13. ↑ "From Harpsichord to Synthesizer and beyond: an introduction to Queen Organology". queenvinyls.com. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  14. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  15. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Queen – Hot Space" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6473". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Queen – Hot Space" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  18. ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 166. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  19. ↑ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – Q". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Select Queen from the menu, then press OK.
  20. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  21. ↑ "Classifiche". Musica e Dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 27 May 2022. Set "Tipo" on "Album". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Queen".
  22. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  23. ↑ "Charts.nz – Queen – Hot Space". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  24. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Queen – Hot Space". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  25. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Queen – Hot Space". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  26. ↑ "Queen | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  27. ↑ "Queen Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  28. ↑ "Austriancharts.st – Jahreshitparade 1984". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  29. ↑ "Top 100 Albums '82". RPM. 25 December 1982. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
  30. ↑ "Les Albums (CD) de 1982 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  31. ↑ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  32. ↑ "Austrian album certifications – Queen – Hot Space" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  33. ↑ "Queen - Freddie Mercury's commemorative Canadian in-house sales award - 'Queen Rules Canada', 1992". 18 August 2023.
  34. ↑ "Queen – Freddie Mercury's Japanese in-house presentation awards". 18 August 2023.
  35. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Queen – Hot Space". Radioscope. Retrieved 18 October 2025. Type Hot Space in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  36. ↑ [Unknown Region "Wyróżnienia – Platynowe płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2009 roku"] (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. 8 July 2009. Archived from the original on Unknown Region. {{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help); Check date values in: |archive-date= (help)
  37. ↑ "Queen – Freddie Mercury's in-house South African sales award for multiple albums".
  38. ↑ "British album certifications – Queen – Hot Space". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 May 2019. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Hot Space Queen in the "Search:" field.
  39. ↑ "American album certifications – Queen – Hot Space". Recording Industry Association of America.