{"id":170940,"date":"2026-03-21T20:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T20:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/170940\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T20:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T20:52:14","slug":"queens-bohemian-rhapsody-crowned-most-iconic-70s-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/170940\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Crowned Most Iconic 70s Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though the decade included what many agree was the worst year in pop music<\/a>, the 1970s produced music<\/a> that has endured the test of time. It was a transformative decade. New genres like disco, punk, glam, prog rock, electronic\/industrial and heavy metal took off, and these new sounds would shape generations<\/a> to come. But, according to Forbes<\/a>, when it comes to the \u201870s, one song reigns supreme: Queen<\/a>\u2019s \u201cBohemian Rhapsody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Picking the top song of this decade is a tough task. This was the time of Pink Floyd\u2019s The Dark Side of the Moon<\/a>, Bob Dylan\u2019s Blood on the Tracks, Joni Mitchell\u2019s Blue, Miles Davis\u2019s Bitches Brew, Alice Coltrane\u2019s Journey in Satchidananda, Herbie Hancock\u2019s Head Hunters, Elton John<\/a>\u2019s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Throbbing Gristle\u2019s 20 Jazz Funk Greats.<\/p>\n

The rest of\u00a0Forbes’\u00a0list includes a cross-section of the decade’s variety, with\u00a0Fleetwood Mac\u2019s \u201cDreams,\u201d ABBA\u2019s \u201cDancing Queen,<\/a>\u201d\u00a0Led Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cStairway to Heaven,\u201d and the\u00a0Bee Gees\u2019 \u201cStaying Alive\u201d filling out the top 5. That’s some tough competition, but Forbes contributor Quentin Thane Singer makes the case for Queen\u2019s landmark song from 1975\u2019s A Night at the Opera.<\/p>\n

Stating that Queen\u2019s fourth album \u201csingle-handedly revolutionized rock music and opened the door for what elaborate concoctions were even possible in the genre,\u201d Forbes dubs \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d as proof of \u201cQueen\u2019s brilliance\u201d and a \u201cmasterful work of art.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is proof that \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d continues to resonate with music listeners. Look no further than the Forbes article that ranked it No. 1: when it was first published in July 2025, the song had \u201cstanding at nearly 2.5 billion streams.\u201d In the roughly eight months since then, it has surpassed that number, amassing 3.096 billion streams on Spotify alone. The song is averaging 75 million plays per month (which is impressive, since Queen has about 51 million monthly listeners).<\/p>\n

Freddie Mercury<\/a>began working on \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d sometime in the late 60s while studying at Ealing Art College, according to uDiscover Music<\/a>. Sometime in the early 70s, Queen\u2019s guitarist, Brian May, remembers his friend “coming in with loads of bits of paper from his dad\u2019s work, like Post-it notes, and pounding on the piano. \u201cAnd this song he had was full of gaps where he explained that something operatic would happen here and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFreddie was a very complex person; flippant and funny on the surface, but he concealed insecurities and problems in squaring up his life with his childhood,\u201d said May. \u201cHe never explained the lyrics, but I think he put a lot of himself into that song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Producers worried that, at nearly six minutes long, \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d wouldn\u2019t play on the radio. The song defied concerns: it topped the UK Singles charts and reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. In 2018, it became the most-streamed song<\/a> of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Forbes Top 10 \u201cMost Iconic\u201d Songs of the 1970s<\/p>\n

01. Queen, \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d
02. Bee Gees, \u201cStaying Alive\u201d
03. Led Zeppelin, \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d
04. ABBA, \u201cDancing Queen\u201d
05. Fleetwood Mac, \u201cDreams\u201d
06. Pink Floyd, \u201cTime\u201d
07. Eagles, \u201cHotel California\u201d
08. Stevie Wonder, \u201cSuperstition\u201d
09. John Lennon<\/a>, \u201cImagine\u201d
10. Earth, Wind & Fire, \u201cSeptember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: 1974 Cover by Rock Legend Ranked Worst Hit Song From the Worst Year in Pop<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Parade<\/a> on Mar 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Though the decade included what many agree was the worst year in pop music, the 1970s produced music…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170941,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[15586,69807,26813,11622,9,24,63,67066,122,124,123,69808],"class_list":["post-170940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-bohemian-rhapsody","tag-dancing-queen","tag-fleetwood-mac","tag-forbes","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-pink-floyd","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-revolutionized-rock-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}