Most bands are dominated by a single songwriter, or by a songwriting pair. Not so Queen. While singer Freddie Mercury and guitarist Brian May may have done much of the heavy lifting in the 1970s, the following decade saw bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor more than pay their way. So much so that when Mercury eventually suggested that the band spilt their songwriting royalties evenly, it was Taylor who had the most to lose.
"I was writing most of the hits by then," he said in 2021. "But I can’t complain."
