{"id":34648,"date":"2026-01-20T07:32:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T07:32:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=34648"},"modified":"2026-01-20T07:32:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T07:32:16","slug":"the-queen-song-michael-jackson-said-no-one-could-ever-dislike-the-rhythm-is-so-infectious-that-the-entire-world-will-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=34648","title":{"rendered":"The Queen song Michael Jackson said no one could ever dislike: \u201cThe rhythm is so infectious that the entire world will dance.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the history of popular music, there are moments when genius recognizes genius. One of the most famous occurred backstage in Los Angeles in 1980, when Michael Jackson<\/span><\/span><\/strong> made a bold prediction about a song Queen wasn\u2019t even sure should be a single. That track was Another One Bites the Dust<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u2014and Jackson was convinced it was unstoppable.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the time, Queen<\/span><\/span><\/strong> were touring North America in support of The Game<\/span><\/span><\/em>. After a show at the Los Angeles Forum, Jackson\u2014already one of the biggest stars in the world and a devoted Queen fan\u2014went backstage to talk music with Freddie Mercury<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, John Deacon<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, and the rest of the band. As unreleased tracks played, one song grabbed Jackson instantly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Queen, however, was hesitant. \u201cAnother One Bites the Dust\u201d was built on a stripped-down funk groove, miles away from their operatic rock identity. Drummer Roger Taylor<\/span><\/span><\/strong> reportedly felt the song was too repetitive, too disco-inflected, and simply \u201cnot rock and roll.\u201d To the band, it felt risky.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jackson saw the opposite. He famously insisted Queen would be \u201cmad\u201d not to release it as a single, declaring that the bassline was so irresistible it would cross every cultural and genre boundary. His verdict was absolute: \u201cThe rhythm is so infectious that the entire world will dance.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

That rhythm was the work of John Deacon. Inspired by the sleek funk of Chic\u2014particularly \u201cGood Times\u201d\u2014Deacon crafted a bassline that functioned as the song\u2019s heartbeat. Under producer Reinhold Mack<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, the arrangement was deliberately minimal. Taylor was even asked to tape parts of his drum kit to create a tight, looping feel, a move he initially despised. Yet that mechanical pulse became the song\u2019s signature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mercury, encouraged by Jackson\u2019s enthusiasm, leaned into a gritty, almost confrontational vocal style that contrasted sharply with his usual flamboyance. The result was raw, hypnotic, and unlike anything Queen had released before.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the song finally dropped in August 1980, Jackson\u2019s prophecy came true. \u201cAnother One Bites the Dust\u201d exploded across radio formats, dominating Black radio stations in the U.S. and confusing listeners who assumed Queen must be a funk band. It spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Queen\u2019s best-selling U.S. single, moving more than four million copies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its cultural reach went even further. The song\u2019s steady 110 BPM tempo was later cited by medical professionals as ideal for performing CPR, giving the phrase \u201cinfectious rhythm\u201d a literal, life-saving meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s friendship with Mercury continued into the early 1980s, producing unreleased collaborations like There Must Be More to Life Than This<\/span><\/span><\/em>. Though their paths eventually diverged, Jackson\u2019s role in championing \u201cAnother One Bites the Dust\u201d remains legendary.<\/span><\/p>\n

He understood something timeless: a truly great song doesn\u2019t belong to a genre\u2014it belongs to people. In recognizing that groove, Michael Jackson didn\u2019t just predict a hit. He helped unlock one of the most universal songs ever recorded.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the history of popular music, there are moments when genius recognizes genius. One of the most famous occurred backstage in Los Angeles in 1980, when Michael Jackson made a bold prediction about a song Queen wasn\u2019t even sure should be a single. That track was Another One Bites the Dust\u2014and Jackson was convinced it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}