{"id":37444,"date":"2026-01-29T12:29:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=37444"},"modified":"2026-01-29T12:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:29:20","slug":"should-i-play-it-john-deacon-reveals-the-1-instrument-freddie-refused-to-touch-before-it-quietly-created-their-sweetest-anthem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/?p=37444","title":{"rendered":"\u201cShould I Play It?\u201d \u2014 John Deacon Reveals the 1 Instrument Freddie Refused to Touch, Before It Quietly Created Their Sweetest Anthem."},"content":{"rendered":"

Within the thunderous, operatic universe of Queen, bombast usually reigns supreme. Multi-layered guitars, theatrical vocals, and genre-defying ambition defined the band\u2019s identity. Yet hidden among the epics is one of their most intimate and tender songs: You’re My Best Friend<\/span><\/span><\/strong>. What many listeners don\u2019t realize is that this gentle anthem exists largely because one band member refused to touch a certain instrument\u2014and another quietly decided to do it himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The song was written by bassist John Deacon<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, often described as Queen\u2019s \u201cquiet horse.\u201d Unlike the flamboyant personas of Freddie Mercury<\/span><\/span><\/strong> or Brian May<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, Deacon worked in silence, letting his compositions speak for him. \u201cYou\u2019re My Best Friend\u201d was a heartfelt tribute to his wife, Veronica Tetzlaff, and Deacon wanted it to sound warm, domestic, and emotionally sincere.<\/span><\/p>\n

To achieve that intimacy, Deacon composed the song on a Wurlitzer EP-200 electric piano<\/strong>, an instrument prized for its soft vibrato and slightly percussive tone. It was a deliberate choice\u2014less grand, more human. But when Deacon brought the idea into the studio during sessions for A Night at the Opera<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, he ran into an unexpected roadblock.<\/span><\/p>\n

Freddie Mercury hated the instrument.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mercury, who was classically trained and deeply devoted to his Bechstein grand piano, reportedly recoiled at the Wurlitzer\u2019s sound. In later interviews, he dismissed electric pianos as \u201ctinny and horrible,\u201d questioning why anyone would choose them when a \u201clovely, superb grand piano\u201d was available. He flatly refused to play it.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Deacon, scrapping the song wasn\u2019t an option. Instead, he made a rare move that would quietly change Queen\u2019s history. He took the Wurlitzer home, taught himself the keyboard part, and returned to the studio to record it himself. The shy bassist became the song\u2019s keyboardist\u2014not out of ego, but necessity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The result was magic. The bubbling piano line became the song\u2019s emotional backbone, perfectly complementing Mercury\u2019s devoted vocal performance and the band\u2019s trademark harmonies. Released in 1976 as the follow-up single to Bohemian Rhapsody<\/span><\/span><\/strong>, it climbed to No. 7 in the UK and No. 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100, proving that simplicity could be just as powerful as spectacle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically, the Wurlitzer never appeared on camera. In the song\u2019s iconic music video, Deacon sits at a grand piano surrounded by candles\u2014a visual compromise to preserve Queen\u2019s elegant image. Even in live performances, Mercury continued playing the part on a grand piano, still refusing the electric alternative.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet history sided with Deacon. By trusting his instinct over the band\u2019s most dominant voice, he created one of Queen\u2019s most beloved songs\u2014a reminder that sometimes the sweetest anthems are born not from compromise, but quiet conviction.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Within the thunderous, operatic universe of Queen, bombast usually reigns supreme. Multi-layered guitars, theatrical vocals, and genre-defying ambition defined the band\u2019s identity. Yet hidden among the epics is one of their most intimate and tender songs: You’re My Best Friend. What many listeners don\u2019t realize is that this gentle anthem exists largely because one band…<\/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-37444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37444","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=37444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnews.topnewsource.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}