What was the reason that Queen didn't have much succes after 1984, in Europe they stayed very famous but why didn't they scored big hits after 1984
Has this something to do with the fact that it came clear that Freddie was Gay
The American press and critics didn't take too much liking to the I Want To Break Free vid or Queen's more synthetic music.
Plus, maybe they got tired of the American scene, anyway.
I don't buy the theory that it was the gay thing, or 'break free'. I think it was the result of the move to Capitol who didn't promote them properly, and the lack of touring.
Queen's worst and perhaps gayest single, Body Language, was a HUGE hit in America.. #11 on the charts.. and that completely goes against saying that Hot Space or the disco thing hurt them here. Radio Ga Ga was a top 20 hit..
Break Free almost made the top 40 and MTV did show the video at least twice because I saw it once and then caught it and recorded the audio from it the 2nd time.
From then on I think it was just a matter of poor promotion. And when you think about it, it's only two albums that really suffered.. A Kind of Magic & The Miracle. Hollywood Records promoted them well and got their stuff selling like hotcakes even before Freddie died.
So for 2 studio albums on Capitol out of 15 they didn't do great here.. big deal :)