Death on Two Legs

Death on Two Legs

"Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...)" is a song by the British rock band Queen and is the opening track and second single on their fourth album A Night at the Opera. The song was written by Freddie Mercury about the band's fall-out with their original manager and Trident Studios owner Norman Sheffield. Though the song makes no direct reference to him, Sheffield sued both the band and the record label for defamation. This resulted in an out-of-court settlement, thus revealing to the public his connection with the song. Mercury said that his lawyer had cautioned him against discussing the lyrics, but that it was written from a "very emotional" place for which he felt music was the best outlet. Roger Taylor also noted that despite the success of "Killer Queen" and Sheer Heart Attack, the album preceding A Night at the Opera, the band was lacking money before the album was made. Sheffield denied that he or his companies had mistreated the band in his capacity as manager, and cited the original 1972 management contracts between himself and Queen in his autobiography published in 2013, Life on Two Legs: Set The Record Straight, in his defence. The song was recorded and mixed at Sarm East Studios in late 1975. As with "Bohemian Rhapsody", most of the guitar parts on the song were initially played on piano by Mercury, to demonstrate to Brian May how they needed to be played on guitar.

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