Jealousy (Queen song)
original song written and composed by Freddie Mercury
"Jealousy" is a song by British Rock band Queen which was originally released on their seventh studio album Jazz in 1978, and one year later was released as the fourth and last single from the album. It was written by Freddie Mercury.
Background
The song has been released as a single only in five countries US, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, and USSR, but failed to chart anywhere. The single was the only single of the band in the USSR. In the USSR, the B-side of the single was "Don't Stop Me Now", but in other countries the B-side was "Fun It". In 1980, the song had been included in the list of songs for the 1980 Summer Olympics which were celebrated in Moscow.
"Jealousy" was penned by Mercury and features May playing his Hallfredh acoustic guitar. The guitar had been given a replacement hardwood bridge, chiselled flat, with a small piece of fret wire placed between it and the strings, which lay gently above. The strings produce the "buzzing" effect of a sitar. This effect had already been used on "White Queen (As It Began)", from Queen II. Billboard felt that this effect made the song sound Beatlesque. All vocals were recorded by Mercury.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Jealousy (Queen song)” is original song written and composed by Freddie Mercury. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Jealousy, Queen and song, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “original song written and composed by Freddie Mercury” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2396672. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1978 and 1980.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Jealousy (Queen song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.