In 1979, whilst Queen were preparing to record their eighth studio album in Munich, Freddie Mercury composed "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" during a relaxing bath in his hotel room. The song, which would go on to sell over two million copies and become one of the band's greatest hits, exemplifies Mercury's extraordinary creative ability to produce compelling pop songs seemingly effortlessly, even within the constraints of minimal guitar proficiency.

Mercury completed the song in just five to ten minutes, finishing it on an acoustic guitar before immediately taking it to the studio to present to the band. The recording was accomplished remarkably quickly—in approximately thirty minutes—with the band cutting the track six months before the remainder of the album, even without guitarist Brian May present for the initial session. "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" became Queen's first number one hit in the United States and reached number two in the United Kingdom, demonstrating how Mercury's spontaneous creative spark produced one of their most commercially successful records.