In a German bath in 1979, Freddie Mercury aimlessly wrote a song. Now, it has been streamed over 1,000,000,000 times

Freddie Mercury wrote Queen’s ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ while soaking in a hotel bath in Munich in 1979, using an acoustic guitar and a limited number of chords. The song became a tribute to Elvis Presley and a major American breakthrough for Queen, later surpassing one billion Spotify streams.

Mercury said the song took only five or ten minutes to write. Queen recorded it at Musicland Studios within hours; Brian May used a Fender Esquire to give it a 1950s rockabilly sound. Released in October 1979, it reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in 1980, while peaking at number two in Britain.