You're My Best Friend

Deacon wrote it for his wife Veronica Tetzlaff, and it was his second recorded song and the first of his that Queen released as a single. He wrote it while learning the piano. On the record he plays a Wurlitzer electric piano as well as the bass guitar, and the characteristic bark of its bass notes plays a prominent part. Mercury was not fond of the Wurlitzer.

The single followed Bohemian Rhapsody on 18 June 1976, with '39 on the B-side, and reached number seven in Britain and number 16 in the United States. It was certified platinum in the US. Bruce Gowers directed the video at Elstree Studios in April 1976, with the band ringed by more than a thousand candles and Deacon at a grand piano. Cash Box said the harmonies were smoothly designed to accentuate the hook of the chorus.

Live

Mercury played grand piano on stage. The song stayed in the set from the 1976 summer gigs until the end of the North American leg of The Game Tour in 1980 and was dropped after that. It appears in 250 logged setlists.