10 Greatest Diss Tracks In Rock Music History
1. Death on Two Legs - Queen
As the '70s started to kick into high gear, it looked like Queen were about to become one of the biggest bands in the world. After making an impression as one of the most professional groups in the business and Freddie Mercury coming into his own as a showman, their latest album Sheer Heart Attack broke them into the mainstream with the smash hit Killer Queen. So when you find yourself broke at the end of things, you'd probably have some harsh words to say to your manager as well.
While never mentioning their former manager by name in the song, Freddie wrote the crux of Death on Two Legs as a response to his former business associate who took Queen for all they were worth. Knowing Freddie Mercury, this wasn't going to be exactly subtle, and Freddie made his anger as clear as day by making the song the very first track on the band's next album A Night At the Opera, calling this nameless man the "king of the sleaze" and claiming that he never had a heart.
Freddie did end up downplaying some of the more bitter insults in the press, but guitarist Brian May always maintained that there was a lot of deep seated anger on this song. Then again, their manager probably learned a lesson...namely, that if you choose to mess with your clients, be sure that they're not one of the biggest rock stars in the world.