Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure live [1981] sounds better

- Background -

Released as a single in October 1981

Genres considered - Dance Rock, Rock

Included on Queen's 10th album, Hot Space (1982)

No. 1 on UK Singles Chart

Queen's second No. 1 in the UK

David Bowie's third No. 1 in the UK

Top 10 internationally

No. 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s

Second best collaboration of all time (Rolling Stone)

No. 429 on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (2021)

Played at every Queen concert from 1981 to 1986

Featured on Queen's live albums, including Queen Rock Montreal and Live at Wembley '86

Featured on Queen's compilation albums - Greatest Hits II, 

Classic Queen, and Absolute Greatest

Featured on David Bowie's compilation albums - Best of Bowie (2002), The Platinum Collection (2005), Nothing Has Changed (2014), Legacy (2016), and Re: Call 3 (2017)

Reception

Personnel 

Freddie Mercury 

- Lead & Backing vocals, Hammond organ, Piano (etc)

Brian May - Electric Guitar (etc)

Roger Taylor - Drums, Backing vocals (etc)

John Deacon - Bass Guitar (etc)

David Bowie 

- Lead & Backing vocals, Jupiter-8 (etc)

David Richards - Piano

Point of intrigue - David Bowie did not perform the song before an audience until the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.  Bowie and Annie Lenox sang as a duet and were backed by surviving Queen members.  (In live shows, Mercury sang Bowie's parts.)

Point of intrigue follow up - After Freddie Mercury's passing and David Bowie's 1995 Outside Tour, Bowie performed "Under Pressure" at nearly all of his concerts with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey singing Mercury's parts.

Live Recordings

Year-end Charts : 1981

No. 89 Australia 

No. 73 Canada

No. 60 the Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)

No. 13 the Netherlands (Single Top 100)

No. 43 UK

Year-end Charts : 1982

No. 41 Canada

No. 170 U.S. (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)

Year-end Charts : 2016

No. 62 on Billboard Hot Rock Songs

Certifications -

Gold in Brazil

Platinum in Denmark

2x Platinum in Spain

3x Platinum in Australia & Italy

4x Platinum in the UK & U.S.

6x Platinum in New Zealand

(Wikipedia)

In the past, Tuesdays naturally felt duo in theme.  This Tuesday is not any different.  Although in recent weeks, featured duets collapsed over time in friction, strain, and irreconcilable differences.  

Freddie Mercury and David Bowie were not such the heated duo.  I will admit curiosity as to why Bowie did not prefer live performances for "Under Pressure" (and ask for any clarification you can provide in the Comments section).  

Otherwise, "Under Pressure" is an iconic and timeless pair that, like duos past, passes down from generation to generation of music fans.