The Hitman

The raw energy of The Hitman, with its 3:43 runtime, stems from a collaboration involving several members of Queen. Originally, Freddie Mercury conceived the idea on the keyboard, in a different key. It was Brian May who took that base riff, gave it a twist by changing the key, and recorded a demo of what would become this more powerful version. Then, John Deacon stepped in to restructure the song's form, and together they completed the missing lyrical parts before its final recording. The vocal harmonies heard were entirely contributed by May.

This piece is part of the album Innuendo, the British band's fourteenth studio work, released on February 4, 1991. It was a significant record, being Queen's first to arrive via Hollywood Records in the United States, while in the United Kingdom it was released by Parlophone. The recording spanned from March 1989 to November 1990. Innuendo reached number one on the charts in the United Kingdom for two weeks, and also topped sales in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, remaining at the top for considerable periods. It was Queen's first album to achieve Gold certification in the United States since The Works, released in 1984. The production of this album was handled by David Richards along with the band itself.