Entry in the National Recording Registry

Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” receive a special honor this year as both tracks have been selected to enter the National Recording Registry in 2022.

Queen – Checking out the “Flash Gordon” soundtrack:

Culturally and historically important hits

The directory was established in 2000. Annually, the United States Library of Congress selects 25 recordings that it believes are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, or inform or reflect life in the United States.” In the meantime, there are countless US audio documents in it, the genre range is broad: in addition to jazz pieces, pop, rap and classic titles are also represented. Rock and metal can also be found, albeit more sporadically.

“Don’t Stop Believin'” has enjoyed huge popularity in pop culture

Both newcomers have become an integral part of pop culture. “Don’t Stop Believin'” was released on Journey’s seventh studio album, Escape, in 1981. To date, the hit is the band’s best-known song. He owes this, among other things, to his use in numerous programs such as “Scrubs”, “Family Guy”, “Glee” or “The Sopranos”. The song is also popular for cover versions: John Mayer and Kanye West, for example, gave it their own touch. The Journey classic has over 1.2 billion views on Spotify.

Commenting on the track’s inclusion in the catalogue, former lead singer Steve Perry said: “This song has taken on a life of its own over the years. It’s about the people who appreciate the song, who can identify with its lyrics, stick to it and sing it.”

You have to form your own opinion about “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Bohemian Rhapsody is taken from Queen’s 1975 album A Night at the Opera. On Spotify, the song is even more successful than “Don’t Stop Believin'” with 1.7 billion views. The band’s first number one hit earned a diamond record in the US last year. With no chorus or classical verses, the song’s structure is very specific to the pop genre. The interpretation of the text caused controversy worldwide: while some considered the title to be an “opera parody”, for musicologist Hartmut Fladt it was on the contrary a “declaration of love to the opera”. Freddie Mercury is said to have said himself: “People should listen to the song and form their own opinion about what the lyrics tell them.”

Queen recently collected donations for Ukraine with a concert stream. In a recent interview, Queen guitarist Brian May said that today’s youth should listen to more Beatles again. He also recently announced that he already has ideas for a sequel to the hit Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

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