According to Open Culture, tensions ran extremely high and egos clashed between, David and Freddie, while recording the mega-hit single. The final version of "Under Pressure" evolved from a jam session that took place over a 24-hour period in the summer of 1981, at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland.
In 2008, Queen guitarist Brian May spoke with Mojo magazine about the collaboration, saying: “It was very hard because you already had four precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. Passions ran very high. I found it very hard because I got so little of my own way. But David had a real vision and he took over the song lyrically.”