Innuendo is the fourteenth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 4 February 1991 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and was the band’s first studio album to be released by Hollywood Records in the United States.

Produced by David Richards and the band, it was the band’s last album to be released in lead singer Freddie Mercury‘s lifetime. The album reached the No. 1 spot on the UK album charts for two weeks, and also peaked at No. 1 in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, staying at No. 1 for three weeks, four weeks, six weeks, and eight weeks, respectively.

It was the first Queen album to go Gold in the US upon its release since The Works in 1984.

The album was recorded between March 1989 and November 1990. In the spring of 1987, Mercury had been diagnosed with AIDS, although he kept his illness a secret from the public and denied numerous media reports that he was seriously ill. The band and producers were aiming for a November or December release date in order to catch the crucial Christmas market, but Mercury’s declining health meant that the release of the album did not take place until February 1991. Stylistically, Innuendo has been regarded as a return to Queen’s mid-1970s bombastic period of exaggerated music and lavish production.

Nine months after the album was released, on 24 November, Mercury died of AIDS-derived bronchopneumonia.

The album cover was designed by Queen and Richard Gray. The booklets and single covers from the album are inspired by illustrations by 19th century French artist Jean-Jacques Grandville. Innuendo was voted the 94th greatest album of all time in a national 2006 BBC poll.