The song was played live on 20 April 1992 during The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performed by Robert Plant with Queen.

[13] As reported by Freddie Mercury in Melody Maker, 2 May 1981, he composed "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the guitar in just five to ten minutes.

I did that on the guitar, which I can't play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords.

[21] Record World said that the band "does a superb job of capturing the spirit and sound of the late '50s be-bop rock'n'roll".

[22] May wanted to emulate Rick Nelson's and Presley's longtime guitarist James Burton, and at Macks's suggestion used a Fender Esquire rather than his regular Red Special for the recording session.

[23] The music video for the song was filmed at Trillion Studios on 21 September 1979 and directed by Dennis De Vallance involving four dancers and a floor of hands.

Whenever the song was played live, the band added a solid rock ending that extended the under-three-minute track to over five minutes, with May and Mercury providing additional guitars.

It was knocked out of the top spot on this chart by Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II".