The Queen Is Dead is the third studio album by the English rock band The Smiths, released on 16 June 1986, by Rough Trade Records.

[3] Marr wrote several songs while the Smiths toured the United Kingdom in early 1985, working out arrangements with bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce during soundchecks.

[7] It reached number 70 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in late 1990.

[17] "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side", "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and "Frankly, Mr. Shankly" were debuted live during a tour of Scotland in September and October,[18]: 120–2  during which "The Queen Is Dead" and "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" were sound-checked.

Street recalled: "Morrissey, Johnny and I had a really good working relationship – we were all roughly the same age and into the same kind of things, so everyone felt quite relaxed in the studio".

The recording, made with engineer Stephen Street at a small studio in Manchester and initially intended as a demo, was considered by the band to be good enough for release as a single.

[18]: 120–1 In August 1985, "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" were recorded at RAK Studios in London, along with the B-sides to "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side"; "Asleep" and "Rubber Ring".

[12]: 32–3  "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" includes a false fade near the start, intended by Street to give the impression of a door closing and opening again.

The version originally intended for inclusion on The Queen Is Dead was ruined by a technical glitch on the tape, and so the song was re-recorded with John Porter at Wessex Studios in London.

"Cemetry Gates" was Morrissey's direct response to critics who had cried foul over his use of texts written by some of his favourite authors, notably Shelagh Delaney and Elizabeth Smart.

"The Queen Is Dead", which leads off the album and notably became an expressionistic music video directed by Derek Jarman, starts with a sampled excerpt from Bryan Forbes' 1962 British film The L-Shaped Room.

[22] Mayo Thompson of Red Krayola was an associate producer for the film and through working for Rough Trade Records persuaded Jarman to direct a promotional video for the Smiths.

[23][24] Another instance of Morrissey's fascination with 1960s British cinema, the film featured performances by Pat Phoenix (who had already appeared as a cover star on the 1985 single "Shakespeare's Sister") and Cicely Courtneidge as an elderly lesbian veteran of the music halls.

The actress had also appeared in a gala performance for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, entitled God Save the Queen; she died in 1980.

The backing vocals are attributed to "Ann Coates" on the record sleeve (Ancoats is a district in Manchester, just north-east of the city centre).

"[27] Later that month, Morrissey accused HMV of trying to "freeze sales" on the new re-issues after the store limited the number of records sold to one per person.

[29] In a press release for the re-issue Morrissey said of the album "You progress only when you wonder if an abnormally scientific genius would approve – and this is the leap The Smiths took with The Queen Is Dead.

"[29] From contemporary reviews, Mark Coleman of Rolling Stone remarked on Morrissey's sense of humour and singled out the singer's performance on "Cemetry Gates" as a highlight, concluding that "like it or not, this guy's going to be around for a while.

[42] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice wrote that despite his dislike of the Smiths' previous albums, he held an "instant attraction" to The Queen Is Dead, where he found that "Morrissey wears his wit on his sleeve, dishing the queen like Johnny Rotten never did and kissing off a day-job boss who's no Mr. Sellack", which "makes it easier to go along on his moonier escapades".

[43] Considine concluded that Morrissey was "mostly in control of his voice" praising "Cemetry Gates", "Bigmouth Strikes Again" and declaring that "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" as "the most affecting performance".