The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's second number-one hit in their home country.
The September 2005 edition of online music magazine Stylus singled out the bass-line as the best in popular music history.
In November 2004, Stylus music critic Anthony Miccio commented that "Under Pressure" "is the best song of all time" and described it as Queen's "opus".
In 2012, Slant Magazine listed "Under Pressure" as the 21st best single of the 1980s.
After Mercury's death and the Outside tour in 1995, Bowie performed the song at virtually every one of his live shows, with bassist Gail Ann Dorsey taking Mercury's vocal part.