re: Why did Queen decline in popularity in the US during the 80s?

Queen was never a hipster kind of band. They were mainstream all the way and made music for the money and the fame. They saw the winds of change sweeping toward pop and thus evolved their sound toward what would be more commercially appealing. So I object to this idea of them losing their street cred. They never really had any to begin with. They were a band of nerds. Their drummer was studying to be a dentist and their lead guitarist was an astrophysicist.

And I disagree with the notion that they stopped producing quality music after The Game. Hot Space was a mediocre album but Under Pressure was a good headliner song. Action (This Day) and Back Chat were also pretty good songs, too. The Works had the singles I Want to Break Free as well as Hammer to Fall. A Kind of Magic had One Vision - a great return to their hard rock roots - as well as Who Wants to Live Forever and Princes of the Universe. The Miracle had I Want it All, Breakthru, and Scandal. Innuendo, IMO, was their best album since A Night at the Opera. The Show Must Go On, the headliner from that album, is my favorite song by Queen.