Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor of Queen recently told BBC Radio 2 that they had found an unreleased track recorded in 1989. The two Queen band members mentioned that the track was recorded with Freddie Mercury, their lead vocalist at the time, before he passed away in 1991. The legend had died from AIDS-related health complications.
Although the song title is officially unknown, it is reportedly titled “Face It Alone” and will be out by September. Taylor mentioned its release in the interview: “It’s from The Miracle sessions, and I think it’s going to be out in September.” Taylor and Brian also shared how they almost gave up on the discovery, but thanks to engineers and some studio whizzes, they were able to spiff up the track.
Queen band members discovered a gem track they did with Freddie Mercury
The track was originally recorded for the 1989 album, which featured released singles like “I Want It All,” “Breakthru,” “The Invisible Man,” “Scandal,” and the title track, “The Miracle.” The two band members further talked about how they discovered and almost did not release the old track.
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“We did find a little gem from Freddie that we’d kind of forgotten about. And it’s wonderful. Actually, it was a real discovery,” 72-year-old Brian told BBC Radio 2. “It was kind of hiding in plain sight,” Taylor added. “We looked at it many times and thought, ‘Oh no, we can’t really rescue that.'”
However, they went back to it thanks to the support from their engineering team. “But in fact, we went in there again, and our wonderful engineering team went, ‘OK, we can do this and this,” Brian said. “It’s like stitching bits together. But it’s beautiful. It’s touching.” “It’s a very passionate piece,” Taylor chipped.
This would not be the first posthumously released song from the Queen band featuring Freddie Mercury’s vocals. The band released a multi-set compilation album in 2014 titled Queen Forever. The album featured songs recorded before Mercury’s death in 1991, like “Let Me in Your Heart Again,” “Love Kills,” and “There Must Be More to Life Than This,” which featured late legend, Michael Jackson. Also, back in 1995, the band released their final studio album, Made in Heaven, which was recorded both before and after Mercury’s death, partially featuring his vocals.
Freddie’s Last Moment
The vocalist died at the age of 45, on November 24, 1991, from AIDS-related complications, which damaged his immune system as he suffered from bronchial pneumonia. The day before his death, he had publicly disclosed his health status.
“When we did discover that Freddie had this terrible AIDS virus in his body, there was still a disbelief in us,” guitarist Brian May said. “You think, Nah, it can’t happen to our mate, it can’t happen to Freddie. There’s gonna be some way out of this, he’s gonna be cured. And right up to the last minute, we knew, but we didn’t know. We sort of refused to know, if you like.” The Brit Awards, where he received an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music due to his acclaimed Innuendo album, was the singer’s last appearance in public.
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