{"id":376795,"date":"2025-12-30T07:18:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T07:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/376795\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T07:18:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T07:18:10","slug":"thanks-to-a-shot-of-vodka-and-sheer-willpower-freddie-mercury-recorded-one-of-queens-final-songs-in-one-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/376795\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanks to a Shot of Vodka and Sheer Willpower, Freddie Mercury Recorded One of Queen\u2019s Final Songs in One Take"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1987, one of, if not the most talented vocalist of the 20th century was diagnosed with AIDS. That talented vocalist was Freddie Mercury<\/a> of Queen<\/a>, and he didn\u2019t publicly disclose his illness until a day before he died in 1991. Between 1987 and 1991, Mercury and Queen released the two hit albums The Miracle and Innuendo. Both albums reached the top 30 on the Billboard 200, and hosted classics such as \u201cI Can\u2019t Live Without You\u201d, \u201cI Want It All\u201d, \u201cHang On In There\u201d, and the single Mercury nailed in one take, \u201cThe Show Must Go On\u201d.<\/p>\n

For both these albums, Freddie Mercury battled his disease, and during the recording of Innuendo, it worsened. In the United States, Queen released the album on February 5, 1991. Months later, on November 24, 1991, Mercury passed away after his roughly five-year battle with AIDS. Given the time frame in which Queen recorded this album, Mercury was incredibly unwell. According to GQ<\/a>, he was so unwell that Brian May feared he would be unable to record the track.<\/p>\n

Prior to Mercury\u2019s recording of the single, there was seemingly some dispute and concern over Mercury\u2019s condition and ability to perform. However, this is Freddie Mercury we\u2019re talking about, so it is no surprise that he stepped up to the plate and hit the task at hand out of the park. Before entering the booth, Mercury reportedly took a shot of vodka and stated, \u201cI\u2019ll f\u2014g do it, darling.\u201d He went on to complete the recording in one take. <\/p>\n

The Chart History and Legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen\u2019s 1991 Single<\/p>\n

Queen rereleased \u201cThe Show Must Go On\u201d as a single on October 14, 1991, just six weeks before Freddie Mercury\u2019s passing. Following its release, \u201cThe Show Must Go On\u201d peaked at No. 16 on the United Kingdom singles chart. After Mercury\u2019s passing, the single re-entered the chart and stayed in the top 75 for several more weeks. <\/p>\n

This is not the final catalog in Queen\u2019s catalog nor the final song Mercury recorded, but it certainly was one of the many minuscule moments that marked Mercury\u2019s end with the band that introduced him to the world. Originally released as the 12th and final track on Inneundo, there is a certain undertone to this song that one can interpret as a goodbye. When looking through a certain lens, it\u2019s almost as if Mercury is saying, \u201cMiss me, but know that Queen is far from over.\u201d <\/p>\n

After Mercury passed away in 1991, Queen did not close up shop, as they went on to release Made In Heaven in 1995. Featuring some of Mercury\u2019s final works, the album is a posthumous tribute to the man who once perfected a song in one take during his battle with AIDS.<\/p>\n

Photo by Fox Photos\/Hulton Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1987, one of, if not the most talented vocalist of the 20th century was diagnosed with AIDS.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75,37613,20529,5475],"class_list":["post-376795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-freddie-mercury","tag-queen","tag-rock-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}