Queen’s final project with Freddie Mercury, 1995’s Made in Heaven, has long been thought to have included all of what was left from the legendary frontman’s work. But it might not be his last musical testament.
More recently came the announcement that a trio of unheard songs that Mercury recorded with Michael Jackson in 1983 will be released soon. Guitarist Brian May says that there may, in fact, be enough additional song portions to complete still another posthumous release.
Mercury, who helped Queen to 18 No. 1 albums and singles, died in 1991 after a bout with AIDS. John Deacon, the group’s original bassist, then retired in 1997.
May and drummer Roger Taylor haven’t exactly been resting on the band’s laurels in the interim, recording and touring with Paul Rodgers in the late 2000s, and appearing on stage over a series of dates since then with Adam Lambert, the Idol finalist. Queen makes its long-awaited stateside concert debut in September with Lambert, as part of the iHeart Radio music event at Las Vegas.
The group has also appeared since Mercury’s death with George Michael, Robbie Williams and Keane’s Tom Chaplin, among others.
But May, in this iHeart clip, sounds enthused about the opportunity to revisit Queen’s glory days.
“We thought we’d exhausted everything that was around and could be worked on, but since then a number of things have come to light from various sources that we’d just plain forgotten about, including the stuff with Freddie and Michael Jackson,” May says in this clip. “Just a couple of weeks ago, we thought: Maybe we shouldn’t be just working on bits and pieces? Maybe we should be heading towards an album? It just might be.”
Made in Heaven, which was also Deacon’s final studio project with Queen, eventually went four-times platinum — and topped the charts in the UK.
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