Queen Unveiled Never-Before-Heard Song From Freddie Mercury 31 Years After His Death

Jul 25, 2023

There’s no denying that Queen is one of the most legendary rock bands of all time. The band’s original line-up consisted of Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon, and, of course, Freddie Mercury. Mercury was known for his impressive singing and songwriting abilities and penned some of the most memorable songs to date. His four-octave range and boisterous personality gave him a great stage presence, ultimately making him an undeniable rockstar. He broke barriers and showed just how theatrical frontmen could be, proving to be a humble star every step of the way.

Born on Sept. 5, 1946, in Zanzibar, Mercury attended school in India and Zanzibar, before moving to Middlesex, England, in 1964. He had studied and written music for years and formed Queen in 1970. Some of their most notable songs include “Somebody to Love,” “We Are the Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” One of their most remembered performances as a group was at the 1985 Live Aid concert, which showed just how much exuberance and charisma Mercury truly had.

In 1987, Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS, but continued performing with his band, and didn’t tell the world until the day before his death. The world lost the musical legend in November 1991 when Mercury was only 45 years old. His death was a result of complications from AIDS.

Since then, Mercury’s fans have been yearning to hear music from the late music legend. More than three decades after his death, his bandmates discovered an unreleased song that Mercury had recorded before passing away in 1991. Keep on reading to learn more about the never before heard record!

According to Smooth Radio, Mercury’s performance changed after he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. He began looking pale and thin, and only made a few public appearances. He didn’t even announce that he had the disease until the day before he died, a move that his bandmates respected. “It was announced before he died but he did not want to be the object of pity of scrutiny and within 24 hours it was gone,” Taylor said. “It was probably perfect timing. Bloody good move I thought.”

Millions of his fans in the United States and worldwide mourned his tragic and saddening death because he left a huge void in the music and entertainment industry. 

Notably, Mercury last appeared in front of the camera two months before his death in the “These Are the Days of Our Lives” music video. It was decided that the music video for the song would be released in black and white. At the time, this was entirely practical and not simply a stylistic choice. Mercury was suffering from the complications of his illness and appeared so gaunt and ill in the footage that it was released in black and white in hopes of disguising this fact.

The single was released on the same record as “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which saw its debut on the charts just after Mercury tragically passed away. The video in question was filmed roughly six months before Mercury's passing, giving fans of the classic band a tragic look into Mercury's declining health at the time.

Perhaps even more heartbreaking is the footage interspersed with Mercury's last filmed project. The music video for “These Are the Days of Our Lives” features footage from a live performance from Queen between recorded takes of the band.

Longtime fans of Mercury and Queen were surprised to hear that in October 2022, May and Taylor revealed they had discovered a “little gem” they'd forgotten about. 

"We did find a little gem from Freddie, that we’d kind of forgotten about," Taylor told Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2, as quoted by Yahoo Entertainment. “It’s wonderful. Actually, it was (a) real discovery. It’s from the Miracle sessions (in the late 1980s), and I think it’s going to be out in September.”

“Face It Alone,” was the previously unheard song of Queen featuring Mercury. It was released via the “The Miracle Collector's Edition.” Apparently, the song was “kind of hiding in plain sight.”

“We looked at it many times and thought, ‘oh no, we can’t really rescue that’,” Taylor continued. “But in fact, we went in there again and our wonderful engineering team went, ‘OK, we can do this and this’. It’s like kind of stitching bits together.”

Taylor further described the track to be “beautiful,” “touching” and “a very passionate piece.”

Fans were emotional upon hearing the never-before-heard song, particularly because they heard Mercury again after all these years. 

“Incredible. I am happy to hear songs that have never been heard before. You can feel so much emotion with this. I don't care about the stripped down sound. It's Freddie's sound. This was wonderful to hear. Thank you guys for releasing this. So much love and respect for you all,” a fan commented. 

“What a stunning song ❤ Freddie is reaching across the years to us,” another commented. 

“Freddie's voice always gives me goosebumps there's truly nothing like it,” someone wrote.

Have you heard “Face It Alone” before? What can you say about the song? Isn’t it thrilling to hear Freddie Mercury again after more than three decades? Let us know, and pass this on to your family, friends and other Freddie Mercury fans out there!