Music Brian May’s favourite Freddie Mercury songs
Queen‘s reign at the top of the pop-rock podium is seemingly never-ending. The band, comprised of the magical frontman Freddie Mercury, the astrophysicist Brian May on guitar, the unstoppable John Deacon on bass and the master of crowd-collectivising rhythm Roger Taylor on drums, are still regarded as one of the most commercially viable groups in the world.
Across the decades, the group continuously produced projects that enraptured their fans. Whether it be the making of records, something which notably slowed following the tragic death of Mercury or their theatre and movie productions. While their stage show always provided a theatrical experience, it is the quality of the songs that will live on beyond the quartet.
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is rightly considered one of the greatest pop songs of all time, but that is just the tip of the Queen iceberg. ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and ‘Somebody To Love’ are yet more examples of the group’s ability to transcend the confines of genre and promote themselves as a universal pop act capable of uniting crowds into swaying masses of gleeful smiles.
The band is also uniquely posed as a group where each member contributes some of their most widely loved work. Taylor wrote ‘Radio Ga Ga’, Deacon wrote ‘You’re My Best Friend’, and Brian May wrote the classic ‘We Will Rock You’. But, in a conversation with Louder Sound, the latter would offer up a collection of his favourite songs from Queen’s singing sensation, Freddie Mercury.
“Occasionally Freddie would write fast,” May told the publication, “But a lot of the time he’d go home and scheme and scheme, and come back with stuff written all over a pad of his dad’s notepaper. He’d spend time developing ideas.”
The guitarist then went on to note some of his favourites: “One of the last songs he wrote, ‘A Winter’s Tale,’ was written purely sat looking out on the mountains from the other side of Lake Geneva. He could obviously hear it all in his head, although he didn’t have any musical instruments with him.”
“I remember him coming into the studio and saying: ‘I’ve got this idea… just give me a few minutes.’ Then he brought it to life,” shared May. “That’s a beautiful track, actually.”
“Another favourite,” he continued, “Is ‘The Miracle,’ which has an incredible lightness to it. I’d say my favourite Freddie song to play is ‘We Are The Champions’ – still. And I don’t know how many times I’ve played it, but it always pulls something out of you. It’s one of those songs where even if the winds are blowing in the wrong direction it still sounds good.”
Brian May’s favourite Freddie Mercury songs:
‘A Winter’s Tale
‘The Miracle’
‘We Are The Champions’
