News Digest

Michael Jackson duet with Freddie Mercury to feature on new Queen album

A Freddie Mercury duet with Michael Jackson is among three previously unreleased tracks by Queen which will feature on a new album. The band’s guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, who continue to tour and record as Queen, revealed earlier this year that material featuring their late frontman was in the pipeline. Now, they have announced the tracks will feature on a collection of the band’s love songs which will come out in November.

Hearing Michael Jackson’s vocals was stirring. So vivid, so cool, and poignant, it was like he was in the studio singing live. With Freddie’s vocal solo on the mixing desk, my appreciation for his gift was taken to an even higher level.

Producer William Orbit

The Jackson track, There Must Be More To Life Than This, was originally written while Queen were working on sessions for their Hot Space album in 1981, but after recording the backing track it was left incomplete. Mercury went on to visit Jackson and record his vocals, but despite again working on the song for 1984 album The Works, Queen never finished it and it was released as a solo effort by Mercury for his Mr Bad Guy album the following year. Mercury died after battling Aids in 1991 at the age of 45, while Jackson died in 2009 aged 50 of a drug-related cardiac arrest.