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Queen released a never heard ballad sung by Freddie Mercury and it had fans in tears

Haunting, beautiful and powerful.

"Freddie Mercury" by kentarotakizawa is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Fans are thrilled to hear Freddie Mercury's iconic voice once again.

Freddie Mercury had a voice and a stage presence unlike any other in rock music history. His unique talents helped propel the band Queen to the top of music charts and created a loyal fan base around the world.

Sadly, the world lost that voice when Mercury died of AIDS at age 45. For decades, most of us have assumed we'd heard all the music we were going to hear from him.

However, according to Yahoo! Entertainment, remaining Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May announced in the summer of 2022 that they had found a never-released song they'd recorded with Mercury in 1988 as they were working on the album "The Miracle."


“We did find a little gem from Freddie, that we’d kind of forgotten about,” Taylor said in June, according to the BBC. "It's wonderful, a real discovery. It's a very passionate piece."


That "little gem" is a four-minute ballad called "Face It Alone." Queen released a lyric video of the song on its YouTube channel, and it's bringing fans to tears.

The lyrics are particularly heart-wrenching, considering the timing of the song's recording. Mercury was reportedly diagnosed with HIV in 1987, though kept it a secret from the public and even from many who worked closely with him until shortly before his death.

Comments have poured in from around the world in multiple languages, and the sentiment is universal—people are deeply moved.

"Over 3 million views in one day. To hear Freddie's voice again is so special. You live forever, darling. The song is heart breaking but then again, Queen's songs are from the heart and that can never go wrong. Thank you to all who made it happen." – sweet pea

"One day Freddie said: 'I won't be a star,I will be a Legend'And yes we all agree, he STILL REMAINS A LEGEND even after 31 years after his death. AMAZING." – Gloria Sousa

"Freddie’s vocal is killing me same today as 20 years ago. Thank You Queen for this amazing gift after so many years. We love You." – Adrian Kufel

"What to say?? A great magnificent surprise. All I know is that I cried the moment I heard this voice, these words.... Only Freddie. Love this man for eternity.. It seems as if he returned briefly to us!! To send us a message... What a beautiful present for all his fans, for this generation that has had the impact of the pandemic, this strange war, these strange times. So happy and touched to hear this now. Thank you Queen... Thank you Freddie forever !!!" – Fern 19671

"So great to see all the Freddie and Queen fans here today celebrating this song and Freddie's amazing voice. I love how much Freddie is still treasured. I remember the day he passed away, how I cried. It's like a gift to get this new song and have his song playing loud throughout the house today. We all love you dear Freddie." - Sarah-Louise ASMR

Mercury was truly a legend in his own time, and hearing his voice anew almost makes it feel like he's time-traveled to the here and now. What a lovely gift for Queen fans everywhere.


This article originally appeared 2 years ago.

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Thousands of concertgoers in Poland randomly decided to sing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and it was flawless

The music of Queen is a universal language.

Sandra Maria/Youtube, Official Lives & Music Videos/Youtube

You can't not sing this song.

The music of Queen has a profound visceral effect on everyone. Few pieces of art can cause complete strangers to put aside their differences and come together in song, but by golly, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of them. It would be cheesy if it weren’t so absolutely beautiful.

This pertains even to non-English-speaking countries, it appears. Recently, thousands of Harry Styles concertgoers in Warsaw, Poland, began cheering as those iconic beginning piano notes penetrated the air.

It wasn’t long before the entire stadium was singing along to that beloved tune and acing every single lyric. As one person commented on YouTube, even though most people in Warsaw don’t speak English, “they sing Queen.”

The passionate impromptu performance serves as a reminder of how special both Queen and the late Freddie Mercury remain today.

“No other band will ever come close to Queen. They were lightning in a bottle and Freddie was a whale in a teardrop. Once people keep singing his words, FM will live on forever,” another YouTube viewer wrote.

Indeed, seeing an entire stadium come alive with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” you can’t help but feel Mercury’s soul return to the mortal plane, as if we’ve all been transported back to that historic Live Aid concert in 1985 when he had the entirety of Wembley Stadium wrapped around his finger for 21 glorious minutes.

Watch below, and try not to sing along. Scratch that—sing your heart out.

This article originally appeared on 7.14.23

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A stadium of people launched into an incredible, spontaneous 'Bohemian Rhapsody' sing-along

"For almost 6 minutes, the equivalent of a small city sang, with one voice, the beautiful song of a man who has been dead for decades. If you can do this, you're not just a famous person, you're a legend."

Green Day/YouTube

When polarization starts to feel like a defining characteristic of humanity, sometimes we need a reminder that people really are capable of coming together as one.

Watching a stadium full of Green Day concertgoers bust out their best "Bohemian Rhapsody" when it came over the loudspeakers is just such a reminder.

As the person who uploaded the concert footage to Reddit noted: "For almost 6 minutes, the equivalent of a small city sang, with one voice, the beautiful song of a man who has been dead for decades. If you can do this, you're not just a famous person, you're a legend."

What could be more palette-cleansing than hearing thousands of people breaking into song together for an entire six minutes? What's more unifying than a piece of music being so beloved and well-known that a whole stadium knows every note and word and sings it in unison with all their heart?

via GIPHY

As one commenter on Reddit wrote, "Ever notice how one crowd singing together always sound the same as other crowds, as in has the same tambre [sic] and sound quality? It's like the recognizable and familiar voice of humanity. Regardless of how different the people in the crowd are, the crowd always sounds the same. I think the idea that we are listening to humanity's voice when hearing a crowd sing is a beautiful concept."

Listen to the voice of humanity. It's truly a beautiful thing.

This article originally appeared on 03.03.20

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'Fat Bottomed Girls' dropped from Queen's Greatest Hits album for kids, prompting debate

Was it the subject matter of the song or some specific lyrics?

Christopher Hopper/Public Domain

Queen in 1977, the year before their "Jazz" album featuring "Fat Bottomed Girls" was released

A new version of Queen's Greatest Hits has been released on Yoto, an audio streaming platform for children. The album includes favorites like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Another One Bites the Dust," "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You," but this release is missing one notable tune—"Fat Bottomed Girls."

The exclusion prompted a wave of speculation about why it wouldn't be included, which in turn prompted debate over whether the song is offensive and outdated or an inspiring ode to larger body types. One of the most common guesses for why they may have decided not to include it on a platform aimed at young children is this line:

“But I knew life before I left the nursery/ Left alone with big fat Fanny/ She was such a naughty nanny/ Hey, big woman, you made a bad boy out of me.”

A celebration of larger-bodied women? Sure. A reference that could be interpreted as a young boy being molested by his nanny? Maybe not so appropriate for a young audience.

(It's worth noting here that the lyrics of some songs that were not cut from the album include, "I'm a sex machine ready to reload" and Yoto does include the following disclaimer, which only mentions references to violence and drugs, not sex:

NOTE: Please note that the lyrics in some of these songs contain adult themes, including occasional references to violence and drugs. These are the original and unedited recordings. Whilst no swear words are used parental discretion is advised when playing this content to or around younger children.)

It appears the primary reaction to the song's exclusion spawned from complaints over political correctness—"woke cancel culture" as a writer for the U.K.'s Daily Mail referred to it—which has triggered a weird situation where online culture warriors can't seem to figure out what side they're arguing for.

Oddly, the same people who keep referring to LGBTQ people as "groomers" and "pedos" seem to be defending a song sung by a famous LGBTQ icon with lyrics that point to a sexualized relationship between a child and his nanny, simply because someone called the song's removal a "woke" move. And on the flip side, the same people who decry removing sexual material from the children's section of libraries seem to be defending the removal of this song from a child's audio platform for its adult-oriented theme and lyrics simply because the anti-woke crowd is complaining about it.

It's all just a little silly, really.

Popular music has long been a battleground for debates over what's appropriate or not for kids to be exposed to, and there are countless songs we could point to for lyrics that would be disturbing coming out of a child's mouth. I imagine few people would argue that nothing is off limits for children to hear or sing along to, but where does the line get drawn?

My parents were big Queen fans and I recall having "Fat Bottomed Girls" blaring on the stereo when I was a child. Musically, it's a great song—very catchy. And as a girl whose body did not align with the flat-bottomed models of the 1980s, I appreciated what felt like a personal shout-out. My fat bottom actually made the rockin' world go 'round? Sweet. (This was over a decade before "Baby Got Back" and the only time I recall a large butt being portrayed in a positive light in popular culture.)

On the other hand, some of the lyrics are definitely questionable for a child to be belting out, so I can see why it might not be included on an album specifically released for kids. However, the same could be said for some other song lyrics on the album, so why remove this one and not those?

To be fair, the reason why "Fat Bottomed Girls" wasn't included on Yoto's release of the Greatest Hits album is just speculation at this point. But it did get people talking about what's appropriate for kids and highlights the challenge of determining what should be included or excluded from platforms specifically aimed at children, and that's always a worthy discussion to have.

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