The greatest voice in all of rock music has been silent since 1991. Freddie Mercury passed away November 24th, 1991, from bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS.
Freddie and Queen made some of the most amazing music ever, influencing many but never duplicated. I mean, no one can or could duplicate Freddie’s voice, (Don’t get me started on the Adam Lambert garbage.) or their live show.
He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987 but continued to record music with Queen. In fact, he didn’t even announce his diagnosis until the day before his death. He even filmed a video for “These Are the Days of Our Lives”, his body super skinny, face heavily caked with makeup to hide the lesions, The last new music from Queen, the album, Made in Heaven, was released four years after Freddie’s death.
Now, a lost, previously unheard track is being made available by Queen’s surviving members.
“Face it Alone” is a beautiful, emotional ballad that was recorded in 1988 for their album The Miracle. According to a BBC Radio interview, Brian May and Roger Taylor said they discovered the song while they were working on a re-issue of The Miracle, saying:
“We did find a little gem from Freddie that we’d kind of forgotten about, and it’s wonderful. Actually, it was a real discovery.” ~Roger Taylor
“It was kind of hiding in plain sight. We looked at it many times and thought, ‘Oh no, we can’t really rescue that.’” ~Brian May
However, they did rescue it and the result is haunting and passionate and beautiful. Hearing Freddie’s voice on something new for the first time in forever, is just magical.
“I’m happy that our team were able to find this track. After all these years, it’s great to hear all four of us … yes, Deacy is there too … working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed … until now!” – Brian May
It will be featured and be the first single from the re-release of The Miracle, which is coming as an epic eight-disc box set, that will feature an hour plus of previously unreleased, unpublished songs.
Queen The Miracle Collector’s Edition Box Set will be available November 18th.