Queen Shares Unreleased Freddie Mercury Song On iTunes, Proceeds To Fight AIDS
Queen honored the late Freddie Mercury this week by putting out a previously-unreleased song called “Let Me In Your Heart Again,” with all sales benefiting charity.
The song features vocals from legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who died of complications from AIDS in 1991.
For the remaining members of Queen, releasing the song was in part a tribute to Mercury. Sales of the song, which is available on iTunes, will go toward the Global Fund, which fights AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
“It’s been 23 years since the world lost our beloved Freddie Mercury,” guitarist Brian May said in a statement. “We’ve made extraordinary progress in the fight against AIDS in that time. But we cannot simply rest on the fact that the treatment is available. We must ensure that it is provided. [Roger Taylor] and I are proud to lend this rediscovered song to the RED campaign, in the hope that Freddie’s powerful voice can inspire the world yet again.”
The song dates back to 1984, when Queen was working on their album The Works. Taylor said the song just didn’t fit with the rest of the album, so it “got put aside and forgotten.”
“I think Brian discovered it again, and I’d completely forgotten about it, I have to say,” Taylor said. “So we did a little work on it. We did a few backing vocals on it and there it is, with all of the original instruments and the rhythm section and guitar as it was recorded at the time. That was a nice surprise for me.”
Queen and Freddie Mercury are about to get more exposure as well. After years of development, a biopic on the life of Mercury is finally coming together, with Ben Whishaw in the lead role and Dexter Fletcher signed on to direct. The biopic still doesn’t have a title or a release date, however.
The song released to iTunes this week isn’t the only new music for Queen fans. Earlier this year, the band also announced that it would be putting out a new album featuring unreleased Freddie Mercury vocals.
