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"There Must Be More to Life Than This" is the eighth track on Queen singer Freddie Mercury's debut solo album Mr. Bad Guy, released on 29 April 1985 by Columbia Records.
| "There Must Be More to Life Than This" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Freddie Mercury | |
| from the album Mr. Bad Guy | |
| Published | Queen Music Ltd. |
| Released | 29 April 1985 |
| Studio | Musicland, West Germany |
| Length | 3:00 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Freddie Mercury |
| Producer(s) |
|
The song was originally recorded by Queen for 1982's Hot Space, but failed to make the final version of the album. It was previously recorded as a duet between Mercury and Michael Jackson, along with two other songs: "State of Shock" (later reworked with Mick Jagger for a version by the Jacksons) and "Victory" (which remains unreleased).
Queen and Michael Jackson version
edit| "There Must Be More to Life Than This" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Queen featuring Michael Jackson | |
| from the album Queen Forever | |
| Published | Queen Music Ltd. |
| Released | 10 November 2014 |
| Recorded |
|
| Length | 3:27 |
| Songwriter(s) | Freddie Mercury |
| Producer(s) | William Orbit |
After Michael Jackson's death in 2009, Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor took steps to secure all three Mercury/Jackson duets, with a view to releasing them in 2012. However, Taylor likened dealing with the Michael Jackson Estate to "wading through glue".[1] Eventually, the parties agreed for "There Must Be More to Life Than This" alone to be released. "I was very pleased we had three new tracks to put on Queen Forever," said Taylor. "As well as the Michael Jackson track 'There Must Be More to Life than This', there is another song Freddie did with him, called 'State of Shock', with a massive rock sound. But we could only have one track with Michael, which is a great shame."[2]
A contributing factor to the delay from the time it was recorded was Mercury's frustration over Jackson's insistence that one or more of his pets be allowed to attend recording sessions. There are conflicting sources on whether Jackson's llama Louie or his chimp Bubbles was the offending animal. According to manager Jim Beach Mercury told him "Can you get me out of here. I'm recording with a llama." According to author David Wigg, Mercury grew frustrated because of Jackson's insistence that Bubbles be in the studio. According to Wigg, "Michael made Bubbles sit between them and would turn to the chimp between takes and ask, 'Don't you think that was lovely?' Or, 'Do you think we should do that again?' After a few days of this, Freddie just exploded ... 'I'm not performing with a fucking chimp sitting next to me each night.'" Jackson wasn't keen on Mercury's recreational drug use during their recording sessions. Mercury returned to London soon after and the track remained unfinished.[3][4]
The version on Queen Forever was produced and mixed by William Orbit, containing the original backing track from the Hot Space sessions with May on guitar, Taylor on drums and John Deacon on bass. An alternative mix by May was rejected in favour of Orbit's. A solo version recorded by Jackson has been recorded and leaked but remains unreleased.
Personnel
edit- Freddie Mercury – lead and backing vocals, piano
- Brian May – guitars
- John Deacon – bass guitar
- Roger Taylor – drums, percussion
- Michael Jackson – co-lead vocals
Charts
edit| Chart (2014) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Wallonia)[5] | 45 |
| Japan (Japan Hot 100)[6] | 39 |
References
edit- ^ Alistair Foster (2014-08-27). "Freddie Mercury's duet with Michael Jackson could be rocking you this year, says Queen's Roger Taylor". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
- ^ Hasted, Nick (February 2015). "Queen reborn". Classic Rock. p. 36.
- ^ Rachel Chang (2019-09-05). "Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury: The Surprising Reason They Never Released Their Duets". biography.com.
- ^ "Freddie Mercury angered by Jacko's chimp". Bang Showbiz. Yahoo! News. November 10, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ^ "Queen & Michael Jackson – There Must Be More to Life Than This" (in French). Ultratip. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
- ^ "Queen Chart History (Japan Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 December 2018.