Long after Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991, Queen remains one of the greatest rock bands to exist. The rock band often joined forces with some of music’s greats, including David Bowie for “Under Pressure” and Elton John. While the band took a break from the studio, one of the greatest and not well-known collaborations Mercury ever did was with the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, which was never released until long after Mercury and Jackson’s deaths.
In the 80s, Mercury and Jackson became friends, and Mercury often recorded with Jackson in Jackson’s studio. During the years when Jackson and Mercury were friends, Mercury recorded three demo tracks with Jackson. However, Mercury cancelled the collaborations, and the artists went their separate ways.
Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson Struck Up a Friendship
Like a lot of fans in the early 80s, Jackson was a huge Queen fan. As a fan, he would frequently attend their concerts, as revealed in an interview in 1983 by Mercury. As he attended their shows, Mercury got to meet Jackson, and they would soon become friends. “He kept coming to see us,” he said in the interview, “and then we started talking and, in those days, I think he would actually go out. He’d go out and have dinners. I remember going to dinner with him.”
Their friendship grew until the point when Mercury would record in Jackson’s home studio in 1983. In his studio, Mercury and Jackson recorded three demo tracks, which were “There Must Be More To Life Than This,” “State of Shock,” and “Victory”. Despite their growing fan bases and anticipation over an outstanding Jackson and Mercury collaboration, the artists’ collaboration and demo tracks were not released.
While both artists were in their prime in the 1980s, a collaboration released during that time with two of the biggest names in music at the time could have been impactful and created a shift in music. Both are musically inclined and genre-bending, so the music industry in the 80s could and should have had a Mercury and Jackson collaboration, which may have been timeless. However, the world will never know.
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The Reason Why Mercury Stopped Working With Jackson is an Unusual One
In an interview, Mercury revealed the reasons why their songs were never released, as he blamed their busy schedules. “They were great songs, but the problem was time, as we were both very busy at that period,” he had said. However, Queen’s manager at the time, Jim “Miami” Beach, revealed another reason why a Mercury and Jackson collab never came to be, and the reason is an unusual yet understandable one.
While Mercury recorded their music in Jackson’s studio, he grew wary of Jackson’s strange decisions. Jackson was well-known as an animal lover, as he kept exotic animals as pets, such as Bubbles the chimpanzee. During their recording sessions, Jackson would bring his pet llama, Louie, into the studio, freaking Mercury out.
According to Beach, Mercury grew frustrated and frantic over the presence of Louie and called him in a state of panic. During the phone call, Mercury allegedly said, “You have to get me out of the studio.” When he asked why, Mercury stated, “Because I’m recording with a llama. Michael’s bringing his pet llama into the studio every day, and I’m really not used to it, and I’ve had enough, and I want to get out.” From that phone call, Jackson and Mercury parted ways, and a collaboration was never spoken of again. Unfortunately, the pair were too different, and their differences and Louie the llama came between them and their music. However, only one song made it out of the vault.
One Demo Song Was Released Years After Jackson’s and Mercury’s Deaths
Out of the three demo songs Jackson and Mercury recorded together, only one was released to the world. Mercury’s solo version of “There Must Be More To Life Than This” was released as part of Mercury’s solo album Mr. Bad Guy. The original duet with Jackson was released as part of Queen’s album Queen Forever in 2014. The original song was released five years after Jackson’s death at age 50, and 23 years after Mercury’s death at age 45.
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While “Victory” is nowhere to be found, “State of Shock” received a shocking makeover. In 1984, a year after initial recording with Mercury, Jackson re-recorded “State Of Shock” with The Jacksons and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, and released the song as a single. “State of Shock” would end up being the highest-charting song from The Jacksons’ album, Victory.
In 2002, the original “State of Shock” demo was leaked online. Years later, in 2014, composer William Orbit remixed the song to include it in Queen Forever. However, the song never made it onto the album, and the thought of what could have been has been left unsolved.