As two of the biggest names in music, you would think that at some point, Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson’s paths would have crossed, exposing the world to one of the most significant collaborations in history. Their paths indeed did cross, but the unfolding collabortation wasn’t quite as anticipated.
Jackson was a huge Queen fan, particularly the renowned vocal prowess of frontman Mercury. Naturally, the pair became friends after Jackson would frequent Queen’s concerts in the early 1980s: “In the early days, three, four years ago, he used to come and see our shows at The Forum in LA,” Mercury said in an interview in 1983. “And I guess he liked us and so I got to meet him.”
He added: “He kept coming to see us, 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.”
After much speculation about whether the two were working together, their mutual admiration was confirmed even further when they started recording in Jackson’s home studio in ‘83. They produced three demo tracks together: ‘There Must Be More To Life Than This’, ‘State Of Shock’, and ‘Victory’. However, despite much anticipation and some lasting frustration, even to this day, the songs never really made it. “They were great songs, but the problem was time, as we were both very busy at that period,” Mercury later said.
Even though there was a sense of initial productivity, the novelty soon wore off, and Mercury grew a little frustrated with Jackson’s… choices. When questioned about any blockers that prevented them from proceeding with the songs, Queen’s manager Jim ‘Miami’ Beach says that one day he received a frantic call from Mercury: “’You have to get me out of the studio,’” Mercury allegedly said.
When asked why, Mercury said, “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”.
Jackson was a lover of animals, as we know, with one of his most famous pets, Bubbles the chimpanzee, who he repeatedly brought with him to press conferences and meetings. The llama, called Louie, also became one of his furry sidekicks in the 1980s, along with an alpaca, a snake, and many more exotic animals.
Nevertheless, the llama came between their artistic visions and the three songs that Jackson recorded with Mercury were never released as intended, but ‘State Of Shock’ was re-recorded by Jackson with The Rolling Stones in 1984 and released as a single. In 2014, Queen finally released the Mercury and Jackson version of ‘There Must Be More To Life Than This’, which was a part of the band’s album Queen Forever.
After joining forces in the studio, Mercury and Jackson eventually went their separate ways, with Mercury realising that they were two fundamentally different people. “I think [Jackson] now just stays at home. He doesn’t like coming out at all,” Mercury in the ‘83. “He says whatever he wants, he can get at home. Anything he wants, he just buys it.”
He added: “That’s not me, but that’s his bag. I wouldn’t do that. I would be bored to death. I go out every night. I hate staying in one room for too long anyway.”
The singer went on to collaborate with many big names in the business, like David Bowie, but unfortunately for Jackson, it just wasn’t meant to be.
