On October 2, Queen + Adam Lambert will be released Living around the world, a concert album and DVD / Blu-ray recorded at various stops on their tours over the past six years. Watch a preview of ‘The Show Must Go On’ from a concert at London’s 02 Arena on 4 July 2018.
The song originally appeared on Queen’s 1991 LP Innuendo, which was released just months before Freddie Mercury died. “Although we were all aware of Freddie’s impending tragedy, we had some inspiring and happy times in the studio, which made the Innuendo album, ”says Queen guitarist Brian May in a statement. “We did not talk much about Freddie’s illness – he just wanted to ‘continue business as usual’ as far as possible.”
“But even if it was only a day or two a week when Freddie was good enough to come in and work with us,” he continues. “We take those precious moments and make the most of them. I had been working on ‘The Show Must Go On’ as an idea, but I wasn’t sure if the title was too clear. Freddie heard it and found it great and rejected all thoughts that there was a problem with the choir or the title. He wanted to work on it. ”
The band never had a chance to perform the song live with Mercury, but in 1992 they played it with Elton John and Tony Iommi at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in London. They played it again with Elton John at a Paris event in 1997 at the Théâtre national de Chaillot, which was the last time bassist John Deacon performed with the band before retiring from public life.
It was almost every time in the setlist that Queen + Paul Rodgers played between 2005 and 2008 and it’s been in the mix at Queen + Adam Lambert shows since they started giggling together in 2012.
The band would spend the summer on the road in Europe, but they had to postpone those plans until 2021 due to the pandemic. During the arrest he was injured with May’s gluteus maximus “in a moment of too enthusiastic gardening”, and in May he was taken to hospital after suffering a heart attack.
“He’s very busy,” said drummer Roger Taylor Rolling stone in July. ‘We have daily contact. It was quite a scare. He had a real scare. It has been strange. We were hit twice. Our manager also had a fairly large heart attack. It has been a very strange year for us in every way. ”
