Without a doubt, Freddie Mercury had one of the greatest voices of all time, and is arguably the best front man of the 20th century. With songs like “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Killer Queen,” Mercury’s vocal range is one of the most difficult to imitate, but George Michael didn’t hesitate to imitate the singer at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in April of 1992. Footage has recently surfaced that shows the recently deceased singer preparing for the tribute, which features another incredible musician we lost in 2016.
While doing a dry run of the massively difficult vocal stylings of the song “Somebody to Love,” Mercury collaborator David Bowie watches Michael’s abilities with a big grin. Bowie worked together with Mercury on the massive hit “Under Pressure” in 1981, and as you can tell from his appearance around 3:28 in the video, is impressed with what Michael pulled off.
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In a book that chronicled the history of Queen, Michael said of the song, “It’s ridiculous,” adding, “one minute it’s up here, one minute it’s down there…” Despite those difficulties, Michael had no problem rising to the task.
At the time of the tribute concert, Michael still hadn’t publicly revealed his homosexuality, and Mercury was one of the most prominent voices, figuratively and literally, in the LGBTQ community, who died from pneumonia caused by AIDS.
“It was the proudest moment of my career, but mixed with real sadness,” Michael said of the performance.
Michael captivated not just the stadium with his performance, but also won the most coveted acclaim imaginable. “George Michael was the best,” Brian May of Queen declared. “There’s a certain note in his voice when he did ‘Somebody to Love’ that was pure Freddie.”
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[H/T Independent]
