After the passing of Freddie Mercury in 1991 and a tribute concert in his name the following year, surviving members Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon returned to Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland in 1993 to work on finishing the tracks they had begun with Mercury during the early part of 1991.
“I think I kind of dragged my heels,” May recalls, “I think I went through a very extended grieving process really, because I kind of didn't want to talk about Queen. I went out on my tour, solo tour, and of course, all that people wanted to talk about was Queen and Freddie's death and stuff, and I couldn't deal with it. I just said, ‘Look, let's just talk about what's happening now’… So I had a bit of sort of denial stuff going on and I think I was reluctant to get back into opening those boxes and dealing with Freddie's voice there. And it was tough to begin with.
“Roger made the first inroads and he took some of the tapes down to his studio and started working on them. And of course, that's the trigger I needed because I hear what he’s done, and I go ‘no, no, no, don't do it like this. You’ve got to do it like this’, you know? So my juices were working and I just dived in before I had time to think, and I took over some particular tracks. It was a monumental task.”
“It was very weird working with Freddie's voice coming out of the speakers,” adds Taylor.
“The whole album is a fantasy, really,” says May, “because it sounds like the four of us are there all together having fun and making the album, but of course, for most of the time when you're listening, that's not the case. You know, it's built to sound that way. And a lot of love went into that.”
On its release in November 1995, “Made In Heaven” topped the charts and achieved multiple Platinum status around the world - going on to sell in excess of 20 million copies, while five tracks were subsequently released as singles, all of which were top 20 hits in the UK.
See also:
Queen revisit The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on The Greatest
Queen spotlight Roger Taylor drum solos on 50th anniversary series
Queen explore Brian May live guitar solo on 50th anniversary series
Queen has most streamed classic album in the UK
Search Queen at hennemusic
