"Who Wants to Live Forever" | ||||
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Single by Queen | ||||
from the album A Kind of Magic | ||||
B-side | "Killer Queen" | |||
Released | 15 September 1986 | |||
Length |
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Label | EMI | |||
Songwriter(s) | Brian May | |||
Producer(s) |
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Queen singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Who Wants to Live Forever" on YouTube |
"Who Wants to Live Forever" is a song by the British rock band Queen. A power ballad, [1] it is the sixth track on the album A Kind of Magic , which was released in June 1986, and was written by lead guitarist Brian May for the soundtrack to the film Highlander . [2] Queen was backed up by an orchestra, with orchestrations by film score composer Michael Kamen. The song peaked at No. 24 in the UK charts. [3] In 1991, it was included in the band's second compilation album, Greatest Hits II . [4]
Since its release, the song has been covered by many artists. Five months after Mercury's death in November 1991, Seal performed a live version of the song at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. In 2014, Rolling Stone readers voted it their fifth favourite song by Queen, [5] and in 2018 it was listed at number 15 in "The top 20 Queen songs of all time" by Smooth Radio. [1]
In the 1986 film Highlander , the song is used to frame the scenes in the film where Connor MacLeod must endure his beloved wife Heather MacLeod growing old and dying while he, as an Immortal, remains forever young. Brian May wrote the song in the backseat of his car after seeing a 20-minute first cut of the scene of Heather's death. [6] It was later used in the Highlander television series episodes "The Gathering", "Revenge is Sweet", "The Hunters", "Line of Fire", and "Leader of the Pack".
In the film version, Freddie Mercury provides all the main vocals. On the album version, May sings lead vocals on the first verse before Mercury takes over, with May also singing "But touch my tears with your lips" during Mercury's verse and the closing line "Who waits forever anyway?". An instrumental version of the song, entitled "Forever", was included as a bonus track on the CD version of the album. This instrumental featured only a piano, with keyboard accompaniment during the chorus sections. The piano track was recorded solely by May. Queen were backed up by an orchestra arranged by Michael Kamen. [2]
The video was directed by David Mallet and filmed in a (now demolished) warehouse at Tobacco Wharf at London's East End on 16 September 1986. [7] It featured the National Philharmonic Orchestra with forty choirboys and several hundreds of candles which remain lit throughout filming as well as Mercury wearing a tuxedo suit. [7] It is also the last time Mercury appeared with a mustache in a Queen music video as the next music video he was in, the solo single "The Great Pretender", he had shaved off his mustache and never grew it back. The video also features bass guitarist John Deacon playing a white double bass, despite not performing on the original recording, and drummer Roger Taylor using an array of percussion while Brian May played keyboards and then his usual Red Special guitar with the orchestra and at the end.
An alternate version with clips from the film Highlander (which the song appears in) appears on the video single with "A Kind of Magic" in October 1986 and later as a hidden music video on the Queen Greatest Video Hits II DVD in November 2003. [7]
The song was performed by Queen during the 1986 Magic Tour. Live, May would begin playing synthesizer (a Yamaha DX7) before moving to guitar halfway through the song. [8] [9] Also, the live versions feature Freddie Mercury singing the entirety of lead vocals, and John Deacon playing bass guitar (starting at the second verse)—with the song ending after the final lyrics (“Who waits forever anyway?”) without the orchestra-and-guitar flourish of the studio version.
7-inch single
A Side. "Who Wants To Live Forever" (Single Version) – 4:01
B Side. "Killer Queen" – 2:59 [10]
12-inch single
A1. "Who Wants To Live Forever" (Single Version) – 4:01
A2. "Killer Queen" – 2:59
B1. "Who Wants To Live Forever" (Album Version) – 5:15
B2. "Forever" – 3:20 [11]
Weekly charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Italy (FIMI) [19] sales since 2009 | Gold | 35,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [20] sales since 2011 | Platinum | 600,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
In a 2005 poll conducted by digital television station Music Choice on what song Britons would most like played at their funeral, the song was voted the fifth most popular. [28]
"Who Wants to Live Forever" | ||||
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Single by Dune | ||||
from the album Forever | ||||
Released | 23 October 1996 | |||
Genre | Classical | |||
Length | 3:54 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Brian May | |||
Dune singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Who Wants to Live Forever" on YouTube |
German band Dune released their cover of "Who Wants to Live Forever" from their album Forever as a single in October 1996. It is sung by German singer Verena von Strenge and sold more than 500,000 copies in Germany alone, after reaching number two there. The single also peaked at number three in Austria, number eight in Hungary, number nine in Switzerland, number 12 in the Netherlands and number 59 in Sweden. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it reached number 13 in January 1997. "Who Wants to Live Forever" was nominated to the 1997 Echo Awards for the most successful national dance single. [29]
The music video for "Who Wants to Live Forever" was directed by Matt Broadley. [30] It was shot in the Scottish Highlands. The video begins on an old churchyard, where Oliver Froning plays a man who stands by a grave. He sees von Strenge appearing in ghost-like form, dressed in a white dress, singing to him. When Froning leaves the churchyard, he walks into the highlands. By a river, he stops for drinking some water, and again sees von Strenge standing in front of a waterfall, singing to him. In the end, he reaches the top of the mountains, where he is united with von Strenge.
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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"Who Wants to Live Forever" | ||||
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Single by Sarah Brightman | ||||
from the album Timeless | ||||
Released | 1997 | |||
Genre | Operatic pop | |||
Label | East West | |||
Songwriter(s) | Brian May | |||
Producer(s) | Frank Peterson | |||
Sarah Brightman singles chronology | ||||
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Soprano Sarah Brightman released her cover of "Who Wants to Live Forever", from her album Timeless/Time to Say Goodbye , as a single in 1997 (See 1997 in music). The single peaked at No. 45 in the UK singles chart. [42]
"We Are the Champions" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released from the band's sixth album News of the World (1977). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it remains among rock's most recognisable anthems. The song was a worldwide success, reaching number two in the UK, number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, number three in Canada, and the top ten in many other countries. In 2009 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and was voted the world's favourite song in a 2005 Sony Ericsson world music poll.
"Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Queen's second number-one hit in their home country and Bowie's third, and also charted in the top 10 in more than 10 countries around the world.
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a song by the British rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1979, the track is included on their 1980 album The Game, and also appears on the band's compilation album Greatest Hits in 1981. The song peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1979 and became the group's first number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 1980, remaining there for four consecutive weeks. It topped the Australian ARIA Charts for seven weeks. It was the band's final single release of the 1970s.
"Tie Your Mother Down" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by lead guitarist Brian May. It is the opening track and the second single from their 1976 album A Day at the Races. On its original release as a single in 1977 the song peaked at 31 in the UK Singles Chart. More than 20 years later, it was released as a double a-side to "No-One but You " where it reached 13 in UK Singles Chart. On the album the song is preceded by a one-minute instrumental intro featuring a Shepard tone melody, performed by Brian May, which is reprised in the ending of "Teo Torriatte": this was intended to create a "circle" within the album.
A Kind of Magic is the twelfth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 2 June 1986 by EMI Records in the UK and by Capitol Records in the US. It is based on the soundtrack to the film Highlander, directed by Russell Mulcahy.
"Killer Queen" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and recorded for their third album Sheer Heart Attack in 1974. It reached number two in the UK Singles Chart and became their first US hit, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is about a high-class call girl and has been characterised as "Mercury's piano-led paean to a Moët-quaffing courtesan".
Dune is a German electronic group known for songs such as "Hardcore Vibes", "Can't Stop Raving", "Are You Ready to Fly" and "Rainbow to the Stars".
"I Want to Break Free" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by their bassist John Deacon. It appears on the album The Works (1984), and was released in three versions: album, single and extended. The track became a staple of the band's 1984–85 Works Tour and their 1986 Magic Tour.
"Princes of the Universe" is a song written by Freddie Mercury and performed by the British rock band Queen, originally released as a single in the United States on March 12, 1986, via Capitol Records. The song was written for the film Highlander, and released on the album A Kind of Magic, which also featured other selections from the Highlander song score on June 2, 1986. In 1999 it was included in Queen's compilation album Greatest Hits III.
"The Show Must Go On" is a song by British rock band Queen, featured as the twelfth and final track on their 1991 album, Innuendo. It is credited to Queen, but was primarily written by guitarist Brian May. The song chronicles the effort of frontman Freddie Mercury continuing to perform despite approaching the end of his life, although his diagnosis with HIV/AIDS had not yet been made public in spite of ongoing media speculation that he was seriously ill. When the band recorded the song in 1990, Mercury's condition had deteriorated to the point that May had concerns as to whether he was physically capable of singing it. May recalls; "I said, 'Fred, I don't know if this is going to be possible to sing.' And he went, 'I'll fucking do it, darling'—vodka down—and went in and killed it, completely lacerated that vocal".
"Hammer to Fall" is a 1984 song by the British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, the song is the eighth track on their 1984 album The Works. It was the fourth and final single to be released from that album, although the single version was edited down by thirty seconds from the version on the album. Different sleeves were used to package this single and the live picture sleeve is now a collector's item. The song harks back to the old roots of the band, being built around a hard angular and muscular riff.
"Too Much Love Will Kill You" is a song written by British guitarist Brian May of Queen, Frank Musker and Elizabeth Lamers. The song reflected the breakdown of May's first marriage and attraction to his future wife, Anita Dobson. It was first recorded by Queen around 1988 or before, and was intended to be on the band's The Miracle album in 1989, but did not make the cut due to legal disputes following the band's decision that all songs on the album would be written by the group as opposed to individuals.
"I Want It All" is a song by British rock band Queen, featured on their 1989 studio album, The Miracle. Written by guitarist and vocalist Brian May and produced by David Richards, it was released as the first single from the album on 2 May 1989. "I Want It All" reached number three on the singles charts of the United Kingdom, Finland, Ireland and New Zealand, as well as on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. Elsewhere, it peaked at number two in the Netherlands and charted within the top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Norway and Switzerland. With its message about fighting for one's own goals it became an anti-apartheid protest song in South Africa.
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