"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, such as German band Dune in 1996, whose version peaked at number two in Germany. 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 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]
Music video
The music video for "Who Wants to Live Forever" 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]
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]
Live performances
The song was performed by Queen during the 1986 Magic Tour in a D minor key. 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.
Track listing
7-inch single
A1. "Who Wants to Live Forever" (Single Version) – 4:01
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Legacy
Tributes
Seal performed a live version of this song at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert held at Wembley Stadium in April 1992 five months after Mercury's death.[21] He said the song made him cry when he first heard it.[22] Thomas Curtis-Horsfall of Smooth Radio stated Seal's performance of the song was "one of the standout moments" from the concert, adding "his spine-tingling rendition of the Queen classic had everyone in the arena close to tears."[23]
The animated television series Rick and Morty uses the song during the post-credits scene for the Season 5 episode "Mortyplicity".[27]
Funeral music
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]
German band Dune released their successful cover of "Who Wants to Live Forever" in October 1996 by Orbit and Virgin Records as the first single from their third album, Forever (1997). It is produced by Bernd Burhoff and Jens Oettrich, recorded in Abbey Road Studios in London, and features German singer Verena von Strenge and the London Session Orchestra. The single peaked at number two in Germany, receiving a platinum certification after selling more than 500,000 copies in Germany alone.[29] It was also a top-10 hit in Austria, Hungary and Switzerland, a top-20 hit in the Netherlands and a top-60 hit 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.[30]
Music video
The accompanying music video for "Who Wants to Live Forever" was directed by Swedish-based director Matt Broadley[31] and was shot in the Scottish Highlands. The video begins in an old churchyard, where Oliver Froning of Dune plays a man standing by a grave. He then sees Verena von Strenge appearing in ghost-like form, dressed in a white dress, singing to him. When Froning leaves the graveyard, 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.
Track listing
"Who Wants to Live Forever" (Sixtysix radio mix) (3:54)
"Who Wants to Live Forever" (South Bound mix) (3:58)
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