Word on the street is that Queen are set to premiere an unreleased song featuring Michael Jackson tomorrow morning.
News of the premiere broke today when it was announced live on British radio that “There Must Be More To Life Than This” – a song recorded by both Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson in the early 80s – would be unveiled to the world as a Queen track featuring Mercury and Jackson’s original vocals and a brand new production by William Orbit.
According to fans who heard the announcement live on air today, Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor will appear on BBC Radio 2 tomorrow morning to coincide with the debut of the track.
The BBC website is hinting at the premiere, with the following posted online of Friday’s breakfast radio lineup:
Listen in to the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 from 8am on Friday 19th September to hear Roger and Brian talk about…well you will just have to tune in to find out won’t you!
A fan-edited version of “There Must Be More To Life Than This” – created by splicing together both Jackson and Mercury’s versions – has been available online for years (see below).
Mercury himself released a solo version of the song, which he wrote, on his ‘Mr. Bad Guy’ album in 1985.
The news comes after years of frustration for the surviving Queen band members. Last month, Roger Taylor vented that obtaining permission to use Jackson’s vocals had been an arduous affair, describing the lawyers in charge of the pop star’s estate as ‘difficult’.
“William Orbit did a really nice mix of one of our tracks with Michael and I’m pretty certain that will be on Queen Forever,” said Taylor, adding that dealing with Jackson’s estate had “been like wading through glue.”
Tune into BBC Radio 2 to hear the track live on air by clicking here.
Damien Shields is the author of the book Michael Jackson: Songs & Stories From The Vault examining the King of Pop’s creative process, and the producer of the podcast The Genesis of Thriller which takes you inside the recording studio as Jackson and his team create the biggest selling album in music history.
