The Show Must Go On (Queen song)

This article is about the song by Queen. For the Pink Floyd song of the same name, see The Show Must Go On (Pink Floyd song). For all other uses, see The show must go on (disambiguation).

"The Show Must Go On"
Single by Queen
from the album Innuendo
Released	14 October 1991 (UK) 6 February 1992 (USA)
Format	7" / 12" · CD single
Recorded	1990
Genre	Rock
Length	4:31
Label	Parlophone (Europe) Hollywood (USA)
Writer(s)	Queen (primarily Brian May)
Producer	Queen and David Richards
Queen singles chronology
"I Can't Live With You" (1991) "The Show Must Go On" (1991) "Bohemian Rhapsody" / "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (1991)

"The Show Must Go On" is a song by English rock band Queen, featured as the twelfth and final track on their 1991 album Innuendo. It is credited to Queen, but written primarily by Brian May. The song chronicles the effort of Freddie Mercury continuing to perform despite approaching the end of his life. Mercury was so ill and could barely walk when the band recorded the song in 1990, that May had concerns as to whether he was physically capable of singing it. Recalling Mercury's performance, May states; "he went in and killed it, completely lacerated that vocal".

It was released as a single in the United Kingdom on 14 October 1991 in promotion for the Greatest Hits II album, just six weeks before Mercury died. Following Mercury's death in November 1991, the song re-entered the British charts and spent as many weeks in the top 75 (five) as it did upon its original release, initially reaching a peak of 16. A live version with Elton John on vocals appeared on Queen's Greatest Hits III album.

The song was first played live on April 20, 1992, during The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performed by the three remaining members of Queen, with Elton John singing lead vocals and Tony Iommi playing rhythm guitar. It has since been played live by Queen + Paul Rodgers with Rodgers citing one of the performances as the best of his career. Since its release, the song has appeared on television, film, and has been covered by a number of artists.

Songwriting and recording process

After listening to John Deacon and Roger Taylor playing the chord sequence that later on would be the basis for almost the entire song, Brian May sat down with Freddie Mercury and the two of them decided the theme of the song and wrote some lyrics. May wrote down the rest of the words as well as the melody, and added a bridge with a chord sequence inspired by Pachelbel's Canon.

Demo versions featured May singing, having to sing some parts in falsetto because they were too high. When Brian May presented the final demo to Mercury, he had doubts that Mercury would be physically capable of singing the song's highly demanding vocal line, due to the extent of his illness at the time. To May's surprise, when the time came to record the vocals, Mercury consumed a measure of vodka and said "I'll fuckin do it, darling!" then proceeded to nail the vocal line in one take without problems.

For the record, May sang most of the backing vocals (including the very last line) and played Yamaha DX7 synthesiser as well as guitar. Producer David Richards suggested the key-shift in the third verse.

“	"'The Show Must Go On' came from Roger and John playing the sequence, and I started to put things down. At the beginning, it was just this chord sequence, but I had this strange feeling that it could be somehow important, and I got very impassioned and went and beavered away at it. I sat down with Freddie, and we decided what the theme should be and wrote the first verse. It's a long story, that song, but I always felt it would be important because we were dealing with things that were hard to talk about at the time, but in the world of music, you could do it."	”
—Brian May - 1994

The lyrics are full of allusions, metaphors and other figures of speech, making it somewhat difficult to understand. Thinly disguised tragedy ahead is announced. In the end, the text refers to the determination, the furious desire to live ("I Have to Find the Will to carry it on with the show ...") in spite of vanishing strength ("inside my heart is breaking"). From the perspective of harmony, the song begins in B minor; then there is a modulation to C # Minor as if the song implied a hope (an increase of tone); but eventually it falls back to B minor.

Jim Hutton, Freddie's partner who was with him for the last 6 years until his death, mentions the lyric that refers to the use of make up during his last days:

“	To me, the most autobiographical line was: 'My make-up may be flaking but my smile still stays on.' That was true. No matter how ill Freddie felt, he never grumbled to anyone or sought sympathy of any kind. It was his battle, no one else's, and he always wore a brave face against the ever-increasing odds against him.	”
—Jim Hutton - 1994

Personnel

• Freddie Mercury - lead vocals, backing vocals
• Brian May - guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
• John Deacon - bass guitar
• Roger Taylor - drums, backing vocals

Promotional video

Due to Mercury's deteriorating health at the time, no new footage of the lead singer was shot. The music video instead consisted of a montage of clips spanning Queen's music videos from 1981 to '91 as a precursor to the imminent release of the band's Greatest Hits II album spanning that period. Footage from all promo videos from the 1980s are shown in the montage, apart from "Under Pressure" and "Hammer To Fall".

The music video was compiled and edited by Austrian director team DoRo, consisting of Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher.

Live recordings

• During the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium, London in 1992, the surviving members of Queen along with Elton John and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath performed "The Show Must Go On". The concert was later released on DVD in 2002 for the 10th anniversary.
• At the National Theatre De Challiot, Paris in 1997, Queen performed the song with Elton John and the Béjart Ballet, which is available in Queen's Greatest Hits III. This was also Queen's last-ever event to include bassist John Deacon; he retired from music after this performance.
• The 2006 VH1 Rock Honors at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, featured Queen + Paul Rodgers performing "The Show Must Go On", along with "Under Pressure", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" as a live broadcast.
• At the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards, Queen closed the awards ceremony, with Adam Lambert on vocals, performing "The Show Must Go On", "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions".

Chart performance

Chart (1991)	Peak position	Total weeks
Dutch Singles Chart	7	12
French Singles Chart	2	21
German Singles Chart	7	26
Irish Singles Chart	17	3
Italian Singles Chart	10	2
Italian Singles Chart	6	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	20	5
Polish Singles Chart	3	1
Swedish Singles Chart	30	6
Swiss Singles Chart	11	11
UK Singles Chart	16	10
U.S. Mainstream Rock Charts	40	11

Cover versions

• The song was one of many used in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, performed by Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman.
• Shirley Bassey recorded a version of the song for her 2001 album Show Must Go On.
• The music was recorded in 2006 by Divinefire for their album Hero.
• Elton John performed the song on his 1992 tour; the song appears on the DVD Live In Barcelona.
• It is one of the last songs Grégory Lemarchal premonitorily sang before his death.
• Celine Dion sang this song in her 2008-2009 Taking Chances Tour.
• It was also covered by Michael Ball on his album Music.
• It also appears on Pet Shop Boys album Back To Mine as a Chris Lowe selection.
• It has also been covered by German power metal band Metalium on their album Nothing to Undo: Chapter Six.
• Extracts from the song appear in the first movement of The Queen Symphony by Tolga Kashif
• DC Comics character Pied Piper used this song, thinking it would be the final thing he played, to destroy the planet Apokolips in Countdown to Final Crisis.
• The song was covered on the Danish final of their edition of X-Factor in 2008, with several of the "rejects" and "outsiders" who never made it far, but made a lasting impression on many viewers, performed the song together.
• Paris Bennett performed an abridged version of the song on the fifth season of American Idol.
• Carly Smithson performed an abridged version of the song, and recorded a lyrically complete studio version, for the seventh season of American Idol.
• Hip-Hop/Rock group Twiztid made their version called "It Don't Stop", which featured the original song's sample and sped up chorus. It was released on their seventh studio album W.I.C.K.E.D. as a bonus track.
• Israeli singer Dana International recorded a version sung in Hebrew/English for her debut album Danna International in 1993 called "Ha-Hatzga Chayyevet L-Hamshikh".
• The song was performed by Patrick Fiori, Liane Foly, Garou and Lââm during the annual Les Enfoires concert in 2010.
• Tom Chaplin of alternative rock band Keane covered the song in celebration of Freddie Mercury's 65th Birthday, at an event titled 'Freddie For a Day' held at the Savoy Hotel in London.
• The song was covered by Amelia Lily upon her comeback performance of the eighth UK series of the X Factor.