THE LONG SHOT’S EXTENSIVE MERCURY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP4-h…
Freddie Mercury’s vocal influence is unparalled, and his versatile style and unique voice have led to him often being called ‘one of the greatest singers of all time’. Though often regarded quite “unstable” live vocalist, Mercury generally delivered wonderful vocal performances and entertained crowds like a true professional.
Thanks to his wide vocal range and dramatic timbre, yet extremely bright singing at times, Mercury has been called everything from a high baritone to a leggiero tenor. I personally consider him a dark-voiced tenor, but his voice can certainly be described as ‘baritenor’ due to his later vocal development into the dramatic and husky vocal tone.
1. 0:00 – Really good baritone-like singing from “The Golden Boy”, trails down to B♭2.
2. 0:13 – A brief B♭2 from the alternate version of “Guide Me Home/How Can I Go On”, one of Mercury’s most memorable performances.
3. 0:20 – Very good A2s from “I’m Going Slightly Mad” – ‘Innuendo’ definitely had Freddie at his peak as a vocalist, all the performances are high-class.
4. 0:32 – A2s from the backing vocals of “Flick of the Wrist”.
5. 0:40 – Sung A2s, and a brief G, from “Ride the Wild Wind”.
6. 1:02 – Harmony A2s off the song “The March of the Black Queen”, Mercury also sing a bright tenor high C (C5) just before the lows.
7. 1:07 – A short G♯2 from “Cool Cat”, Freddie’s falsetto shines here.
8. 1:12 – Strong G♯2s and brief G2s from “Somebody to Love”.
9. 1:19 – G2s from the legendary vocal harmonies of “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
10. 1:25 – A G2 from “Bicycle Race”, once again audible amidst the backing harmonies.
11. 1:30 – A strong G2 from the vocal harmonies of “Bring Back That Leroy Brown”.
12. 1:35 – A solid F2 from “Don’t Try Suicide”.
13. 1:40 – A spoken F2 from “Bijou”.
14. 1:46 – A solid F2 from the harmonies of “All Dead, All Dead”.
15. 1:51 – Strong F2s from the vocal harmonies of “Somebody to Love”.
16. 1:58 – I dislike including interviews, but here it goes – A short, hummed E2 and a spoken C♯2. Mercury’s speaking voice was surprisingly deep and husky for a tenor.
17. 2:03 – High notes – An incredible B4 from Billy Squier’s “Love Is the Hero”, one of Freddie’s most impressive notes.
18. 2:15 – The classic tenor high C (C5) from “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Freddie avoided this note like plague live.
19. 2:20 – The legendary chorus of “We Are the Champions”, Mercury sings up to C.
20. 2:27 – A live performance of the same song, this is the best instance of Freddie nailing the note live. (Live Aid, 1985)
21. 2:33 – C5s from “You’re My Best Friend”, really love the sound!
22. 2:53 – A powerful C5 from “All God’s People”.
23. 3:00 – The epic C5 from the vocal track of “Play the Game”.
24. 3:10 – Grandiloquent C5s from “It’s a Beautiful Day” – Singing on this song is just so beautiful, Mercury had improved drastically over the course of his years.
25. 3:25 – A C♯5 from “One Year of Love”.
26. 3:31 – An emotional C♯5 from the alternate version of “Guide Me Home/How Can I Go On”.
27. 3:42 – A mighty C♯5 from “Princes of the Universe”.
28. 3:50 – C♯5s from “I Can’t Live with You” – Mercury had mastered the use of his cleaner and rougher vocal textures at this point.
29. 4:11 – The epic vocal passage from “Who Wants to Live Forever”, Freddie sings up to D.
30. 4:24 – Ethereal D5s from “Don’t Try So Hard” – Even around this point of his career, Freddie was able to demonstrate this feather-light vocal style.
31. 4:37 – Sung B4s and D5s from “In My Defence”, blistering!
32. 4:50 – The high point of the song, the majestic D5, from “The Show Must Go On”, one of his most technically challenging vocal performances.
33. 4:59 – Huge D5s from “Gimme the Prize”, never before had Mercury sung with this gritty a vocal approach.
34. 5:11 – An insane D from the cheese-fest of “Let’s Turn It On”.
35. 5:21 – An E♭5 from “The Hitman”.
36. 5:27 – The magnificent E♭5 from “Innuendo”, the apex of Queen’s songwriting abilities.
37. 5:35 – A light E5 from “Was It All Worth It”.
38. 5:42 – “Another Bites the Dust” and sung E5s, this was never attempted live.
39. 5:53 – Sung E5s from “Hang on in There” – Impressive!
40. 6:07 – A bright F5 from “All God’s People”, we are reaching the limit of Mercury’s ‘full voice’ range.
41. 6:17 – A yelped F♯5 from “One Year of Love”.
42. 6:24 – The classic soaring falsetto A5 from “Under Pressure”.
43. 6:39 – Falsetto D6s from a live impromptu, very impressive control!
44. 6:46 – A whistle D6 from “Save Me”.
45. 6:54 – A weird whistle E6 from “It’s Late” – And no, that’s not guitar.
46. 7:01 – A whistle F6 from a live performance of “Under Pressure” – Not exactly his best notes. Mercury also hits some very high (albeit bad-sounding) whistle high notes on Maida Vale version of “It’s Late” from 1977.