The legendary song Freddie Mercury was sure would be a “complete disaster”

Posted On January 23, 2026January 23, 2026

While Queen represented the foundation of Freddie Mercury‘s career, the late iconic vocalist also spread his wings as a solo act and produced music he’d have been incapable of creating within the confines of the group. After all, they were a rock band, but there was more to Mercury’s artistry than he could present with Queen.

For the most part, mercury represented the very ideals of Queen. He was bold and brash, devastatingly theatrical and incredibly talented. For many casual observers, it might have been seen that Queen were simply his backing band. But while that really belies Mercury’s devotion to the band and the songwriting chops of its members, one thing is for sure, the group couldn’t hold on to his talents forever.

Mercury’s ability to not only fill a room with rambunctious but perfectly formed notes was only part of the parcel he brought to the stage. The other was that he was utterly captivating to watch. It’s part of why so many people wrongly assumed that Queen were his ensemble. But it also meant that going out on his own was always likely to be part of his story.

In 1985, Mercury first went solo with Mr Bad Guy. The LP was recorded during a time when Queen put their career on pause to pursue new endeavours. This project allowed Mercury to pursue the genre of disco, which wasn’t a possible prospect with Queen, who would have never signed off on his ideas to venture down this road.

Mercury released the operatic collaborative album Barcelona with Montserrat Caballé three years later. The project was born after Barcelona was awarded the Olympic Games, prompting them to ask Mercury to team up with the acclaimed local artist he greatly admired. Initially, the collaboration was supposed to be only a song, but it became an entire album.

The title track was a resounding success, charting worldwide and expressing a new side to Mercury. However, according to Mike Moran, who composed and co-wrote the tracks with the Queen singer, later revealed that Mercury was unsure how ‘Barcelona’ would turn out.

Speaking about the collaboration in the Finding Freddie documentary series: “I don’t think Fred sung better at any other time in his life. Fred never tried to sing operatically, but Fred was a great performer. He could have done anything, really, I suppose. The power and the passion he put into it is the same as a tenor in an opera.”

Moran continued: “Fred… was excited for one thing because she was an absolute idol of his. But on the other hand, he said, ‘We might not get on, personally I don’t know what she’s like.’ So we tried to lighten the atmosphere a bit in case it turns out to be a complete disaster.”

Thankfully, he bonded with Montserrat over dinner at his home in Kensington, which gave him confidence in ‘Barcelona’. Furthermore, when the Catalonian singer laid down her vocals on the track in the studio, he was awe-struck and couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“When Montserrat sang ‘Barcelona’ after her first take was the nearest I ever saw Freddie to tears,” Moran recalled. “Freddie was emotional, but he was always in control of his emotions, because he could let them out in performing or writing songs. He grabbed my hand and said: ‘I have the greatest voice in the world, singing my music!’ He was so elated.”

Despite his vast success with Queen, Mercury couldn’t help himself from getting over-excited while in the studio with Montserrat, who successfully exceeded his expectations and provided him with one of the proudest moments of his glittering career.

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