Queen to unveil lost Christmas song recorded in 1974 that “no one has ever heard”
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(Credits: Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Brian May has confirmed that Queen are set to unveil a lost Christmas song that the band originally recorded in 1974.
The track, ‘Not for Sale (Polar Bear)’, was originally recorded during the making of the band’s second album Queen II, but was ultimately not selected to be on the final tracklist.
Since then, it has been gathering dust in the Queen archives. Now, it will finally be given an official release on the reissue of Queen II in 2026 and will be given its first play on Planet Rock at 6pm on December 22nd.
In a statement, May said, “People might possibly have heard a bootleg version of ‘Not for Sale (Polar Bear)’ by Smile, it’s a song that goes back a very long way, but to my knowledge no one has ever heard this version.”
He continued, “It’s a work in progress and will appear on the forthcoming rebuild of the Queen II album – coming next year – but I’m sneaking this into my Planet Rock special because I’m fascinated to know what people think about it. I hope people have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!”
In addition to fans hearing ‘Not for Sale (Polar Bear)’ for the first time, the broadcast will also include a selection of May’s favourite festive songs from the likes of Slade, Chuck Berry, Bad News, and The Crystals.
As it stands, there is no official release date for the Queen II reissue that May has stated will arrive in 2026.
2026 could be a seismic year for Queen. In September, May revealed that he was interested in bringing the band to The Sphere in Las Vegas.
He told Rolling Stone, “ I’m very keen on the Sphere. It’s got my mind working. I sat there watching the Eagles, thinking, ‘We should do this. The stuff that we could bring to this would be stupendous.’ So, yeah, I would like to do it. We’re having conversations.”
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