Queen’s legendary guitarist Brian May recently shared a deeply personal revelation regarding his favorite Queen track—a song that, unlike many of the band’s chart-topping anthems, has never been performed live out of respect for late frontman Freddie Mercury.
With a discography overflowing with iconic hits, Queen has secured their legacy in rock history. In the UK alone, the band boasts 54 Top 40 entries, six number-one singles, and ten chart-topping albums. In the U.S., they’ve made the Billboard 200 on 30 occasions, with nine top 10 hits and one song reaching number one. Yet, when asked on the BBC’s One Show about his favorite Queen song, May bypassed stadium staples like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now.”
Instead, May offered a two-part answer—dividing his choice between a song he loves to play live and a deeper cut that holds a profound emotional connection.
“For live performances, I still love playing them all, I have to be honest,” May explained to The Express. “But I would have to say ‘We Will Rock You.’ It always gives me a good feeling.”
However, when it came to his most treasured Queen track, May revealed his answer in a Q&A session on Queen’s official YouTube channel: the deeply moving song “The Miracle.”
“I’m going to pick a song that not everybody knows out there,” May said. “It’s called ‘The Miracle,’ which Freddie wrote. I always thought it has a strange, unique magic to it.”
The significance of “The Miracle” runs deeper than its composition. Released on Queen’s 13th studio album of the same name, the track came at a time when Mercury was battling a private and devastating AIDS diagnosis. Despite this, the song radiates optimism.
“Especially because Freddie wrote it at a time when it was very hard for him to be optimistic,” May reflected. “And it’s just very beautiful. I’ll go for that.”
“The Miracle” was a collaborative effort involving all four band members, though it was initiated by Mercury and bassist John Deacon. The lyrics reference a broad range of cultural and historical figures, from Captain Cook and Cain and Abel to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. In essence, the song is a plea for the ultimate miracle: world peace.
Though Mercury had been exhibiting symptoms of HIV/AIDS since the early 1980s, his outlook remained positive. As the 1980s drew to a close, his condition worsened, yet his artistic spirit and sense of hope remained strong—reflected vividly in “The Miracle.”
The song, however, was not a commercial hit. “Everybody hated it for some reason,” May recalled. Still, the track holds immense value for him, encapsulating Mercury’s resilience and humanity.
“It’s very uncool to be idealistic in Britain, I suppose, at the moment,” May remarked back in 1989 after the song’s release. He added, “They said, ‘How can they talk about peace?’ and all that sort of stuff. Then of course, China happened,” referencing the Tiananmen Square protests. “It seems very relevant to us.”
Out of reverence for Mercury, “The Miracle” has never been played live. For May, this decision reflects not only the emotional weight of the song but also the unmatched role Mercury played in bringing it to life.
Throughout the years, May has named other Queen songs as favorites, depending on the context. He once highlighted “Made in Heaven,” the title track from Queen’s posthumous 1995 album released four years after Mercury’s death.
“It’s a quintessential Queen track,” May said in an interview with Far Out. “It’s one of the biggest we ever did. It was never a single, strange enough. ‘Made In Heaven’ is so enormous.”
Another top contender is the hard-charging anthem “I Want It All.” According to May, this track captures the spirit of ordinary people striving for more—one of Queen’s recurring lyrical themes.
“The song was about reaching out and grasping what you want in life,” May said. “A lot of Queen’s music was about normal people, with normal dreams and normal frustrations trying to grab the kernel of life. ‘I Want It All’ sums that up quite well.”
Today, Mercury’s legacy endures not only in Queen’s timeless music but also in tributes like Brian May’s first-ever signature guitar. Now a Gibson artist, May’s association with the brand has sparked rumors of a Gibson-produced Red Special—his iconic guitar originally handmade with his father. May has not denied the speculation, adding fuel to the excitement among fans and musicians alike.
In selecting “The Miracle” as his favorite Queen track, May reminds us of the band’s emotional depth and Mercury’s enduring spirit—a reminder that Queen’s greatness lies not just in their hits, but in the humanity and hope woven into their lesser-known gems.
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