Brian May remembered how Freddie Mercury once pitched an album title that his bandmates quietly rejected, speaking on Planet Rock.
Mercury proposed a concept that played off Michael Jackson’s recent work. The idea came as a surprise suggestion during a band meeting, and May’s reaction showed how even Mercury’s creative instincts did not always land.
“This particular day, he said, ‘I’ve got this great idea. You know, Michael Jackson’s album is called ‘Bad.’ I had this great idea… You know, no one’s ever done this. I think we call our album ‘Good,'” May recalled.
The Queen guitarist described the moment his bandmates heard the proposal. “And there was a sort of silence in the room, and we [went], ‘Hmmm, well, yeah, maybe,’ but there was this feeling of, ‘probably no.’ But most of Freddie’s ideas were excellent. I can tell you. That’s probably the only thing, you know?” he said.
May’s comments came as he reflected on Mercury’s role in shaping Queen’s direction and choices. The remark stood out as a rare example of a Mercury suggestion that the band did not pursue.
Michael Jackson released Bad through Epic Records on August 31, 1987, and the album became one of the most iconic and best-selling records ever made, with 35 million copies sold worldwide. Instead of responding to Jackson’s title, Queen released their 13th studio album The Miracle in 1989, which reached number 1 in the UK, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, though it charted at number 24 on the US Billboard 200.
Mercury approached creativity with genuine excitement and full enthusiasm, even when ideas seemed unconventional. According to producer Dave Richards, when Mercury came up with a suggestion, if anyone else had offered something so ridiculous, they would have been thrown out, but because it was Mercury, the band would try it and it would turn out to be amazing.
May revealed that Mercury saw himself as Queen’s singer rather than the band’s leader, and that underneath his confident presence was one of the shyest people May had ever met. Mercury’s excitement would take over completely whenever he had an idea, leaving him so energized he could hardly speak.
