Queen‘s iconic lineup consisted of Freddie Mercury as the singer, Brian May as the lead guitarist, Roger Taylor as the drummer, and John Deacon as the bassist. The band gained international popularity and commercial success with their lyrics and sounds thanks to combining progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal. Later, Queen members were more into other genres, such as arena rock and pop-rock, which were more radio-friendly.
The band’s frontman, Freddie Mercury, drew more significant attention along with the other members. However, he couldn’t be with his fans and bandmates for long. Sadly, the singer was diagnosed with AIDS and passed away because of the complications of the disease in 1991 when he was forty-five. Taylor and May decided to continue their musical journey together by finding a new lead vocalist, and they had a candidate.
Queen And Robbie Williams’ Collaboration
Queen released their sixth studio album entitled ‘News of the World’ on October 28, 1977, and it produced the band’s greatest hits such as ‘We Will Rock You,’ ‘We Are the Champions,’ and ‘Sheer Heart Attack.’ Mercury’s exceptional vocal talents and May, Taylor, and Deacon’s performances as instrumentalists were the main parts of the success. Especially ‘We Are the Champions’ became a symbol for success stories and appeared in different movies and tv shows.
One of them was a medieval adventure comedy film named ‘A Knight’s Tale,’ which Brian Helgeland wrote and directed. It starred famous actor Heath Ledger whose character William Thatcher wanted to be a hero with his friends Edward the Black Prince and Geoffrey Chaucer’s support. For the soundtrack, Queen members and Robbie Williams teamed up to perform ‘We Are the Champions,’ which made Taylor and May admire Williams’ performance.
What Did Robbie Williams Think About Freddie Mercury?
During one of his previous interviews with SiriusXM, Willams revealed that following their collaboration, May and Taylor asked the pop-rock icon to join them for a tour that could turn into Queen + Robbie Williams. Even though most people thought it was impossible to turn down such an offer from the two legendary musicians who contributed a lot to the rock music industry for years, Williams rejected it.
Williams explained the reasons behind his decision, saying he had very low self-esteem despite his bold stage persona in his concerts. Thus, he didn’t have enough confidence to replace an unmatchable and iconic singer like Freddie Mercury by defining him as a godlike figure on the rock stage. Even thinking about the offer was too scary for Williams.
In Williams’ words, he said:
“Even though I’m very confident on the microphone, I have very low self-esteem. I just thought I’d save them the audacity of me even trying to step on a stage and be on the same echelon as Freddie Mercury. He, to me, is angelic. He’s godlike. It was just too scary.”
You can listen to the song below.
