Brian May brought to tears by stunning rendition of Freddie Mercury’s ‘finest’ song
6 June 2025, 15:16
The Queen guitarist cried watching a performance of ‘The Show Must Go On’ recently.
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Sir Brian May became very emotional following a performance of ‘The Show Must Go On’ at 2025’s Polar Music Prize ceremony.
The Queen star was joined by fellow band member Roger Taylor at the prestigious event, where they received the Polar Music Prize on behalf of Queen.
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During the show, Swedish musician Miriam Bryant took to the stage to perform the well-known Queen single – which was the band’s final release prior to Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991.
Miriam’s performance clearly moved Brian, so much so that the 77-year-old cut into a TV interview which was taking place at the event to thank the singer after she’d finished performing the song.
Watch Miriam's stunning performance here:
Miriam Bryant - The Show Must Go On (Queen) 2025
“That was such a beautiful interpretation,” Brain gushed when asked for his reaction to the performance. “I feel very honoured. She’s amazing – you're amazing!
“We’re all like hearts in our mouth, [it was] beautiful... I was just so moved, that was perfect, just perfect. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he added.
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‘The Show Must Go On’ was written by Brian in collaboration with Freddie in 1990, and was written to allegorically describe Freddie’s own commitment to performing during his then-secret battle with AIDS.
The song was the last track featured on Queen’s final album, Innuendo, which was released before Freddie went public with his diagnosis and health struggle.
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The ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ singer was already very ill when it came to recording the track, something Brian discussed with Guitar World in 2023.
“By that time he was suffering a lot. He could hardly stand,” Brian recalled. “I played him some of the demo, with me singing, which went incredibly high and was very difficult.
“In the past, Freddie was always shouting at me, like, ‘It’s too f****** high! You’re making me ruin my beautiful voice!’ So I thought he was going to shout at me this time.
Queen - The Show Must Go On (Official Video)
But he just heard it and said, ‘I’ll f****** do that. Don’t worry,” he revealed.
“So he downed a couple of vodkas, neat, then propped himself up on the desk and worked his way through singing all of that song...
“He absolutely smashed that vocal. It’s like he reached into a place that even he’d never got to before,” Brian continued, adding: “It was beautiful. I think it’s one of his finest performances of all time.”
With the song's huge significance to Queen and its personal significance to Brian so evident, it's no surprise a performance like Miriam's moved the iconic British musician.
