What’s old is new again: Queen have rediscovered and released a “lost” song featuring Freddie Mercury, “Face It Alone.” It’s the British rock institution’s first song featuring their late, legendary vocalist in nearly a decade.
“Face It Alone” was originally recorded during the band’s 1988 sessions for their 13th album The Miracle, the next-to-last LP they recorded during Mercury’s lifetime. These prolific sessions saw the band record “around 30 tracks, many of which were never released,” per a press release, which included “Face It Alone”—until Queen’s production and archive team returned to the recordings while assembling the band’s new The Miracle box set reissue, and rediscovered the song.
“We’d kind of forgotten about this track,” says Roger Taylor in a statement, “but there it was, this little gem. It’s wonderful, a real discovery. It’s a very passionate piece.”
“I’m happy that our team were able to find this track,” Brian May says of the song. “After all these years, it’s great to hear all four of us … yes, Deacy [former bassist John Deacon] is there too … working in the studio on a great song idea which never quite got completed … until now!”
Queen last released material featuring Mercury in 2014, including three previously unheard tracks—“Let Me in Your Heart Again,” “Love Kills” and “There Must Be More to Life Than This”—on their album Queen Forever. The band’s Queen The Miracle Collector’s Edition box set is due out on Nov. 18.
Listen to “Face It Alone” below, plus a 1977 Queen performance from the Paste archives.
