Recorded October 1997 | Genre Rock | |
A-side We Will Rock You (The Rick Rubin 'Ruined' Remix) B-side Tie Your Mother Down, Gimme The Prize (Instrumental Remix For 'The Eye') Released 1997 (Europe, Japan, US),
5 January 1998 (1998-01-05) (UK) Format CD
Vinyl record (7")
Cassette tape | ||
"No-One But You (Only the Good Die Young)" is a song recorded by the remaining three members of the British rock band Queen in 1997 following the death of the lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991. Guitarist Brian May – the writer of the song – and drummer Roger Taylor share lead vocals. The song was released on the album Queen Rocks and it was also released as a double a-side single with "Tie Your Mother Down".
Contents
The impetus for the song came after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in August 1997, but is largely a eulogy to Freddie Mercury. It was dedicated to Mercury and all those that die too soon. It was originally written for a potential Brian May solo project, which eventually evolved into the album Another World. He sent the demo of the song to Roger Taylor, who according to Taylor himself, put it in a drawer and forgot about it. After eventually hearing it, Taylor suggested that it could be turned into a Queen song. Roger Taylor's contribution was to change the tempo and make the lyrics less specific to Mercury.
The song featured only the remaining three members of Queen, the final new recording to be released under the Queen name alone. This was also the last new recording to feature bass guitarist John Deacon, who subsequently retired from public life. This was the last original Queen release until the 2014 release Queen Forever.
Music video
The music video was directed by the DoRo and filmed at Bray Studios, London on 29 November 1997, the home of Hammer Horror in the 1960s and also where the Rocky Horror Picture Show was recorded. It was shot in black and white, and featured only the three remaining members of Queen in the studio.
A second version is a completely different edit, featuring a new ending and sepia tinted footage of Freddie through all his years with the band. This version was featured on Queen Rocks: The Video in 1998 and on Greatest Flix III VHS in 1999.
Personnel
Chart position
Kerry Ellis version
In 2002, Brian May worked with stage actress and singer, Kerry Ellis, to record an orchestral version of the song as it appears in the musical, We Will Rock You, where Ellis played the role of Meat. In the musical, it is sung by a female, who after the ensemble have recalled the names of a number of musicians who died young, will culminate in saying the name "Freddie" as a tribute to Freddie Mercury. This version of the song was made only available to download on the official Queen website on 19 March 2005 and failed to chart. However, it was later included on her extended play Wicked in Rock and subsequently featured on her debut album Anthems.
In 2004, the Spanish stage actress and singer Eva María Cortés recorded the same orchestral version in Spanish to promote the Original Madrid Cast Recording of We Will Rock You.
Credits and personnel
Track recorded at Sphere Studios, Olympic Studios and Allerton Hill
Orchestra recorded at Air Studios, Lydhurst Hall