Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Batman and Robin, Bonnie and Clyde, and nearly, Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury. Yes, Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury almost became an infamously iconic dynamic duo thanks to Jackon’s hit album, Thriller. However, the collaboration never came to fruition, and the two continued their careers at arm’s length apart.
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If this collaboration were to have transpired, it most certainly would have been one of the most epic and grossing of all time. Frankly, look at the success Mercury and Bowie found with “Under Pressure.” Though, contrary, to that collaboration, Freddie Mercury never finished it and the final result only resides in the wishful thinking of the greater rock ‘n’ roll community.
Why Freddie Mercury Never Ended Up on ‘Thriller’
Released in 1982, Michael Jackson’s Thriller is unarguably one of the most successful albums of all time. That being so, imagine the pedigree it would have reached if Freddie Mercury was involved. Regardless, Mercury stated in an interview with Express, “I think one of the tracks would have been on the Thriller album if I finished it, but I missed out.” Mercury continued, “I was initially gonna be on Thriller” and “Can you imagine that? I blew it!”
Regarding the how and why of these botched plans, Mercury divulged in an interview with Radio 1, “I went over to his house and did three or four demos to see how they’d work out. ‘State of Shock’ I couldn’t complete. So Mick Jagger did it.” “Timing is everything. At the time when he wanted me to finish it, I just said, ‘I can’t, I really haven’t got time.’ I was working with Queen. I was in Munich. He was in Los Angeles. He said, ‘Is it OK if Mick does it?’ I said, ‘Fine,’” added Mercury.
The failed collaboration was a long time in the making, as Mercury and Jackson were fans of one another for quite some time. Freddie Mercury recalled in the interview, “In the early days, he used to like Queen and come and see all our concerts and we became friends and he said ‘Why don’t we do something together.’” “This was just before the Thriller days. I went over to his house and did three or four demos to see how they’d work out,” concluded Mercury.
That duet between Jackson and Mercury has never seen the light of day. And given that both musicians are tragically deceased, it likely never will. Instead, it will be one of the long-lost and highly coveted artifacts of the rock ‘n’ roll canon.
Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage
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