The Great Pretender - Backing Vocals

I’d always assumed Peter Straker and Roger Taylor appeared in the promo video for Freddie’s single as a visual treat but I’ve never seen anything categorically linking them to singing on the studio track, but the credits for ‘Never Boring’ state that they actually sing backing vocals on the recording with Freddie too.

Is this definitely true and provable, or have those putting the book text together just made an assumption based on their presence in the video? I’m sure it is correct but I just hadn’t seen it in black and white before.

Thanks!

To be honest I thought it was just him, but listening again I can believe it is them too on some of it particularly on the Malouf mix. Might just be some aural simulacrum though.

To me it sounds Freddie multitracked himself.

I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that even though they were in the video and the credits for backing vocals, Freddie actually did all the vocals himself.

Have a listen. Definitely non-Fred voices in there.

I guess there aren't 5:1 stems from the new DVD ?

Listen from 2:01 as it sounds like Roger (or someone else) singing harmony on "heart":

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GfiWjOj89Pg?t=2m01s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

21st Century Music Fan wrote:

Listen from 2:01 as it sounds like Roger singing harmony on "heart":

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GfiWjOj89Pg?t=2m01s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

No ROger anywhere.

Here are the left and right channels isolated, the center channel is removed.

Dastard

You can clearly hear Peter in there.

Agreed.

There are defiently non-Freddie vocals in the song. But who? It's probably Peter but I'm not ruling out Roger yet.

Listening to this alternative mix just shows what a complicated song it really is! It's got some of the trickest vocals of a Freddie solo song.

Can't we just ask them?

Freddie died dude

Haha!