The Show Must Go On!!!

Not much I can add that hasn't already been said, except to add my memory of first hearing it:

It was a day or two after Freddie died. MTV (in the states) had a news story indicating something like "A special video has been prepared as a tribute" (in other words, had Freddie not died, they most likely wouldn't have played this already existing video). It was to debut the next day at a certain time.

So I tuned in, VCR standing by, and caught the U.S. premiere on MTV during 'Totally Pauly' (God help me). So I recorded the video, then recorded the audio from that to cassette (my VCR was mono in those days) and played it over and over until I got the cassette single. I loved it instantly and it had some sort of power over me. It also helped me to accept the loss of Freddie, which was a complete shock to me. I had been away from Queen for quite awhile and was only just getting back into them after the TV special "The Days of Our Lives" had aired that year.

My memory of that single was that it was specifically a release for TSMGO and had the artwork for that, and it was months before 'Wayne's World' resurrected Bo Rhap. Beyond that I'm a little fuzzy. I can't even say for sure what the b-side was (if it wasn't Bo Rhap, perhaps Bijou) and maybe it was re-released with Bo Rhap later.

I have been listening to it over and over the last 48 hours and I am still spellbound by it.

If Freddie was fully fit, on form and his voice was as strong/good as it was at, say, Live Aid or Hammersmith 1979,, then how do you think he would have performed the song live?

I love Elton Johns performance at Freddies Tribute Concert, I feel his voice fitted it perfectly, of course it will never beat the original :o)

great post! and yea its my fav queen song of all time as is the innuendo album(fav album)
but its been said before that song just sends shivers rite thru ya! what power and emotion in that song and it can at times be a heartbreaking song to listen to...

The song is the one with the most power and meaning for me as a queen fan it's a song lyrically we can all relate to"inside my heart is aching my make-up may be flaking but my smile still stays on".For me my favourite queen lyric is in this song and i intend to get it tattoed on my back for later this year( i tend to get tattooed for my birthday!! ) "my soul is painted like the wings of butterflies fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die, i can fly my friends"...This song is a masterpiece xx aisha xx

There should've been a court order preventing Elton John from singing that song. It's a beautiful, soaring and powerful tune. He turns it into a hippo's mating cry that loses all subtelty and emotion in favour of a guttural sound that's just unpleasant. It's like knitting with a sausage, there's no point.

I really really think a billionaire should fund a new video for this song though. They can do it, I dunno, with head replacement or something, they should make a video where Fred's in it. Because Doro compilation videos suck, I mean the only one I like is In My Defence (and that's because it has outtakes of stuff in it).

Yeah. New TSMGO video. Court Order against Elton John ruining song again (Brian did a much better version once). Face it Alone.
My list of things to get is getting smaller.

While I'm not much of fan of Elton John's later work, his "The Show Must Go On" from the Freddie Tribute concert is exceptionally good, and harkens back to the greatness that lurks within the EJ catalogue. The diamonds are in there, one just needs to sift through a lot to find them.

Another performer who nailed this one is Paul Rodgers. "The Show Must Go On" wasn't performed at any of the Q+PR gigs I attended, but I downloaded the official version, recorded at the Basel show. As this song so strongly identifies with Freddie's steely resolve to face and stare down his own mortality, it was a particularly ballsy move to have Rodgers perform it during this initial outing. Had he failed, audiences would likely have rebelled and run the lot of them out of town on a rail. Rodgers handled it brilliantly. Of course, being backed by this band of excellent musicians didn't hurt. Roger's and Brian's performances are particularly moving.

I wasn't necessarily in Rodgers' court from the get go on the whole +Paul Rodgers thing, and don't necessarily love everything he's performed with Queen, but his "The Show Must Go On" is an absolute winner. Rodgers' version may be the best I've heard, and is a respectful and fitting homage to the brilliant Freddie Mercury.

I really like the way Brian and Roger sing it. I always thought this song should have done in the same way as Let Me Live

I couldn't agree more this song rocks I love it!
I also think eltons' tribute concert version rocked too:-)

People who critise the way Elton sung it are a bit harsh in my opinion.
I mean, you think he had any chance of being better or on level with the way Freddie sung it? No, beacuse it would be an impossible task.

It was truly one of Freddie's greatest vocal recordings.

whati enjoy doing is, apart from listening to it, i also enjoy during drum rehearsals, is playing the beat to it and singing it in my head, i also enjoy relaxing and listening to the karaoke version, sometimes singing to that, its great!

the best song from their best album in my opinion.

It was good to pick Elton John to sing 'The Show Must Go On' at the Tribute Concert, however it kinda bothered me that he picked the song as part of the setlist on his 1992 tour to promote 'The One'. The Freddie Mercury Tribute should have been the only time Elton performed that song. Elton John is one of my favorite artists, but he shouldn't have taken that song almost as his own.

Yet, nothing can be nearly as bad as 'The Show Must Go On' on 'Moulin Rouge'. The whole version was a complete pile of shit, and added to the list of classic pop/rock songs that were musically slaughtered in such a rubbish movie.

If anybody is interested: In Germany TSMGO reached number 7 in the single charts

So if fate was different and Freddie had still lived and was fully fit, where do you think this masterpiece would have fitted in the setlist on the so-called Innuendo, 1991 Tour (Wow! If only)!