Mr. Bad Guy

Background

In contrast to Queen's typically rock-oriented work, Mercury and co-producer Reinhold Mack drew on disco, dance music and pop influences for Mr. Bad Guy, all of which had surfaced on Queen's previous studio album, Hot Space (1982), also produced by Mack. Mercury stated, "I had a lot of ideas bursting to get out and there were a lot of musical territories I wanted to explore which I really couldn't do within Queen." Co-producer Mack added, "he used to get pretty annoyed working with the others, because there was always Brian saying, 'It needs to be more rock 'n' roll.'" Mr. Bad Guy took nearly two years to record, as Mercury had to gather enough material together while committing to band activities.

Initially, the album was supposed to feature duets with Mercury and Michael Jackson.

However, other sources state that personal conflicts were to blame for unfinished tracks. Mercury reportedly dropped out of any further collaboration after feeling uncomfortable working with Jackson's pet llama in the studio. One track from these collaborative sessions, "There Must Be More to Life Than This", was reworked for the Mr. Bad Guy album, although the original recording featuring Jackson was eventually released on Queen Forever in 2014.

Production

Recording was taxing on Mercury, as he took part in everything from performing the tracks (including vocals, piano and synthesizer), arranging the orchestration and working with the sound engineers. Mercury's use of synthesizers and orchestration in track development added to the diversity of each piece.

The album's original title was Made in Heaven, but Mercury changed his mind weeks before the album went to press.

Originally released on Columbia/CBS, copyrights for Mercury Songs, a company owned by Freddie Mercury's estate, had been revoked following his death in 1991. Mr. Bad Guy would remain out of print on CD until 2000, where it was included on The Solo Collection. Then in 2019, when it was reissued and remixed due to the commercial success of the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

Singles

Lead single "I Was Born to Love You" with the non-album B-side "Stop All the Fighting" debuted at number 50 on 14 April 1985, peaking at number 11 on 5 May 1985. It also reached number four in South Africa and number 20 on 1 June in Austria. "Made in Heaven" peaked at number 57 on the UK Singles Chart on 21 July 1985 and charted for four weeks. "Living on My Own" charted at number 50 in the United Kingdom, while the fourth and final single, "Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow," debuted and peaked at number 76 on the UK chart on 24 November 1985.

Re-worked singles

"Living on My Own" was re-released in 1993 (almost two years after Mercury's death) in a remixed form by No More Brothers. The single reached number one in the UK, becoming his most successful solo single release, albeit posthumously. "I Was Born to Love You" became Mercury's only solo chart success in Australia, reaching number 13. That song, and "Made in Heaven", were later reworked by the three surviving Queen members and included on the 1995 studio album Made in Heaven.

Track listing

All songs written by Freddie Mercury.

Personnel

The following personnel are credited in the liner notes.

• Freddie Mercury – vocals, piano, synthesizer
• Fred Mandel – additional piano, synthesizer, rhythm guitar
• Paul Vincent – lead guitar
• Curt Cress – drums
• Stephan Wissnet – bass guitar
• Jo Burt – bass guitar on "Man Made Paradise"
• Mack and Stephan Wissnet – programming
• Rainer Pietsch - orchestral arrangements ;Technical
• Mack, assisted by Stephan Wissnet – engineering
• The Artful Dodger – cover art
• Andrzej Sawa – photograph

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

References

1. [http://www.queenpedia.com/index.php?title=Mr.Bad_Guy%28album%29 Mr. Bad Guy (album)] queenpedia.com Retrieved 7 October 2014.
2. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Mr. Bad Guy - Freddie Mercury".
3. (1999). "MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide". Visible Ink Press.
4. Smith, Robin. (4 May 1985). "Albums".
5. Holmes, Tim. "Mr Bad Guy - Rolling Stone (Issue 450)".
6. Jen Longshaw. "Freddie Mercury's Cats".
7. (5 September 2019). "Freddie Mercury 'Never Boring' 5 Disc Box Set: Details".
8. (8 November 2019). "Freddie Mercury: The Baddest of Them All".
9. (17 October 2019). "Mr Bad Guy: Why Freddie Mercury's Solo Album Was "A Shot in the Arm"".
10. DeRuso, Nick. (August 29, 2015). "Why Freddie Mercury (Briefly) Went Solo with 'Mr. Bad Guy'".
11. [https://ultimateclassicrock.com/freddie-mercury-mr-bad-guy/ ''Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury'' (2012)] - ultimateclassicrock.com
12. (19 October 2018). "The real Freddie Mercury: why the Queen biopic only tells part of the story". [[The Times]].
13. "Queen: Days of Our Lives - Documentary".
14. Carley, Lisa. (November 12, 2014). "Michael Jackson Chased Freddie Mercury Away From Duet With Bubbles The Chimp". [[inquisitr.com]].
15. Chilton, Martin. (10 December 2019). "'He Was Music': Reinhold Mack On Working With Freddie Mercury".
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17. [http://www.freddiemercury.com/en/archive ARCHIVE MR. BAD GUY (1985)] - freddiemercury.com
18. [https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19850505/7501/ Official Singles Chart Top 100] - 5 May 1985 - 11 May 1985
19. [https://austriancharts.at/charts/singles/01-06-1985 AUSTRIA TOP 40] - SINGLES 01.06.1985
20. [https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19850721/7501/ Official Singles Chart Top 100] - 21 July 1985 - 27 July 1985
21. [https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19851124/7501/ Official Singles Chart Top 100] - 24 November 1985 - 30 November 1985
22. "Freddie Mercury - Mr. Bad Guy". Discogs.
23. "QueenVault.com - Mr. Bad Guy Liner Notes".
24. Kent, David. (1993). "Australian Chart Book 1970–1992". Australian Chart Book.
25. "Vinyl 33 13/12/2025".
26. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts Top 20 Rock/Metal-Charts – 12 Dezember 2025". [[GfK Entertainment charts]].
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