If there were ever a Queen song that made me itch to hear what Freddie Mercury sounded like a cappella, it would be “Somebody To Love”. It’s already an incredibly powerful song – the woeful tale of a man begging God to send him love, sung as only someone of Freddie Mercury’s caliber could, but when you factor in Freddie’s massive 4-octave vocal range completely on its own you’re in for an incredible, once in a lifetime treat as you are with his vocal track from the 1976 classic.
“Somebody To Love” is Aretha Franklin-influenced. Freddie’s very much into that. We tried to keep the track in a loose, gospel-type feel. I think it’s the loosest track we’ve ever done.
— Roger Taylor
For 5 minutes, we get to hear “Somebody To Love” in all its raw and open honesty as Freddie is heard without his band behind him, voice rising and falling and cracking in all the right places and never once tempted to falsify or fake his way through any part of his performance; this was Freddie Mercury at his most open and vulnerable, pouring his heart and soul into his craft with a level of authenticity that’s impossible to ignore. Check it out in the audio below!